Information For PhD Students And Supervisors Aissr Guide 2017 2018 Online

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AISSR PhD Guide
201-201

www.aissr.uva.nl
For PhD Students and Supervisors

Information for PhD Students and Supervisors
at the
University of Amsterdam
Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR)
and the
Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS)

2017-2018
(Version of September 2017)

Visiting address: Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam
Postal address: AISSR, Postbus 15718, 1001 NE Amsterdam
Tel.: + 31 (0)20 525 2262
Email: aissr@uva.nl
Web: www.aissr.uva.nl/phd-programme

1. INTRODUCTION TO THIS GUIDE .............................................................................................................................................. 0
2. SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1
3. ABOUT THE AISSR AND GSSS .................................................................................................................................................. 3
3.1 THE AISSR .................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
3.2 THE GSSS.................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
3.3 RESEARCH PROGRAMME ................................................................................................................................................................. 6
3.4 INSTITUTE WIDE AND PROGRAMME GROUP LEVEL ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................ 10
4. ADMISSION .......................................................................................................................................................................... 11
4.1 APPLICATION .............................................................................................................................................................................. 11
4.2 ADMISSION CRITERIA .................................................................................................................................................................... 11
4.3 THE ADMISSION AGREEMENT ......................................................................................................................................................... 12
4.4 MINIMUM GUIDELINES FOR PHD CONTRACTS ................................................................................................................................... 13
4.5 EXEMPTION FROM THE DUTCH ‘DOCTORAAL’ DEGREE (FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS) ...................................................................................... 13
4.6 JOINT DOCTORATE ....................................................................................................................................................................... 14
5. FACILITIES ............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Offices ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Websites .................................................................................................................................................................................. 15
GIS facilities ............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Methods Expertise Centre (MEC) ............................................................................................................................................. 16
Newsletter and website ........................................................................................................................................................... 16
ProActief .................................................................................................................................................................................. 16
UvA Psychologists .................................................................................................................................................................... 16
6. LEAVE, SICKNESS AND EXTENSION ........................................................................................................................................ 17
6.1 REQUESTING EXTENSION ............................................................................................................................................................... 17
7. PROGRESS EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................................................... 19
7.1 TRAJECTORY PLAN ....................................................................................................................................................................... 19
7.2 EVALUATION OF THE PHD TRAJECTORY PLAN .................................................................................................................................... 20
7.3 EIGHT-MONTH PAPER AND THE GO/NO GO DECISION .......................................................................................................................... 21
7.4 EVALUATION OF THE 8-MONTH PAPER ............................................................................................................................................ 21
7.5 ETHICAL SCREENING OF YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT .............................................................................................................................. 22
7.6 PROGRESS AND EVALUATION MEETINGS .......................................................................................................................................... 22
7.7 FIELDWORK REPORT ..................................................................................................................................................................... 23
7.8 READING COPY OF THE PHD THESIS ................................................................................................................................................. 23
7.9 PLAGIARISM CHECK ...................................................................................................................................................................... 23
7.10 PHD THESIS AND THESIS DEFENCE ................................................................................................................................................. 24
7.11 EXIT MEETING ........................................................................................................................................................................... 25
8. GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT .................................................................................................................................................... 26
8.1 PHD THESIS SUPERVISORS ............................................................................................................................................................. 26
8.2 SUPERVISION TEAM...................................................................................................................................................................... 26
8.3 RESPONSIBILITIES OF PHD STUDENTS ............................................................................................................................................... 27
8.4 EXPECTATIONS APPLICABLE TO PHD SUPERVISORS .............................................................................................................................. 28
8.5 EXPECTATIONS APPLICABLE TO CO-SUPERVISORS ................................................................................................................................ 29
8.6 EXPECTATIONS APPLICABLE TO THIRD READERS .................................................................................................................................. 29
8.7 TRUST PERSONS AND CONFIDENTIAL ADVISORS .................................................................................................................................. 29
8.8 PHD REPRESENTATIVES AND SOUNDING BOARD ................................................................................................................................ 31
8.9 ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT: AISSR AND DEPARTMENT SECRETARIATS AND PROGRAMME MANAGERS ........................................................... 31

9. PHD TRAINING ...................................................................................................................................................................... 33
9.1 COURSES IN THE TRAINING PROGRAMME .......................................................................................................................................... 33
9.2 AISSR SHORT INTENSIVE COURSES (SICS) ....................................................................................................................................... 34
9.3 COURSES IN (RESEARCH) MASTER PROGRAMMES AND EXTERNAL .......................................................................................................... 35
9.4 AGREEMENT WITH THE SOCIAL SCIENCE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE VU UNIVERSITY ............................................................................... 36
9.5 SELECTION OF COURSES AND REGISTRATION ...................................................................................................................................... 36
9.6 AISSR PHD CLUBS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 36
9.7 FINANCING COURSES .................................................................................................................................................................... 38
9.8 EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE............................................................................................................................................................ 38
10. TEACHING ........................................................................................................................................................................... 40
11. FINANCIAL EXPENSES AND SUPPORT .................................................................................................................................. 42
11.1 STUDY AND RESEARCH EXPENSES .................................................................................................................................................. 42
11.2 BOOKS .................................................................................................................................................................................... 43
11.3 TRANSCRIPTION OF INTERVIEWS ................................................................................................................................................... 43
11.4 REIMBURSEMENT OF TRAVEL EXPENSES INCURRED FOR APPLICATION AND FIRST AND LAST WORKING DAYS .................................................. 43
11.5 THESIS PRODUCTION EXPENSES .................................................................................................................................................... 43
11.6 EDITING................................................................................................................................................................................... 44
11.7 PRINTING/PRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................................. 44
11.8 DEFENCE COSTS ........................................................................................................................................................................ 45
11.9 PREMIUM FOR THESES DEFENDED WITHIN SIX MONTHS ..................................................................................................................... 45
11.10 FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF FOREIGN PARTICIPATION IN THESIS COMMITTEES............................................................................................. 46
12. ETHICS AND INTEGRITY ....................................................................................................................................................... 47
13. PHD TRAJECTORY PLAN FORM ............................................................................................................................................ 49
14. STRUCTURE OF THE 8-MONTH PAPER ................................................................................................................................. 52
14.1 MAIN EVALUATION POINTS FOR THE 8-MONTH PAPER ...................................................................................................................... 53
14.2 POINTS OF NOTE FOR THE 8-MONTH PAPER .................................................................................................................................... 54
15. STRUCTURE OF THE INTERIM FIELDWORK REPORT (IF APPLICABLE) ................................................................................... 55
ANNEX 1 GUIDELINES FOR PHDS BASED ON ARTICLES .............................................................................................................. 56
ANNEX 2 MONITORING PHD CONTRACTS AND RIGHTS ............................................................................................................ 58

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – INTRODUCTION 2017-2018

1. Introduction to this guide

This guide provides essential information on doing a PhD at the Amsterdam Institute for Social
Science Research (AISSR) at the University of Amsterdam. It includes guidelines and policies
relating to formal admission to the PhD programme and deadlines and evaluation procedures for
the overall programme and courses in the training programme.
AISSR PhD students who are formally admitted to the AISSR PhD Programme usually have a
four-year appointment in which their primary task is to do research for their doctoral thesis. As
well as research, pursuing a PhD also involves taking courses in the PhD training programme
(run jointly by the AISSR and the Graduate School of Social Sciences, or GSSS) and
participating in the research community, both locally at the AISSR as well as at the national and
international level. Depending on the contract AISSR PhD students also teach undergraduate
and graduate courses within the Social Sciences departments (Anthropology, Sociology, Political
Science and Human Geography, Planning & International Development Studies).
Please note that not every PhD has the same kind of contract. This variation relates to the
different funding agencies and subsequent paths that exist to be admitted to the AISSR PhD
programme. Your programme manager can inform you about the details of your contract.
Please make sure you are informed about these details since this Guide provides overall
information.
Next to these guidelines all AISSR PhD students have to comply to the General Doctorate
Regulations of the UvA.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – SUMMARY 2017-2018

2. Summary
AISSR PhD students usually have a four-year appointment in which their primary task is to do
research for their doctoral thesis. PhD students at the AISSR work within programme groups
in which they conduct their research. The PhD training programme is offered jointly by the
AISSR and the GSSS. AISSR PhD applicants are typically admitted to the AISSR on the basis
of:
1. A project grant allocated and financed by the UvA, the Netherlands Organisation for
Scientific Research (NWO) or the EU (indirect government funding);
2. A project grant financed by a third party (e.g. a commercial company; contract research
funding);
3. Individual grants (in the past e.g. the Ford Foundation, DIKTI and national government
fellowships), or contracts with other institutes or companies;
4. Individual support (referred to as an external PhD, or buitenpromovendus);
In all cases the applicant submits a written proposal.
Dutch applicants wishing to be admitted to a PhD programme at the University of Amsterdam
(UvA) must have at least a Master’s degree, while international applicants must prove that their
foreign academic degree is equivalent to a Dutch Master’s. In the case of applicants for PhD
positions in externally funded projects, additional admission procedures apply; these are
specified in the PhD vacancy descriptions. PhD applicants financing their projects through other
channels or under an external contract normally are not employed by the UvA but instead accorded
visiting status.
All AISSR PhD have to comply to the General Doctorate Regulations of the UvA. One of the
regulations is that each PhD needs at least two formal supervisors: two promotors or one
promotor and one co-promotor. Additional regulations are formulated by AISSR, which we
summarize here. On starting the first year of the PhD programme, the PhD student and their
PhD supervisors jointly propose a supervision team made up of the PhD (co)supervisors, daily
supervisors (if applicable) and potential third readers. For evaluation purposes, such as in case
of the go/no go decision, third reader members must be included to assess the quality and
progress of research. Over the course of the programme, the PhD student and the supervisor
must demonstrate that progress is on schedule. Progress is assessed at specific intervals: upon
submission of the Trajectory Plan (in the first month, with annual updates), the 8-month paper
(eight months), the go/no go decision (nine months), the annual Thesis Progress Evaluation, the
draft thesis and the final thesis.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE-SUMMARY 2017-2018

Once admitted to the AISSR PhD programme, students can enrol in the training programme and
join the AISSR’s PhD clubs. The AISSR-GSSS training programme consists of a theory course,
methods courses, customised courses and transferable skills courses. PhD students design a
training curriculum in their PhD Trajectory Plan in consultation with their PhD supervisors.
Together, they decide which courses the student should take, depending on the previous
training. PhD students should follow (or have followed) sufficient training in Methods,
Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Theory (equal to around 30 ECTS).
PhD students who are under contract at the AISSR might be expected to spend a certain
percentage of their contract time teaching undergraduate and graduate social sciences courses.
This depends on their specific contract. The exact percentage is determined on the basis of
Faculty policy.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

3. About the AISSR and GSSS
PhD students at the AISSR work within programme groups in which they conduct their
research. The PhD training programme is offered jointly by the AISSR and GSSS.

