For supervisors
As a supervisor, you are responsible for the supervision of your PhD candidate. Read here about your duties as supervisor and the procedures relating to this, as well as which forms you will need.
“Supervising PhD candidates” course
The success of a PhD candidate depends in part on the guidance they receive from the supervisor. Members of staff who are supervising a PhD candidate for the first time are required to follow the Supervising PhD candidates course. This course offers insight into what supervisors can do to get the best out of their PhD candidate.
Starting a PhD
If you have been asked to act as a supervisor, you are responsible for the following at the start of a PhD trajectory:
- Draw up a Training and Supervision plan (TSP (Dutch: Opleidings- en BegeleidingsPlan, OBP) in consultation with the PhD candidate within three months after the start of the project.
- Among the supervisors in the team, determine who will do what and record this in the TSP, providing the PhD candidate with a copy
Completing the PhD
When the candidate has almost finished his or her dissertation, the supervisor(s) evaluate whether the manuscript meets the requirements for a PhD.
Approval of the dissertation
Members of the doctoral committee must indicate whether the PhD candidate is ready to proceed to the defense. The members must use this form for the assessment.
If you are convinced that the manuscript is ‘proof of competency in the independent conducting of scientific research’, you approve it in LUCRIS GSM (for more information see here). This approval may only be issued once the other supervisor(s) have been consulted. All further steps, such as the proposal of the doctorate committee, approval of the propositions etc., are to be taken in LUCRIS GSM (by the PhD candidate, supervisor and Dean).
Ius Promovendi
Since February 2018 the Leiden University PhD Regulation includes the possibility for senior lecturers (UHD's) to have ius promovendi: the right to award a PhD. They can request permission for this from the Doctorate Board via the Dean of their respective faculty.
Read more about 'Ius Promovendi'
The rule on this policy can be found in appendix E of the PhD Regulation. For a clear overview of who can be appointed as promotor see the scheme ‘ius promovendi’ (pdf file) on the right side of this page.
The Doctorate Board will grant ius promovendi to a senior lecturer on the substantiated recommendation of the Dean of the relevant faculty, who has established that the UHD satisfies the criteria stated below, and has consulted with a full professor in the relevant discipline.
An UHD will usually only be eligible for ius promovendi if the UHD supervised at least three PhD candidates to a successful PhD defence at a Dutch university or in similar supervisory pathways at non-Dutch universities, and has independently acquired the funds that financed the PhD candidates or has personally recruited the self-funded or external PhD candidates.