With the update of the PhD Charter, the university wants to align itself with the national advisory document called 'A healthy practice in the Dutch PhD system 2.0', which umbrella association UNL came up with last year. This has resulted in some minor shifts in the charter.
Education programme different
Especially the education program and the agreements around it will look slightly different. In principle, PhD students still have to obtain 30 EC, but the interpretation may look different. According to the new charter, there must be more room for a tailor-made programme. The total study load is six months, with 50 percent of the programme consisting of disciplinary skills, the other half generic skills.
The new status is also more explicit about the total duration: the PhD candidate is expected to complete the training programme within a year and a half. In contrast to the previous version of the charter, some components are mandatory: the PhD Introduction Workshop (Academic Integrity) and the Data Management Bootcamp. When a PhD student teaches, the 'Taste of Teaching bootcamp' or a similar course is compulsory.
Conversation about expectations
Other changes to the charter should also contribute to a 'safe and healthy PhD practice with good guidance'. At the beginning of the process, the PhD student and their supervisory team have a conversation about mutual expectations. Agreements from that conversation will be included in the so-called training and supervision plan. This should create more clarity and trust.
Another noteworthy change is the presence of an 'independent scientific staff member' during the progress interview at the end of the penultimate year. This is someone with the UT's right to confer doctorates (ius promovendi) from outside the chair. The person joins in to ask critical questions and assesses the feasibility of completing the promotion. The person writes a formal advice about this.
Doctoral regulations
Recently, as of 1 January, the UT also amended the doctoral regulations. The most important change in this was the removal of the possibility of obtaining a doctorate cum laude, a decision that caused quite a stir. The UT also changed the form of supervision and the set-up of the PhD defence ceremony.