3.1 The AISSR
The AISSR is the largest social sciences research institute in the Netherlands. It is based in a
single faculty, the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG), and spans four
departments:
•
•
•
•

Department of Anthropology
Department of Human Geography, Planning & International Development
Department of Political Science
Department of Sociology

The AISSR’s research programme is organised into thematic groups. There are 13 programme
groups in all, each of which is led by one or two programme directors. These groups are the
primary units in which academic staff carry out their research and teaching activities. They are
relatively autonomous, with practical responsibility for both research strategy and teaching the
curricular content assigned within the given discipline or sub-discipline. Together, these groups
fall under the general responsibility of the academic director (Prof. Brian Burgoon), and each is
represented in the AISSR Programmes Council/Graduate Studies Committee that meets around
six times a year. This council/committee issues recommendations and decisions on AISSR
policies and advises the director of the GSSS on the PhD curriculum. The director of the GSSS
is also member of the Graduate Studies Committee.
Affiliated research centres that operate under the umbrella of AISSR foster activities across
programme boundaries. There are currently eight affiliated research centres: ACCESS
EUROPE (European Studies), Urban Studies, Global Health, Inequality Studies, Migration &
Ethnic Studies, Gender & Sexuality, Conflict Studies and Sustainable Development Studies.
Some of these centres are organised around University-wide research priority areas
(universitaire onderzoekszwaartepunten) and Faculty research focus points (facultaire
onderzoeksspeerpunten), as selected and financed by the UvA and the Faculty of Social and
Behavioural Sciences. The centres are composed of AISSR staff from the programme groups
and visiting researchers.
The AISSR’s academic director, Prof. Brian Burgoon, and its programme directors are
supported by the AISSR Bureau.
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AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

The Bureau is staffed by:
• Executive Director: Jose Komen
• Manager: Yomi van der Veen
• Programme Development Manager: Bea Krenn
• Policy and Communication Officer: Karen Kraal
• Management Information Coordinator: Nicole Schulp
• Administrator: Hermance Mettrop
• Programme Managers: Puikang Chan, Evelien Oomen, Janus Oomen, Jeske de Vries and
Yomi van der Veen
• Secretaries: Joan Schrijvers, Teun Bijvoet and Alix Nieuwenhuis
• PhD Trust Persons: Rineke van Daalen, Anne Loeber and Nicky Pouw
Location:
Visiting address: Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam
Postal address: AISSR, Postbus 15718, 1001 NE Amsterdam
Tel.: +31 (0)20 525 2262
Email: aissr@uva.nl
Web: www.aissr.uva.nl

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

3.2 The GSSS
The Graduate School of Social Sciences offers a broad variety of Dutch and English-taught
Master’s, Research Master’s and PhD programmes in the social sciences. The GSSS welcomes
close to a thousand students a year in its disciplinary and multidisciplinary programmes
spanning Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology, Human Geography, Planning &
International Development Studies.
The GSSS was founded in January 2009 to combine and scale-up existing institutional
structures and is one of four graduate schools at the UvA’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural
Sciences. Director Dr Annette Freyberg-Inan is responsible for daily management of the School.
The GSSS aspires to offer and maintain a high standard of academic training in an international
setting. It promotes an open and engaged intellectual environment, in which students, staff and
international guests (professors, researchers and lecturers) meet in the classroom, in seminars,
summer schools and public debates.
The GSSS offers students:
• Curricula based on advanced and topical scientific knowledge, dealing with issues affecting
local and regional communities across the world.
• Multidisciplinary study programmes oriented towards complex social issues.
• In-depth disciplinary study programmes that build on corresponding Bachelor’s
programmes.
• Selective two-year Research Master’s programmes that train tomorrow’s leading
researchers and integrate research and learning.
• A stimulating, international learning environment with highly qualified teaching staff.
• A culture of excellence and innovation in scientific teaching.
• PhD training in association with the AISSR.
The Graduate Studies Committee advises the GSSS director on the PhD programme and is
made of the representatives of the AISSR programme groups, the AISSR academic director
and the GSSS director.
Graduate School of Social Sciences
Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
1018 WV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)20 525 3777
Email: gsss@uva.nl
Web: www.gsss.uva.nl

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

3.3 Research programme
Broadly speaking, the AISSR research programme focuses on the functioning of contemporary
societies and their interrelationships from the historical, comparative and empirical perspectives.
More specifically, the research programme is organised into thematic programme groups that
operate as intellectual communities of scholars who each contribute complementary research
perspectives. The groups cover a broad spectrum of topics such as health, conflict, citizenship,
urbanisation, gender, migration and democratic representation, yet all from an international
comparative and multi-level analytical perspective.
Anthropology
• Anthropology of Health, Care and the Body / Programme director: Anja Hiddinga
This Programme Group aims to analyse: Changing experiences of health and well-being,
sexual identities and body regimes; Social and cultural factors that influence the use of
scientific knowledge in clinical settings, care and self-help practices; The exercise of
biomedical power and the patterns of resistance to and acceptance of medical regimes and
scientific knowledge and technology.
www.aissr.uva.nl/healthcarebody
• Globalising Culture and the Quest for Belonging: Ethnographies of the Everyday /
Programme director: Julie McBrien
The common thread in this research programme is the question of how people in diverse
places and from distinct vernacular and historical traditions interpret and remake
themselves between competing cultural ideals and the practical necessities and strictures
imposed by global economic, political and cultural currents.
www.aissr.uva.nl/globalisingculture
• Moving Matters: People, Goods, Power and Ideas / Programme director: Barak Kalir
The social consequences of the mobility of people and goods are the central focus of the
Moving Matters programme group. We explore migrating people and moving commodities
as well as the shifting networks - of solidarity, remittances, knowledge, meaning and power
- that result from such practices.
www.aissr.uva.nl/movingmatters
Human Geography, Planning & International Development Studies
• Geographies of Globalisations (GoG) / Programme director: Robert Kloosterman
Since the mid-1970s the world has been experiencing a second wave of globalisation,
leading to unpredictable but radical redistributions of human activity over different spatial
scales. This research programme is premised on the empirical observation that we are
seeing a set of differentiated articulations of globalisation at multiple scales, which are best
understood as the unintended effect of the strategic engagements of many different agents,

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

•

each motivated by different goals, interests and preferences.
www.aissr.uva.nl/gog
Governance and Inclusive Development (GID) / Programme director: Joyeeta Gupta
GID aims to understand how changing geo-processes influence the capabilities of actors at
various administrative levels and how these actors in turn influence geo-processes. It
focuses at local (urban/rural) through to global levels.
www.aissr.uva.nl/gid
Urban Planning / Programme directors: Luca Bertolini and Maria Kaika
Urban Planning focuses on the organisation of collective action in a more and more
fragmented, complex world. Research deals largely with the interrelationships between
social and spatial interaction, alongside the need for taking collective action to transform
spaces. New ways for organising collective action are sought out in the dynamic social and
spatial context.
www.aissr.uva.nl/urbanplanning
Urban Geographies (UG) / Programme director: Sako Musterd
Crucial urban transformations and current debates on interrelated social, cultural and
economic issues in cities and metropolitan areas form the backdrop for this research. The
aim of the Urban Geographies programme group is, first of all, to gain better understanding
of the diverse and complex mutual relationships between the development of urban spaces
and places, time-space behaviour, individual life courses and life chances.
www.aissr.uva.nl/ug

Political Science
• Challenges to Democratic Representation / Programme directors: Wouter van der Brug and
Eric Schliesser
What are the necessary and sufficient conditions under which democratic regimes can
maintain stability and safeguard basic principles of democratic accountability,
representation and legitimacy? This research programme addresses this classic theme from
the perspective of normative democratic theory and by way of empirical inquiry.
Recognising that democracy is also a historically contingent politically practice, issues of
change over time form an integral part of its analytic approach.
www.aissr.uva.nl/democraticrepresentation
• Political Economy and Transnational Governance (PETGOV) / Programme directors:
Jonathan Zeitlin and Geoffrey Underhill
The Political Economy and Transnational Governance (PETGOV) programme group
explores the ongoing transformation of political and economic governance within and
beyond nation-states. That exploration involves deciphering how politics affects and is
affected by economics, and of how both political and economic governance spans local,
national, and supranational levels of political conflict and experimentation.
www.aissr.uva.nl/petgov
• Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance / Programme directors: Marieke de
Goede and John Grin
In recent decades, there has been a growing divergence between the organisation of
society and the inherited conceptual framework of the 20th century political sciences. The
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AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

group seeks to re-examine established notions of identities, categorizations and boundaries
defined by classical political science concepts through different forms of empirical
investigation.
www.aissr.uva.nl/transnationalconfigurations
Sociology
• Cultural Sociology / Programme directors: Olav Velthuis and Don Weenink
Members of this program group study processes of cultural meaning making in a range of
institutional fields. “Culture” is conceptualized in two ways. First, we look at the institutional
or organizational fields of society in which cultural objects and collective meanings are
produced, distributed, preserved, and received. Second, we study the meaningful
dimension of social life, or how people give meaning to a wide range of social relations and
how these meanings are constitutive of these relations.
www.aissr.uva.nl/culturalsociology
• Institutions, Inequalities and Life Courses / Programme director: Beate Volker
The IIL program examines institutions in a broad way as the formal and informal rules and
arrangements in society that govern individual behaviour and social relationships.
Examples of institutions are welfare states, labour market arrangements, educational
systems, occupational groups, norms and rules in organizations, and gender role norms.
www.aissr.uva.nl/inequalities
• Political Sociology: Power, Place and Difference / Programme director: Christian Bröer
The programme group ‘Political Sociology – Power, Place and Difference’ researches
evolving relations of conflict and cohesion in various national and international settings. Our
research on citizenship, politics, policies, social movements and the state extends beyond
actor-centred approaches through relational analyses and a keen eye for power
differentials.
www.aissr.uva.nl/politicalsociology
Collaboration across these programme groups is stimulated in eight affiliated research centres:
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•

