Training and Supervision Plan
In the course of your PhD you make agreements with your supervisor(s) concerning your personal development and the supervision you receive. No later than three months after the start of your appointment, these agreements should be recorded in a Training and Supervision Plan. External PhD candidates must do this within a maximum of six months following admission to the Graduate School.
Agreements concerning training and supervision
One year after the start of your appointment, the Training and Supervision Plan is elaborated in more detail and revised if and where necessary. It should in any case cover the following aspects:
- Any courses and training programmes you are going to follow in the context of your training as a researcher and when you will take the courses.
- Agreements concerning the form and frequency of the personal supervision you receive during your appointment as a PhD student and the distribution of responsibilities between the various supervisors.
These agreements concerning the content of the Training and Supervision Plan are included in the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten).
Individual faculty guidelines
The guidelines for the Training and Supervision Plan may vary per faculty. For more information, see your Faculty tab.
Formats for the Training and Supervision Plan of the Institute for History are available in Dutch and English, for employed, contract and external PhD candidates. Please find them on the right hand side of this page.
Performance and Development (employed PhD candidates)
Each year the PhD candidate submits a progress report, under the responsibility of the supervisor. This document is a report of the progress made and results achieved. Based on this document, the PhD candidate has a performance and development interview with his or her supervisor. In this interview, the supervisor assesses the candidate's activities and records these findings in a form which is signed by both parties as well as by the director of research of the Institute. It is then forwarded to the Personnel Department of the Faculty of Humanities.
The Institute has made available a Checklist for Performance and Development meetings (in English and Dutch). This document is meant to optimize the training and supervision of all PhD candidates and contract PhD candidates within the Institute through the Performance and Development meetings. To allow supervisors and PhD candidates to have structured conversations which include all aspects of the PhD training, they are requested to discuss the checklist together at the beginning of the PhD project and to further use it as a guideline during each of the six Performance and Development meetings. It is important to know that a personal dossier built on the four building-blocks will from now form the foundation of PhD training within the Institute for History.
PhD candidates who are employed by the Institute are initially appointed for one year. After nine months, the dean of the Graduate School for Humanities will decide, on the basis of the report of the performance and development interview, whether the candidate has met expectations and whether his or her appointment can be extended for the remaining term.
External PhD candidates
External PhD candidates of the Institute for History, including formerly employed and contract PhD candidates, are initially registered with the Graduate School for two years. They are asked by the director of research to write a progress and reflection report to discuss with their supervisor once every two years. It allows external PhD candidates to reflect on their progress so far and make plans for the future. The report and its evaluation by the supervisor form the basis of a 2-year extension of their registration as a PhD candidate.