ACCESS EUROPE / Directors: Jonathan Zeitlin (UvA) and Ben Crum (VU)
ACCESS EUROPE, a cooperation of University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Free University
Amsterdam (VU), is a platform for research, education and public debate about Europe, the
European Union and its member states.
www.accesseurope.org
Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) / Director: Luca Bertolini
The urban environment has become the natural habitat of more than half the world’s
population. Many important social issues such as quality of life, inequality, conflict, identity
and culture, and pollution, are now considered first and foremost in the urban context. The
CUS focuses on mutual relationships between key social, economic, cultural and political
issues and the multifaceted urban environment. Urban Studies is one of the UvA’s research
priority areas.
www.urbanstudies.uva.nl
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AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

•

Centre for Social Science and Global Health (SSGH) / Directors: Robert Pool and Anita
Hardon
Increased international traffic and globalisation mean diseases have also become global.
Globalisation has also led to more migration of medical staff and increasing inequality of
healthcare between countries. The SSGH studies these developments. Social Science and
Global Health is one of the UvA’s research priority areas.
www.ssgh.uva.nl
Amsterdam Centre for Inequality Studies (AMCIS) / Directors: Herman van de Werfhorst
and Thijs Bol
AMCIS studies inequalities in both industrialised and post-industrialised societies. It focuses
on the impact of stratifying variables such as social origin, education, gender and ethnicity
on outcomes in three key areas: socio-economic attainment (education, work and income),
political behaviour and opinions, and living arrangements. Inequality Studies is a research
focus point of the UvA’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences.
www.amcis.uva.nl
Amsterdam Research Centre for Gender & Sexuality (ARC-GS) / Directors: Liza Mügge and
Stephanie Steinmetz
ARC-GS provides a platform for synergistic research and teaching, drawing on the state-ofthe-art research being conducted by staff in various disciplines as well as developing new
collaborations. It builds on the productive and innovative gender studies tradition of
interdisciplinarity and is situated institutionally at the heart of the social sciences.
www.arcgs.uva.nl
Institute for Migration & Ethnic Studies (IMES) / Directors: Olga Sezneva, Barak Kalir and
Darshan Vigneswaran
The IMES focuses on international migration and the integration of immigrants and their
descendants in host societies. Research is conducted from a comparative perspective,
centring on themes such as transnationalism, religious diversity, multicultural democracy,
radicalisation, labour and entrepreneurship, generational change and urban public space.
www.imes.uva.nl
The Amsterdam Centre for Conflict Studies (ACCS) / Directors: David Laws and Anne de
Jong
ACCS provides a forum for exchange between academics conducting research on conflict
and practitioners engaged in conflict resolution. The Centre brings together two strands of
conflict research: research on local, organizational, policy, and other conflicts in developed
democracies and research on collective violence, civil war, and massive human rights
violations.
www.conflictstudies.uva.nl
Centre for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS) / Directors: Joyeeta Gupta and
Maarten Bavinck
CSDS frames sustainable development as a process that addresses the urgent
environmental issues of this time, while attending to problems of poverty and human
indignity. Sustainable development issues manifest themselves at multiple scale levels at
global to local level.
www.csds.uva.nl
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AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ABOUT AISSR/GSSS 2017-2018

3.4 Institute wide and programme group level activities
Activities (like lectures, workshops and summer schools) that are organised by the AISSR or
one of the research centres or programme groups and that are open to a wider audience are
announced in the online agenda on the AISSR website: www.aissr.uva.nl/events. You are
welcome to attend. The programme groups also organise group level activities where ideas and
expertise are shared. You will be informed about these activities by your programme manager
and/or PhD representative. Make sure you are well informed about the frequency and content of
these meetings (when in doubt check with the programme manager or PhD representative).

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ADMISSION

2017-2018

4. Admission
4.1 Application
Students can apply to do a PhD at the AISSR as follows:
1. By applying for a PhD vacancy in an externally funded (by the NWO, EU, etc.) research
project through the open recruitment procedure. Vacancies are announced on the AISSR
and UvA websites.
2. By submitting their own research proposal with funding from private resources, grants
(Ford Foundation, national or local government fellowships, Nuffic, etc.) or under a contract
with another UvA unit, institute or company. Application procedures are explained on the
AISSR website.

4.2 Admission criteria
•

•
•

•

Minimum education requirement: all PhD applicants must satisfy a statutory minimum
education requirement. Dutch applicants wishing to be admitted to a PhD programme at the
UvA must have at least a Master’s degree, while international applicants must prove that
their foreign academic degree is equivalent to a Dutch Master’s. Technically, international
applicants must request to be exempted from the Dutch statutory education requirements.
This request for exemption must state the name of the professor who has agreed to
supervise their research (see more about exemption procedures in section 4.3.5).
Additional admission procedures for externally funded PhD projects: These are
specified in the PhD vacancy descriptions.
Additional admission procedures for self-funded PhDs: Self-funded applicants have to
complete the online application form including: a) the topic you would like to research, b)
the programme group you would like to join, c) the supervisor you have in mind, c) the kind
of funding you have obtained and d) a time plan. The programme group concerned (=the
programme group of the supervisor) evaluates such proposals. If the programme group
director approves the application and the supervisor accepts his/her role as supervisor, the
applicant will be admitted conditionally as self-funded student, pending the submission of a
valid language test score, a valid copy of diplomas, original transcripts and proof of funding.
English language requirement: If you are a non-native speaker of English you will be
required to demonstrate sufficient proficiency in English. Students must be able to read
textbooks, understand lectures, take part in programme group discussions and produce
written work in English. Applicants who are nationals of countries other than Australia, Great
Britain, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand or the United States – as evidenced by their identity
papers – must submit an English test score that meets the entry requirement -please note
that non-native speakers who conducted their (research) master in English are exempted

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ADMISSION

2017-2018

from this requirement-:
TOEFL:
Paper-based test: minimum total score 600; minimum score on each component 57
(components are: listening, structure/writing, and reading)
Internet-based test: minimum total score 100; minimum score on each component 22
(components are: listening, structure/writing, reading, and speaking)
IELTS
A minimum of 7.0 for the test, with a minimum of 6.5 for each test component.
Cambridge International Examinations
CAE and CPE: minimum score of C
For more information, click here.
If a PhD project is financed by the UvA or through a grant allocated to the UvA by a third party,
the PhD degree will be conferred by the UvA.

4.3 The admission agreement
Students who apply for a PhD position in an externally funded project are typically under
contract at the UvA. Their admission agreement will state the maximum duration of the project,
specify the weekly workload in hours and/or FTEs available for the research project and other
activities such as teaching (see more on teaching in section 10). Admission to the programme,
the PhD grant and/or PhD position are valid for a period of one year and will be renewed after a
go decision at the end of the first year for a maximum of up to four years (depending on the
funding criteria).
Applicants who plan to finance their PhD project by other means or who are contracted elsewhere
usually are not employed by the UvA but instead accorded visiting status (provided that the PhD
defence takes place at the UvA). This status entitles the PhD student to:
• a UvA account, providing access to online facilities and email;
• participate in the PhD training programme for the duration of their affiliation.
All students who have been formally admitted to the AISSR PhD programme can enrol in the
PhD training programme and PhD Clubs.
Admission to the AISSR PhD programme and AISSR membership automatically end on the
termination date stated in the admission agreement, as does the entitlement to supervision and
access to office space and other facilities. Exemptions to the foregoing are only made under
very strict conditions and with explicit permission from the programme group director and the
AISSR and GSSS academic directors. Such dispensation will be granted in cases of pregnancy
and parental leave and may be granted in cases of illness.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ADMISSION

2017-2018

4.4 Minimum guidelines for PhD Contracts
AISSR, in close collaboration with the PhD Sounding Board, has developed Minimum Guidelines
for PhD Contracts to maintain standards for fair and effective treatment and supervision of all
PhD scholarship conducted within the AISSR fold. These guidelines direct the reviewing
process of PhD contracts. For information on these guidelines and the reviewing procedure see
Annex 2.

4.5 Exemption from the Dutch ‘doctoraal’ degree (for foreign students)
International applicants wishing to be admitted to a PhD programme at the UvA must prove that
their foreign academic degree is equivalent to a Dutch initial university degree (doctoraal
degree) or a Master’s degree. Technically, you must request to be exempted from the Dutch
statutory education requirements. This request for exemption must state the name of the
professor who has agreed to supervise the research.
Departments can provide specific information about current possibilities for supervision. Please
keep in mind that although a professor may be willing to supervise someone as a PhD student,
they are not the ones who make the actual admission decision.
When submitting an exemption request, applicants must present the Doctorate Board with
evidence proving they hold an academic qualification equivalent to a Master’s degree.
Equivalence will be established on the basis of an individual assessment of the applicant’s
previous education.
Not all foreign Master’s degrees are equivalent to a Dutch Master’s degree. Applicants with a
foreign Master’s or similar degree will only be admitted if the starting level, duration and content
of the academic programme are sufficiently similar to Dutch requirements. Applicants with only
a Bachelor’s degree cannot be accepted as PhD students in the Netherlands, even if they may
be accepted in other countries. Applicants with a Doctoral PhD Degree have to apply for an
exemption before they can be accepted as PhD student.
Documents in languages other than English, Dutch, French or German must be translated by an
official translator. Certified copies of the originals must be submitted in addition to the
translations.
For more information, contact your department or visit:
www.uva.nl/en/research/phd/doctoral-programme/admission/admission

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – ADMISSION

2017-2018

4.6 Joint doctorate
It is possible to obtain a joint doctorate from the UvA. Under a joint doctorate, you obtain your
degree from two or more universities simultaneously and your doctoral research is carried out in
consultation with and under the supervision of two or more partner universities. Your doctoral
research is carried out under the joint responsibility of the partner universities and your doctoral
thesis is prepared and assessed jointly by the partner universities, leading to a joint doctorate.
These arrangements are set out in a collaboration agreement between the universities
concerned (partnership agreement or equivalent document) which must be approved by the
Doctorate Board.
Like the exemption from the legal educational requirement (where necessary) and the
admission to the doctoral programme, the joint doctorate must be agreed at the start of the
doctoral programme. A period of grace of a maximum of one year will apply. The partnership
agreement must be signed by all interested parties within a year of commencement of the
doctoral research.
Consult the check list for a joint doctorate

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – FACILITIES 2017-2018

5. Facilities
Offices
As AISSR PhD student you will work within one of the research programme groups (see
www.aissr.uva.nl/programme-groups). The department of your programme group will
arrange your (flexible) office space. The departments are all housed in REC B/C at the Nieuwe
Achtergracht 166:
th
o Anthropology: 5 floor
th
o Human Geography, Planning & International Development Studies: 4 floor
th
o Political Science: 8, 9 and 10 floor
th
o Sociology: 6 floor
When you start your PhD Trajectory at the AISSR your programme manager and the Department Secretariat will inform you on all the other facilities that are available to you. Here we list
some extra handy links.

Websites
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

AISSR for PhD: AISSR PhD
AISSR Facebook for PhD: ask your PhD representative
AISSR Facebook Stress Prevention: Facebook Stress Prevention
AISSR Ethics: Ethics page
UvA for PhD: UvA PhD
PhD Council UvA Pro: UvA Pro
Research Data Management: RDM website

GIS facilities
There is a modern, fully equipped GIS lab with standard GIS software such as Mapinfo, Idrisi
and ArcGIS, an A3 scanner, an A0 plotter and handheld GPS receivers to collect field data, all
of which is available for PhD students to use. In addition, all computer facilities in the
Geography buildings are equipped with desktop GIS Mapinfo. Students can also borrow CDs
with Mapinfo or ArcView software for home use. To analyse satellite imagery, there is also a
partner GIS lab at Science Park Amsterdam that students can use. Over time, the GIS lab has
acquired various Dutch, European and international databases. Four GIS experts are
responsible for teaching GIS courses, developing GIS applications and supporting students with
GIS analysis.

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Methods Expertise Centre (MEC)
The AISSR has set up an advanced methods lab to cluster methodological expertise. The lab
plays a key role in the Research Master’s and PhD programmes aissr.uva.nl/mec

Newsletter and website
The AISSR website and biweekly newsletter (aissr.uva.nl) are used to announce information
about the institute, research output, other news and events. The AISSR website also includes a
section for AISSR staff, containing information on procedures and regulations and templates
for communication material. If you have a news item you would like to share, please send it to
news@aissr.uva.nl. As a new AISSR staff member, your name will be added to the online
AISSR staff list (aissr.uva.nl/staff), which links to the personal pages of UvA staff members.
For more information, contact the communications officer: k.kraal@uva.nl.

ProActief
The company guides and promotes the mobility of employees and ex-employees of the
University of Amsterdam: proactief.uva.nl

UvA Psychologists
PhDs at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) can register with the UvA Psychologists for a
number of conversations or one of their training courses without a referral: UvA Psychologists

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE-LEAVE, SICKNESS AND EXTENSION

2017-2018

6. Leave, sickness and extension
Please always consult your programme manager and department secretariat in case of leave or
sickness. Also note that the Collective Labour Agreement of the Dutch Universities (CAO NU)
only concerns PhDs with a UvA contract (who are employed at the UvA as Promovendus). Your
programme manager is informed on the specifics of your contract.
There are many different types of leave. As a PhD student, you may be entitled to take leave
due to specific circumstances or your employer may decide to grant you leave. The most
common types of leave are sick, maternity and parental leave (see also: Leave and days-off,
the 2007 Regulations on Special Leave at the UvA - Regeling Buitengewoon verlof 2007- and
Articles 4.6 to 4.19 inclusive of the Collective Labour Agreement of the Dutch Universities
Collective Labour Agreement of the Dutch Universities - vsnu.nl/cao). These types of leave
will be granted to PhD with an UvA employee contract and when formally reported, but do not
all automatically entail a contract extension. The Dutch labour law prescribes that a contract will
automatically be extended in the case of maternity leave. In the case of parental and sick leave,
extensions will depend on the feasibility of your plans to finalise the reading version of the thesis
within the extension period and always after a formal request to the Programme Director and
programme manager.
PhDs who are paid by an external party and who do not fall under the Dutch labour law will
typically receive extension after maternity leave (as AISSR guideline) and extension after sick
and parental leave (depending on the feasibility of the extension planning), but there might be
different rules stipulated in your contract and/or by your funding agency. Therefore, please
always contact your programme manager to be informed on the specifics of your trajectory and
contract.
In the event of illness, you are obligated to inform your department secretariat (Anthropology:
Tel. 020 525 2504 sec-antr-fmg@uva.nl, Sociology: Tel. 020 525 3488, secretariaat-socfmg@uva.nl; POL: Tel. 020 525 2169, sec-pol-fmg@uva.nl; or GPIO: Tel. 020 525 4063,
gpio-fmg@uva.nl) by telephone or email (with a copy to the AISSR secretariat: aissr@uva.nl).
You should also inform the department and the AISSR secretariats on the day you return to
work. PhD with an UvA contract should also report illness and recovery via the UvA Self
Support. In the event that you have to request an extension due to long-term illness, your
absence must be registered with the University.

6.1 Requesting extension
In most cases, a request to extend your contract is not a formality or a right and whether a
request will be honoured depends on your specific contract and decisions by your programme
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group director.
A request for extension should be submitted to the programme group manager. Extension
requests will only be taken into consideration under the following conditions:
• the request is made at least four months before the end of the contract;
• there is an official registration of (long-term) illness, pregnancy/maternity leave or parental
leave;
• the request is accompanied by the submission of a 41-month paper (all chapters minus the
introduction and conclusion) or equivalent in the case of a PhD based on articles, see 5.4.
and a time plan for the duration of the extension, both approved by the PhD supervisors.
The time plan should be organised in such way that the final manuscript can be ready for
the reading committee and approved by the PhD supervisor(s) within the extension period;
• the evaluation will be made by the supervisors and has to be approved by the programme
director. The evaluation will be based on the feasibility of the time plan: will the PhD student
be able to finalise the manuscript for the reading committee within the extension period. The
evaluation process of the thesis will remain the same, only with the extended deadline.
Please also note the plagiarism check that has to take place before the thesis goes to the
reading committee;
• an extension is only given once and must be approved by the programme group directors;
• in principle, your rights remain unchanged during the extension period, unless otherwise
agreed.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE-PROGRESS EVALUATION 2017-2018

7. Progress evaluation and assessment
7.1 Trajectory Plan
Over the course of the programme, the PhD student and the PhD supervisors must demonstrate
that progress is on schedule. Planning and progress are recorded in the PhD Trajectory
Plan. The PhD Trajectory plan acts as a mutual agreement between the PhD student, the
supervision team, AISSR management and the GSSS (as regards the training component),
and is signed by all parties involved. The PhD Trajectory Plan must be completed in the first
month of the formal start of the PhD project. Only when the trajectory plan is completed and
approved you can enrol in the educational programme. The trajectory plan is drawn up by the
PhD student and PhD supervisors and includes the following elements:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Composition of the supervision team
Summary of the thesis research and definition of the research problem
Composition of the individual training programme
Schedule for the complete trajectory
Publication plan
Plan for conference attendance
Supervision agreement (type and frequency of meetings)

The PhD Trajectory Plan is discussed and updated annually during the Annual Thesis
Progress Evaluation based on the chapters/articles handed in by the PhD student. The
Trajectory Plan spans the contract period in which the student writes the PhD thesis.

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Model of a Trajectory Plan*
Month

Activity

1 (year 1)

Hand in PhD Trajectory Plan

8 (year 1)

Hand in 8-month paper

9 (year 1)

18 (year 2)

Go/no go decision/ Trajectory Plan update
Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation /Fieldwork starts/ Data
collection
Hand in fieldwork report (when applicable)

24 (year 2)

Return from the field

24 (year 2)

Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation & Trajectory Plan update

28 (year 3)

Draft of 1 chapter/article finished

32 (year 3)

Draft of 2 chapter/article finished

36 (year 3)

Draft of 3 chapter/article finished

36 (year 3)

Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation & Trajectory Plan update

40* (year 4)

Draft of 4 chapter (41th month paper)/article finished

44 (year 4)

Full draft of thesis finished

48 (year 4)

Thesis finished/exit meeting

12 (year 1)

nd
rd

*The dates/months are indicative, to be adjusted in accordance with length of the PhD trajectory and individual planning.

7.2 Evaluation of the PhD Trajectory Plan
The PhD Trajectory Plan is evaluated as follows:
1) The PhD student and PhD supervisor(s) discuss and agree on the Trajectory Plan and
submit it to the programme manager.
2) The AISSR programme director evaluates the trajectory plan. If the director is one of the
supervisors, the evaluation is delegated to the AISSR’s academic director. In case of a
revision, the programme manager informs the PhD student and the supervision team of the
evaluation, accompanied by feedback on what needs to be revised.
3) A revised plan must be submitted within two weeks after the notification.
4) The PhD Trajectory Plan is discussed (and adjusted, if necessary) annually and the
updated plan is submitted to the programme manager.
5) The programme manager and AISSR secretariat register all relevant information in the
central AISSR database and share training plan data with the GSSS.
On starting the first year of the PhD programme, the PhD student and PhD supervisor jointly
propose a supervision team made up of the PhD supervisor(s), a co-supervisor and/or a daily
supervisor and potential third readers. For evaluation purposes, such as in case of the go/no
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go decision in the first year, third readers must be included to assess the quality and progress
of research. Third readers should be experts in other areas/disciplines or work in other
programme groups/institutes and should be named in the PhD Trajectory Plan. They are
chosen in collaboration with the supervisor. See section 8 for more information on guidance
and supervision.

7.3 Eight-month paper and the go/no go decision
Within eight months of the formal start of the project, PhD students submit an 8-month paper.
The 8-month paper is a crucial document: it is used in the formal assessment of the PhD
student’s first year and the go/no go decision on the project’s extension after the first year. The
paper is different from the research proposal on the basis of which PhD applicants are admitted,
though this proposal will likely form the basis for it. The 8-month paper should provide insight
into the student’s ability to successfully complete a PhD. In the case of students on a Vidi, Vici,
ERC or similar grant, the 8-month paper indicates how the research fits in with the overall
project, as confirmed by the project leader. See section 11 for specific details about the 8-month
paper.

7.4 Evaluation of the 8-month paper
PhD students and supervisors are expected to make a sound planning to develop the 8-month
paper in order to allow enough time for feedback. On behalf of the PhD supervisors the
programme manager sends the 8-month paper and a recommendation to the other members of
the supervision team for evaluation. Their evaluation plays a critical role in the formal
assessment of the PhD student’s first year and the go/no go decision on the project’s extension
after the first year.
The supervision team issues a go/no go decision, which the programme manager
1
communicates to the supervisor and programme director . The programme director is delegated
with the authority to make a go decision and to communicate this to the student. In the case of a
recommended no go decision, the student is informed about this recommendation and the
academic director of the AISSR makes a final decision. If this is a no go decision, it means that
the contract will be terminated. The PhD student will be informed about the reasons for
termination.
The supervision team must receive the 8-month paper before the first day of the ninth month.

1 Where the PhD supervisor and the programme director are the same person, the decision will be taken by another
senior researcher in that programme group.

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7.5 Ethical screening of your research project
The AISSR has developed a procedure for the ethical review of research plans. The aim is for
you to devote time and effort to thinking through and making explicit how your research plans
will lead to good research, not only in a methodological sense but also in another sense, call it
social, ethical, aesthetic or something else.
The Faculty Ethics Committee has formally mandated the AISSR Ethics Advisory Board to
advise and give guidance in addressing ethical issues specific to research in the domain of
social sciences. This board supports the ethical reflection on new research projects and, if
needed, grants permission to conduct them.
Each PhD is required to submit their proposal for ethical review: Procedure ethical review
The AISSR Ethics Advisory Board is composed of researchers at the Amsterdam Institute of
Social Science Research. In the case of a disagreement, it is possible to call upon the ethics
committee of the Social Science Faculty. Contact: k.kraal@uva.nl

7.6 Progress and evaluation Meetings
Please note: as PhD you will be invited for 2 annual evaluations: 1) the Annual Human
Resource Meeting and 2) the Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation. The department
secretariat will invite you for the Annual Human Resource Meeting. This meeting will take place
with the PhD and programme director or (in case the programme director is also the supervisor
or is absent) a programme group member delegated by the programme director. During this
meeting you will discuss issues relating to your workplace environment.
The AISSR programme manager will be your contact you for the Annual Thesis Progress
Evaluation. The PhD student and the PhD supervisors and, if necessary or desirable, others
involved in the programme, will formally monitor at the Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation,
discuss the progress of the research and adjust the Trajectory Plan as needed. Although the
go/no go decision is not made during this annual evaluation, the decision is a point of
discussion at the first one. Progress will be discussed based on input like chapters and articles.
The AISSS secretariat will gather this input.
In subsequent years, the Thesis Progress Evaluation is used to determine whether PhD
students may continue. If the supervision team unanimously issues a negative recommendation
for continuation after having repeatedly discussed the student’s inadequate progress with them
and having established that this situation is not likely to improve, termination of the contract may
be considered. In that case, the performance of the PhD supervisor will also be evaluated. If
there are any doubts concerning the fairness of how the student was assessed, the AISSR
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academic director and the GSSS director can assign two independent reviewers to examine the
case in question. The AISSR and GSSS directors may decide whether these reviewers will
remain anonymous. Under all circumstances, the decision to terminate a contract with the
AISSR can only be made by the AISSR and GSSS directors.

7.7 Fieldwork report
The PhD student and their PhD supervisors can agree that the student will submit a
fieldwork report encompassing:
1. a survey of the collected data insofar as it is directly related to the research issues
and questions;
2. an assessment and analysis of this data from the perspective of the research
issues and questions.
This report is evaluated by the PhD supervisors in consultation with another member
of the supervision team. It is advised to hand in Fieldwork reports to the supervisors
at least 3 months before the end of fieldwork.

7.8 Reading copy of the PhD thesis
The reading copy of the PhD thesis must be approved by the PhD supervisors. The PhD
student and PhD supervisors together decide whether to send it to third readers (who may also
be members of the supervision team). Following its approval and after the plagiarism check
(see below), the PhD supervisors send the final thesis to the Doctorate Board (college voor
promoties), which appoints a Doctoral Committee (promotiecommissie) to decide whether the
PhD student will be permitted to defend their thesis, after which it can be printed. For
information on these final steps in the process, please refer to the PhD procedures UvA Social
Sciences (PhD procedures UvA-Social Sciences).

7.9 Plagiarism check
The obligatory checking of theses for plagiarism, as set down in the new UvA 2014 doctorate
regulations, came into force on 1 October 2014. In accordance with the new doctorate
regulations, the Dean is responsible for this check. The Dean of the Faculty of Social and
Behavioural Sciences (FMG) has delegated this task to the Department Chairs. The Board of
Social Sciences has decided to assign the practical implementation of the plagiarism check to
the Management Information Coordinator (Nicole Schulp) of the research institute (AISSR).
The doctorate regulations state that the manuscript must be submitted for evaluation to the
Doctorate Committee no later than 14 weeks before the intended date of the defence ceremony.
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The plagiarism check will be carried out 2 weeks before the thesis is submitted to the Doctorate
Committee. The manuscript will thus be submitted for a plagiarism check 16 weeks before the
intended date of the defence ceremony:
• Promotie Regelement (in Dutch)
• General Doctorate Regulations (in English)
• PhD procedures Social Sciences including the Plagiarism Check

7.10 PhD thesis and thesis defence
The Doctorate Board has the legal authority to confer PhD degrees, which are the highest
academic qualification. This qualification is granted to individuals who have proved themselves
capable of the independent pursuit of scholarship. Proof of such capability is judged on the
basis of a student’s research towards a PhD thesis.
•

•

•
•
•

•

As soon as the completion of your thesis is in prospect (around six months before the
intended doctoral conferral date), your supervisor must submit a Proposal for composition of
the doctorate committee. As soon as the doctorate committee has been officially appointed,
you will receive notification from the Doctorate Board.
Once you have received notification of the appointment of the doctorate committee, a
provisional doctoral conferral date can be set. The Office of the Beadle is responsible for
the administration and execution of PhD defence ceremonies. You can consult the PhD
conferral calendar to find out whether UvA's doctorate locations (the Agnietenkapel or the
Aula) are available on your intended date. Once you've agreed the potential dates with your
supervisor(s), any co-supervisor(s) and all the members of your doctorate committee, you
can contact the Office of the Beadle to provisionally reserve this date.
Conferral agenda Agnietenkapel
Conferral agenda Aula
You will have to prepare the final, identical paper and electronic versions of your manuscript
and have them approved by your supervisor(s) and co-supervisor(s).
The thesis will be checked for plagiarism.
The members of the doctorate committee will assess the manuscript and will notify the
supervisor(s) and the dean of their decision no later than eight weeks before the doctoral
conferral date using the Doctoral thesis assessment and admission to the PhD defence
ceremony form.
Once it has been established that no plagiarism is involved and the doctorate committee's
assessment of the thesis has been found to be positive, the doctoral candidate will be
admitted to defend his/her thesis and will be permitted to reproduce (print or photocopy) it.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE-PROGRESS EVALUATION 2017-2018

7.11 Exit meeting
All PhD students are invited for an individual exit meeting. The resulting information is used to
improve such guidance and support where possible. This meeting takes place:
1. When the contract with the AISSR expires (and is not being extended): the meeting is
held between the student and AISSR/Human Resources to discuss the overall
experience the student had as a PhD. Other issues may also be addressed at this
meeting, such as the student’s future plans, possible new research opportunities and
finding new employment.
2. After a no go decision: one meeting will be held between the student and supervisor
and another between the student and AISSR/Human Resources. The first meeting will
focus on the reasons of termination and practical matters such as what to do with
collected data, the latter on the overall experience the student had as a PhD. (see for
more information on the no-go decision 7.3)
Procedures for terminating the contract yourself are described in the contract.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT

2017-2018

8. Guidance and support
PhD supervisors have final responsibility for the progress and quality of students’ PhD research.
They are responsible for coaching and monitoring students’ progress (process) and their results
(products). PhD supervisors have expertise in the domain of research, as well as the
methodological expertise needed to complete such projects. PhD students meet with their PhD
supervisor(s) on a regular basis. During these meetings, students are advised to take brief
notes on the points discussed and actions agreed. Ideally, students can also drop in on their
PhD supervisor(s) outside such scheduled meetings. Formal meetings and agreements are
monitored by the programme managers.
One important point of attention is the project timeline, with a view to the objective of
completing the thesis within the contract period. PhD supervisors should ensure that their
students are aware of the standards associated with a PhD degree and help them identify the
particular research skills that will be needed and the most appropriate data-collecting and
analysing techniques to be used. PhD supervisors have the responsibility to provide students
with feedback on their progress. At each formal evaluation, PhD students are asked to present
an overview of their supervision meetings in the previous period (including date, subject of
meeting, titles of works in progress that were discussed).
All planning, meetings and progress evaluations should be recorded in the PhD Trajectory
Plan.

8.1 PhD thesis supervisors
The PhD (co)supervisors and daily supervisor are a PhD student’s primary coaches. The UvA
requires minimally two supervisors (either two promotors or one promotor and one copromotor), who must then agree on an allocation of tasks; both of them bear responsibility for
the thesis as a whole. One of the supervisors should be an AISSR staff member. PhD
supervisors may be assisted by a daily supervisor if desired who will then be accountable to the
PhD supervisor. On completion of the first year, the supervisors must decide who will act as the
primary supervisor in the years to follow.

8.2 Supervision team
On starting the first year of the PhD programme, the PhD student and the PhD supervisors
jointly propose a supervision team made up of the PhD supervisors, a daily supervisor (if
relevant) and potential third readers. PhD students are advised to play a pro-active role in
assembling this team and to try to assemble the best team for their project.
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The University Doctorate Board will appoint a full professor of the University to act as
supervisor. Note that On Tuesday, 6 June 2017, the Senate of the Dutch Parliament handled
and approved the legislative bill ‘Promoting Internationalisation in Higher Education and
Research’ (Bevordering internationalisering hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek).
One of the bill’s proposals is an extension of the so-called ius promovendi, the right to supervise
a PhD candidate. The extension of this right, which was only reserved for professors, will allow
universities to also grant it to other research staff. The extension will take effect once the new
law comes into force and the UvA’s Doctorate Regulations have been approved by the
Doctorate Board.
The co-supervisor must be a full professor, an associate professor holding a doctorate or an
assistant professor holding a doctorate, and must be affiliated to a university, or hold a position
that is the foreign equivalent of one of these positions. For more information on the
requirements of the (co)supervisors, see the UvA PhD Regulations.
For evaluation purposes, such as in case of the go/no go decision in the first year, third
readers must be included to assess the quality and progress of research. Third readers should
be experts in other areas/disciplines or in other programme groups/institutes and should be
named in the PhD Trajectory Plan.
The entire supervision team plays a crucial role in evaluating the 8-month paper and in the
go/no go decision. At other progress monitoring such as the Annual Thesis Progress
Evaluation, only one or two members of the supervision team need to be involved. However, it
is highly recommend to include various third readers (preferably ones not involved in that
student’s PhD research) at progressive stages of the writing process.
At each evaluation, the PhD (co)supervisors first evaluate and approve the material before
submitting it to third readers for their comments and advice. Third readers are expected to
respond no later than six weeks after the evaluation request was made. Their evaluations are
then discussed between supervisors and programme director(s). The programme group
manager informs the PhD student about the result.
The setup of the supervision team leaves room to extend the range of supervision through joint
arrangements with colleagues at the AISSR and other departments and research centres.

8.3 Responsibilities of PhD students
Supervisors can expect PhD students to regard the PhD thesis as their main priority and to act
accordingly. Any change in the student’s priorities should be brought to the supervisor’s
attention as quickly as possible.

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PhD students are expected to take the recommendations they receive from their supervisors
seriously. While they need not adopt them blindly, they should use them for orientation. If a
student decides not to follow certain recommendations, they should inform their supervisor of
this and explain why.
PhD students are also expected to:
• Maintain cordial relations with their PhD supervisors and co-supervisors.
• Gain their PhD supervisors’ approval for any deviations from the PhD Trajectory Plan.
• Respond to queries from their PhD supervisors and co-supervisors in a timely fashion,
preferably within one week.
• If a student would like to change their PhD supervisor or co-supervisor after the first
2
year, this request should be substantiated in writing .
• If a student is doing a PhD on the job in a professional capacity, they must devise a
realistic timeframe for the work (for example through a part-time arrangement).

8.4 Expectations applicable to PhD supervisors
PhD supervisors are expected to read texts submitted by their students thoroughly and to
provide comments on the research project in general and its progress.
PhD supervisors who are recruited to work overseas or who accept a temporary or permanent
appointment at another university must notify their PhD students. In that case, they should draft
an alternative guidance plan to be approved by both parties and the scientific director of the
AISSR.
PhD supervisors are expected to take an interest in the future academic careers of their PhD
students and to support them. This support can take various forms, such as recommending
opportunities for publication, introducing students to colleagues, suggesting conferences to
attend and discussing employment prospects for after the PhD programme. Such additional
scholarly activities should be compatible with the thesis research.
PhD Supervisors are also expected to:
• Take responsibility for overall supervision of the PhD student.
• A PhD supervisor may or may not also be the daily supervisor. In either case, the
supervisor meets with the student on a regular basis. If the PhD supervisor is not the
daily supervisor, they delegate the tasks described in this document to the daily
supervisor.
• Maintain cordial and supportive relations with the student.
• In exceptional cases, if a PhD supervisor wishes to discontinue the supervision after the
first year, this request should be substantiated in writing and submitted to the academic
director.
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Be committed to reading submitted texts in a timely fashion, depending on the number
of chapters submitted (indication: 25 pages = 1-2 weeks, etc.)
Assist PhD students with finding and/or contacting co-supervisors and/or third readers.
Inform the programme and/or academic director of any problems/issues with the
student and/or research.
Assist PhD students with finding additional funding for expensive fieldwork.
Assist PhD students with finding peer-reviewed journals in which to publish research
findings.
Approve the PhD Trajectory Plan, 8-month paper and research progress paper before
submitting them to the supervision team and reading committee.
Assist PhD students with career development, conferences and post-doc options.
Make clear agreements with PhD students in case they will also perform other research
activities when these are not directly part of the PhD Trajectory.

8.5 Expectations applicable to co-supervisors
•

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•

A co-supervisor may or may not also be the daily supervisor. In either case, the cosupervisor meets with the student on a regular basis. If the co-supervisor is also the
daily supervisor, they carry out the supervisor’s tasks as described in this document.
Maintain cordial and supportive relations with the student.
Be committed to reading submitted texts in a timely fashion, depending on the number
of chapters submitted (indication: 25 pages = 1-2 weeks, etc.).
Assist with identifying journals in which to publish research findings.
Keep the PhD supervisor informed of what has been discussed.
Sit on the reading committee in the final phase of the project.

8.6 Expectations applicable to third readers
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Preferably, be an expert in another field/domain or affiliated with another programme
group/institute.
May be from another university.
May be from outside the Netherlands.
Will be considered to sit on the reading committee, though this is not necessary.
May be a different person at each evaluation.

8.7 Trust persons and confidential advisors
During your trajectory you might encounter problems that you would like to talk about, but you
do not know with whom. Think of problems related to time management, stress, physical
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burdens, loneliness, cultural differences, homesickness, conflicts with your supervisors,
harassment, unfair treatment. When problems occur in your trajectory we would urge you to
raise them. There are several levels where you can bring up matters:
1. Discuss the issue with your PhD supervisor or daily supervisor,
2. Discuss it at the Annual Human Resource Meeting with your programme director or
delegated programme group member. Or you can separately contact the programme group
director.
3. Take up the issue with your PhD representative. They could (anonymously) submit your
complaint to the PhD Sounding Board or AISSR management team (depending on the
urgency).
4. Talk with your programme group manager. Like the representatives, and when needed,
they discuss your issue with the PhD Sounding Board or AISSR management team.
5. Make an appointment with the AISSR Policy Officer Karen Kraal. She can offer you a
listening ear and provide you with advice. If you would like, she can discuss your case on
your behalf (anonymously) with the AISSR management board and/or with the PhD
Sounding Board.
If the options above are inadequate, you can contact one of the AISSR’s PhD trust persons. A
trust person can help you out with, or facilitate dialogue on, content- and supervision-related
issues in your PhD. The trust persons do not have a supervisory relationship with the PhD
student, and are usually not a close colleague of the supervisor. In this position they can help to
sort out problems of varying kinds, whether professional or personal, in the PhD trajectory. The
adviser can offer a listening ear, give advice and, if necessary, act as a mediator or negotiator
between the PhD student and the supervisor(s).
There are three trust persons at the AISSR. You are free to contact any of them. You will be
referred to the trust person who is least connected with your workplace. Sometimes it can be
easier to contact an academic that is more distant to your research and your supervisor(s).
When contacting the trust person(s) you are advised to specify, if possible, what kind of issue
you would like to talk about. The trust persons are:
• Rineke van Daalen (based at the Department of Sociology): R.M.vanDaalen@uva.nl
• Anne Loeber (based at the Department of Political Science): A.M.C.Loeber@uva.nl.
• Nicky Pouw (based at the GPIO Department): n.r.m.pouw@uva.nl
If none of the above steps are viable options, you can refer to the UvA confidential advisers.
This will typically be the matter if the problem is not content related: for example, in case of
harassment or unfair treatment by a person or organisational unit at the UvA, including in the
event of a conflict with a supervisor. Confidential staff advisers hold an independent position
within the UvA (they are outside the AISSR in their role as confidential advisors) and are under
an obligation of confidentiality: an adviser will not communicate any information to other parties
(including the AISSR) unless requested and approved by the employee (PhD student) in

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question. You can contact any of the confidential advisors with your problem. Contact details
UvA confidential advisors.
Please also see the UvA Complaints Regulations and the PhD Researchers Association
(UvApro).

8.8 PhD representatives and Sounding Board
Each programme group selects a PhD representative to represent PhD students in the PhD
Sounding Board with AISSR and GSSS management. The representatives advise AISSR and
GSSS management on PhD-related issues and survey such issues for this purpose; they also
facilitate meetings between PhDs at programme group level and activities oriented towards the
academic community - such as discussions of papers and seminars/lectures. Finally, they
introduce new PhDs to the AISSR community and are the primary contact point for PhD-related
issues.
Name

Programme Group

Charlotte Albers

Sociology – “Political sociology”

c.albers@uva.nl

Andrea Forster

Sociology – “ILL”

A.G.Forster@uva.nl

Myra Bosman

Sociology – “Cultural Sociology”

m.bosman@uva.nl

Jordi Halfman

Anthropology- “Globalizing”

j.halfman@uva.nl

Roos Hopman + Chia-Shuo Tang

Anthropology- “Health, Care and the Body”

r.a.hopman@uva.nl
c.s.tang@uva.nl

Ilan Amit

Anthropology – “MoMat”

Ellis Aizenberg + Lisanne de Blok

Political Science - “Challenges”

l.amit@uva.nl
e.aizenberg@uva.nl
e.a.deblok@uva.nl

Daniel DeRock

Political Science - “PETGOV”

D.J.Derock@uva.nl

Esme Bosma

Political Science - “Transnational”

Esme.bosma@uva.nl

Daan Bossuyt

GPIO -“Urban Geographies”

d.m.bossuyt@uva.nl

TBA

GPIO -“GoG”

Tracian Meikle

GPIO -“GID”

t.a.meikle@uva.nl

Daan Bossuyt

GPIO-“Urban Planning”

d.m.bossuyt@uva.nl

8.9 Administrative support: AISSR and department secretariats and
programme managers
The AISSR secretariat can be contacted regarding:
• issues relating to housing
• insurance and visas (for foreign PhDs)
• PhD education – the organisation of PhD courses
• support for scientific meetings, conferences, workshops (booking meeting rooms, hotel
reservations, catering)
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ICT contact person
support for the personal web pages

The department secretariats can be contacted regarding:
• issues relating to teaching
• your PhD appointment at the UvA (for PhD with an UvA contract)
• (flex)office space
• PhD conferral procedures
• reporting sick (with a copy to the AISSR secretariat)
Your programme manager can be contacted regarding:
• issues relating to support for academic activities
• the acquisition of indirect and contract funding
• financial management
• reporting
• issues relating to the AISSR PhD programme and student guidance
The programme manager liaises with secretaries who carry out institute-wide duties.
Each AISSR programme group is supported by a programme manager:
Puikang Chan (525 4148 / p.chan@uva.nl)
o Geographies of Globalizations
o Governance and Inclusive Development
o Urban Planning
o Urban Geographies
Evelien Oomen (525 4087 / e.oomen@uva.nl)
o Challenges to Democratic Representation
o PETGOV
o Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance
Janus Oomen (525 5388 / j.c.oomen@uva.nl)
o Health, Care and the Body
o Globalising Cultures
Yomi van der Veen (525 2745 / y.m.vanderveen@uva.nl)
o Moving Matters
Jeske de Vries (525 2235 / j.devries3@uva.nl)
o Cultural Sociology
o Institutions, Inequalities and Life-Courses
o Political Sociology

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – TRAINING

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9. PhD training
AISSR offers a specialist curriculum for PhD students (in cooperation with the Graduate
School), with training in the specific knowledge and skills needed to successfully complete a
PhD in the social sciences. Open to PhD students from all the different disciplines at the AISSR,
this training programme also contributes to a strong PhD community.
The PhD training programme is open to AISSR PhD students who are formally admitted to the
PhD programme.
All PhD students have to draw up their own personal training programme in consultation with
their PhD supervisor as part of their PhD Trajectory Plan. Together, they decide which courses
the student should take, depending on their previous training. PhD students should follow (or
have followed) sufficient training in Methods, Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Theory (equal to
around 30 ECTS). Which courses are relevant for you depends on your PhD trajectory and the
programme group in which you are involved.

9.1 Courses in the training programme
The AISSR’s PhD training programme is oriented towards methods, theory and transferable
skills consists of five basic components (aissr.uva.nl/phd-programme/trainingprogramme/current-courses).
1. Methodology: advanced-level courses focusing on qualitative and quantitative issues, in
Methodology Ethnographic Research and Research Design (equivalent to 12 ECTS).
You will choose one of the Methods courses depending on your research.
2. MultidisciplinaryTheory: Advanced Course in Social Science Theory and the Great
Thinkers Seminar Series (equivalent to 12 ECTS).
3. Short Intensive Courses (SICs): highly specialised, in-depth lecture courses organised
by PhD students and taught by visiting professors (equivalent to 2,5 ETCS).
4. Transferable skills: courses in writing and presenting in English (equivalent to 1-3
ECTS).
5. Career Orientation Course: This course aims to equip participants with a heightened
sense of awareness of what it takes to be and become a successful social scientific
researcher and how to pursuit a career outside academia.
Another, optional, component enables PhD students requiring a more customised training
programme with courses on specific topics or methods to take Master’s courses at the GSSS
(or elsewhere), subject to the programme group’s approval. Participation in such courses is
financed from the programme group budgets.

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6. Optional and customised courses: courses fitting specific needs, focusing on skills and
topics that complement the individual student’s existing expertise and are relevant to
the project (6/9/12 ECTS).
All PhD students are required to draw up a training programme. They are encouraged to include
the core courses in this programme to help them build specific knowledge and skills, complete
their 8-month paper and engage with the PhD community. Ultimately, however, it is up to the
supervisor and student to decide which courses to take. PhD students who register for courses
are expected to attend and complete them.
Please also keep an eye on:
• the annual AISSR Flying Circus of crash courses in various methods, based on wishes
AISSR researchers have indicated and on teacher availability. This flying circus is
organised by the AISSR Methods Expertise Centre: (aissr.uva.nl/research/methodsexpertise-centre-mec/flying-circus/flying-circus)
• the annual skills courses organised by UvA ProActief like Career Orientation, Funding for all
PhDs of the UvA and Communication and presentation of your PhD: proactief.uva.nl/en/.

9.2 AISSR Short Intensive Courses (SICs)
Short Intensive Courses are initiated, developed and organised by PhD students themselves.
The aim of a SIC’s is to bring PhD students from various programme groups together to jointly
discuss key methodological, theoretical or other academic related work. There a few
requirements for SICs when applying for AISSR funding:
1) There needs to be a minimal amount of people participating, at least 8 from at least three
programme groups, preferably from different disciplines. The commitment of these people
needs to be clearly stated.
2) Non-AISSR participants are only allowed when the minimum requirement of 8 AISSR
participants is reached. Please note that this is and should be an AISSR activity, so the
majority of participants should always be from the AISSR. Costs for non-AISSR PhDs are
usually around € 250 depending on SIC and budget.
3) If fulfilled, one can get ECT points for the course. The points will depend on the duration
and reading requirements of the SIC. Literature: 10 pages per hour
4) Proposal needed beforehand (to AISSR Educational Committee, secretary: Karen Kraal,
k.kraal@uva.nl). Needs to include: structured proposal with education targets, educational
tools, methodology, content, participants, budget indication. Proposal may not exceed 2
pages.
Examples of previous SICs include:
• Globalisation, Crisis and Insecurity
• Rethinking Norbert Elias
• Migration, Medicine and Reproductive Insecurity
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• Visual Methods
• Decision-making under Information Uncertainty, from Perception to Action
• The Body and Technology
• Human Rights: Activism and Site-Specific Research
• The coexistence of the living and the non-living in the city
For more information on these SICs, contact the AISSR secretariat.

9.3 Courses in (research) Master programmes and external
PhD students wishing to take GSSS Research Master’s courses (gsss.uva.nl) have to take the
following policy into account:
• AISSR PhDs may participate in courses in all three GSSS Research Master programs
and in the one-year Master programs that are (sub-)disciplinary overview courses in
theory and substance
• Once or twice a year AISSR will distribute a list of the courses that are open for PhD
• The PhDs taking advantage of this opportunity have to:
o gain approval from their supervisor.
o be registered as students, also in SiS. The department secretariats are
responsible for the SiS registration.
o participate fully, i.e. also complete attendance requirements and are not
allowed to “audit” Master courses
o inform AISSR about the course they would like to follow and not contact GSSS
Lectures directly.
• Master students have priority, i.e. if courses are full PhD students may not be able to
participate.
• The participation of AISSR PhDs in Research Master courses is “free”. PhD students
external to the AISSR do have to pay (contractonderwijs).
Other possibilities for customised courses are those organised by other research schools such
as Nethur (nethur.nl) and CERES (ceres.fss.uu.nl). To register for these courses you first
need approval from your supervisor and programme group (to be recorded in PhD Trajectory
Plan), after which you can contact your programme manager.
To register for external courses you first need approval from your supervisor and programme
group (to be recorded in PhD Trajectory Plan), after which you can contact your programme
manager.

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9.4 Agreement with the Social Science Graduate School of the VU
University
AISSR has come to an agreement with the Social Science Graduate School of the VU University to the exchange of course participation free of charge for PhD candidates. This means that in
addition to our own internal AISSR-GSSS Course programme PhD candidates formally enrolled in the AISSR can participate without fee in the PhD courses offered at the Graduate
School Social Sciences at the VU University. The actual overview of PhD courses offered by VU,
and information about how to sign up can be found through the link below. Some of the courses
are not open for external participants, this is indicated in the course description.
Please note that this agreement is limited to the VU-GSSS PhD programme and that participation is only possible if space permits (usually there is a maximum of 15 participants in a course;
internal PhDs get priority over external participants). This means that if you sign up for a course
at VU-GSSS you will first obtain a provisory registration. Ultimately two weeks before the start of
a course you will get a definite confirmation that you can participate. If you register at a later
date we may not be able to finalize it. Graduate school Social Sciences VU

9.5 Selection of courses and registration
PhD courses have no formal exams as the curriculum is intended to contribute to the overall
PhD research project whose end product is a thesis. In general, these courses are taken during
the first two years, during the project planning phase.
• Note that the AISSR and the programme groups continue to hold overall responsibility for
monitoring PhD students.
• Within the first month of their appointment, PhD students must draw up a Trajectory Plan in
coordination with their PhD supervisor. Among other things, this plan states which courses
the student will take. Together, the student and supervisor select courses from among the
PhD courses offered by the AISSR and GSSS or elsewhere and record these in the
Trajectory Plan.
• The Trajectory Plan and components of the individual training programme will be evaluated
during the Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation and adjusted as necessary.
• The AISSR programme managers and secretariat (Alix Nieuwenhuis) will monitor progress
and keep track of completed courses.
• You can register for the AISSR courses with Alix Nieuwenhuis (a.nieuwenhuis@uva.nl)

9.6 AISSR PhD clubs
The AISSR has several clubs for PhD students. These clubs meet to discuss research plans,
design, data, manuscripts, etc. They offer a friendly environment in which to give and receive
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feedback on research, ideas and papers from a group of peers rather than the supervisory
team. At the same time, these clubs offer an opportunity to learn from fellow PhD students’
research projects and to learn to give constructive feedback. The clubs are led by junior staff
members whose role is to stimulate and mediate discussion. To be informed about the club(s)
within you research domain please contact your PhD representative.
PhD students are highly recommended to take part in one of the AISSR PhD clubs. There might
not be a PhD club for your research interest, in that case PhD students are encouraged to start
their own PhD club. For information please contact your programme manager. PhD clubs are
not necessarily organized along the lines of the programme groups.
Current PhD Clubs:
• Gender & Sexuality PhD Club
The Gender & Sexuality PhD Club is a monthly interdisciplinary meeting of PhD
students who work with gender and/or sexuality, during which we primarily review each
other’s work. Members of the club come from all disciplines hosted by the AISSR,
namely anthropology, geography, international development studies, sociology, and
political science. The topics we study span a wide variety. Examples include the study
of gendered protection norms in armed conflict, sexuality in political representation, and
women’s underrepresentation in organizational authority. Likewise, among us you will
find PhD students employing a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative methods and
data, such as participant observation, interviews, critical frame and narrative analysis,
and quantitative analysis of survey and register data. Interested in joining? Get in touch
with Natalie Welfens (n.welfens@uva.nl) or Dragana Stojmenovska
(d.stojmenovska@uva.nl).
• OLA PhD platform
For PhD who conduct research in Latin-America and the Caribean area:
www.nalacs.nl/ola
• PETGOV (Political Economy and Transnational Governance) PhD club.
Contact: Joep Schaper (j.c.schaper@uva.nl)
• Political Sociology PhD Club
This club serves as a discussion forum among PhDs of sociology, political science,
anthropology and other social sciences interested in the sociological study of political
life. The club covers a wide variety of topics - from ethnicity, migration and gender to
conflict, social movements and urbanism. All qualitative or mixed-methods approaches
are welcomed, including archival research, discourse analysis, policy analysis or
ethnography. The PhD Club meets once a month, usually on the third or last Tuesday,
from 3.30 to 5pm. The meeting is usually centered around the discussion of a (draft)
paper written by one of the PhDs. The aim is to provide honest feedback on the paper
and at the same time to discuss broader methodological or theoretical issues that are
relevant to many of us. If you would like to be added to the mailing list or have any other
questions contact: Katharina Natter (k.natter@uva.nl).
• Science and Technology Studies Reading Club
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They read diverse texts within the field of STS, but with a focus on ANT and material
semiotics. Authors whose work have recently been read include: Donna Haraway, Londa Schiebinger, Bruno Latour, Sarah Whatmore, Timothy Choy, Isabelle Stengers, Vinciane Despret, Teun Zuiderent-Jerak, Stefan Helmreich, Des Fitzgerald, Felicity Callard,
Annemarie Mol, Marisol de la Cadena, Astrid Schrader, Marilyn Strathern, Eduardo
Viveiros de Castro, Chunglin Kwa and John Law. They meet every month. The reading
club is open for everyone (regardless of ‘rank’ or university) but is based at the University of Amsterdam and counts as an ‘official’ PhD reading club for the graduate programme at AISSR. Contact Else Vogel for more information: E.Vogel@uva.nl
PhD club Quantitative Inequality and Network Research
The PhD club currently consists of a core group of about 9 PhD students. New PhD
students from all disciplines are welcome. They meet every 2nd Tuesday of the month
from 15.30-17.00 in B5.12. Research topics within the group are rdiverse, e.g.,
education systems, neighbourhoods, family structure and social networks. The research
topics are related to inequality in the broadest sense and make use of quantitative
methods. Contact: Marina Tulin (m.tulin@uva.nl) and Andrea Forster
(a.g.forster@uva.nl).

9.7 Financing courses
•

PhD courses organised by the AISSR (in methods, theory, the SICs, Career and
transferable skills) are financed from the central AISSR budget. At the programme
group level, budgets are coordinated to cover the costs of external courses. All courses
that a PhD student intends to take should be recorded in the PhD Trajectory Plan and
approved by the PhD supervisor (and the programme group in the case of external
courses).

9.8 Educational committee
The AISSR Educational Committee PhD has the task of assuring the quality of teaching and of
the teaching process of the AISSR-GSSS PhD educational programme. The Committee will
meet twice a year to:
• Advise on the curriculum
• Advise on the regulations of the AISSR-GSSS Training Programme
• Discuss the results of the student evaluations
• Discuss proposals for Short Intensive Courses (SIC’s)
• Discuss other education related issues (based on remarks/complaints from students,
teachers, supervisors, PhD Sounding Board etc.)
• Prepare an advisory or discussion note for the annual meeting of the AISSR Scientific
Educational Board (Programme Council plus GSSS Director)
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The committee is composed of the AISSR Scientific Director (Brian Burgoon), the GSSS
Scientific Director (Annette Freyberg-Inan), two senior academic staff (Hebe Verrest and Beate
Volker), 1 PhD representative (Jordi Halfman) and the senior educational policy officer (Karen
Kraal).

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – TEACHING

2017-2018

10. Teaching
The basic principles of PhD employee involvement in teaching are: (a) teaching programme
directors first indicate if and where PhD capacity is needed in their programmes; (b) involvement
in teaching is restricted to PhD candidates with employee status (e.g. not applicable to
bursaries and external PhD candidates); (c) at the start of their PhD trajectory candidates will be
asked if they want to be involved in teaching (in due consultation with their supervisors); (d) as a
guideline PhD candidates that are going to teach will do so for 10% of their time, although
different percentages may be negotiated between parties; (e) PhD candidates with three or 3.5
year appointments will be compensated with three, respectively one and a half month additional
contract time; and (f) the ‘reward’ for PhD candidates consists of relevant academic teaching
experience, and a free spendable working budget of € 500 annually.
The organisation of teaching duties should be discussed with the supervisor and recorded in the
PhD Trajectory Plan. PhD who are not under contract at AISSR but would like to teach should
discuss this with their supervisor or during the annual Human Resource meeting.
Possible teaching activities in the first phase of the PhD:
• Preparation of study/tutorial groups to support lecture courses (first and second-year
undergraduate programmes).
• Marking lecture course papers/exams.
Possible teaching activities in the later phase of the PhD:
• Contribute to thematic courses as a lecturer for specific modules (third-year undergraduate
programmes)
• Co-supervise Bachelor’s thesis projects.
• Contribute to teaching Master’s courses in the particular research domain in cooperation
with the regular staff member (PhD supervisor).
• Occasionally, co-supervise a Master’s thesis within the particular research domain.
Teaching tasks will be planned during the first months of the calendar year and finalised in
April/May.
As only a few of the undergraduate courses (e.g. International Development Studies) are
offered in English, and many PhD students do not speak Dutch, alternative possibilities for
fulfilling the teaching requirement are:
a. Contribute to departmental courses taught in English (teaching assistantships at the
International School).
b. Assist AISSR staff members with their research.
c. Other types of assistance at the departments.
d. Contribute to teaching Master’s courses in the particular research domain in cooperation
with the regular staff member (PhD supervisor).
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e. Occasionally, supervise a Master’s thesis within the particular research domain.
It is advisable to spread these teaching activities out evenly over the three/four years of the
appointment. Because many PhD students are unable to teach in their second year whilst doing
fieldwork and collecting data, most will have a relative heavier teaching load in their first, third
and (if applicable) fourth years.
The total number of hours that a PhD student has worked per course will be calculated jointly by
the student and senior staff members (course coordinators). To this end, PhD students are to
keep a record of the actual hours worked. If a student spends more working hours on a course
than agreed, these additional hours will be carried over to the next year of the appointment and
taken into account when determining the teaching load or other duties for that year. In March of
each year, the chairpersons of the departments involved and the AISSR academic director will
lay down the educational or other duties required of PhD students in the academic year ahead.
These provisions will be based on departmental overviews of courses or activities for which the
departments wish to call on PhD students.
As an aid to fulfilling their teaching duties, PhD students at the AISSR can take an introductory
didactics course and receive coaching for new lecturers. PhD students are informed about
teaching-related issues by the department secretariats.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – FINANCIAL SUPPORT 2017-2018

11. Financial expenses and support
The rules set out in this section are general rules. The final study and research budget allocated
for each PhD student is determined in consultation with the relevant programme director and
may deviate from these general rules, depending on the PhD grant. Your contact person for
matters relating to financial support is the programme manager of your programme
group. All funding requests are handled by this programme manager and they will explain all
the procedures when you start your PhD.

11.1 Study and research expenses
AISSR PhD students can submit a budget proposal for a maximum of EUR 1,500 per year (max.
EUR 6,000 for four years) to cover the costs of courses and conferences, travel expenses for
fieldwork and other research-related costs insofar as they are not covered by grants (from the
NWO, WOTRO, NFP, EU, etc.). The programme director presents this proposal to the programme
manager for approval three months in advance, using a fixed budget template provided by the
programme manager. PhD students are expected to make optimal use of opportunities to obtain
third-party grants to finance their study and research, and in particular NWO grants to fund study
periods abroad and remaining PhD research.
Funding applications are evaluated by the programme manager on basis of the following criteria:
1. The applicant can present an invitation from a conference organiser or the director of the
institute where the study visit will take place.
2. The applicant will be presenting a paper (in the case of a conference)
3. The applicant will be presenting work in progress (chapters of their PhD thesis) to staff
members at the institute where the study visit will take place. The applicant can give the
names of at least three colleagues with whom the work in progress can be discussed (in the
case of a study visit).
4. The applicant can explain the importance of the visit for the completion of the thesis (in the
case of a study visit or conference).
5. If possible, the applicant can illustrate that the conference paper may lead to publication in
an academic journal.
6. The supervisor fully supports the visit and its timing (as attested in a written statement, to be
requested by the applicant).

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – FINANCIAL SUPPORT

2017-2018

11.2 Books
In exceptional circumstances where books needed for thesis research are not available from a
Dutch library (via Interlibrary Loan, IBL), students may purchase them and submit a request for
reimbursement.

11.3 Transcription of interviews
As a rule, students should transcribe 1/3 themselves in order to ensure they are familiar with the
material. The maximum rate for transcription is EUR 15 per hour.

11.4 Reimbursement of travel expenses incurred for application and
first and last working days
PhD students from abroad with direct funding from the AISSR can apply for a reimbursement of
the travel expenses for their admission interview at the AISSR and for their first and last working
days (does the last working day include the day of the PhD defence as well as opposed to the
last day of the contract), and for travel to their country of origin. PhD students funded by the
NWO, WOTRO, NFP and other agencies can usually cover these costs from their grant.

11.5 Thesis production expenses 3
1. There should be a mention in the text that the AISSR helped to make the research possible
and helped finance the thesis. The AISSR requires two copies of the printed thesis, which
can be handed in at the AISSR secretariat.
2. The AISSR can contribute a maximum of EUR 1,500 (including VAT) toward the production
expenses (like book printing, visuals, layout), plus a maximum of EUR 1,500 for editing if the
supervisor and the PhD student feel it is important to publish the thesis in English, French or
German. Applications for these funds should be directed to the programme manager.
3. If the thesis cannot be presented to the evaluation committee on the date on which the
appointment terminates, further consultation with AISSR management will be required to
determine the financing of thesis production costs.
4. Please note that it is not a formal requirement that your thesis is edited by a professional
editor, or printed by a printing company.

These rules apply to the PhD students who hold an appointment at the AISSR or receive a fellowship from the AISSR.
Rules for PhD students funded by other organisations are laid down in special agreements.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – FINANCIAL SUPPORT 2017-2018

11.6 Editing
If you are having your thesis edited, it is highly advisable to choose an editor that is familiar with
your topic and/or your field of research. We would suggest asking your close colleagues or supervisor who they would recommend as an editor. You can also ask your progamme manager.
Please also note that layout may add to the production costs (most notably for graphs and cover); you can either do the layout yourself or ask printing companies to do it for you.
Editors that are familiar with the social sciences are following (NB: this list is illustrative: it is by
no means exhaustive and the persons on the list are not as such officially recommended/endorsed by the AISSR):
• Karina Hof: k.t.hof@uva.nl
• Michelle Luijben, michelle@marksediting.nl, www.marksediting.nl
• Suzan Piper: www.wotcrossculture.com.au/
• Lee Mitzman: lmitzman@xs4all.nl
• Turner Translations (Ian Turner): I.Turner@kpnplanet.nl
• Zoe Goldstein: zoegoldstein@hotmail.com

11.7 Printing/production
If you are having your thesis printed by a printing company, it can be difficult to choose which
one is the most suitable. This will usually depend on a number of factors, such as the quantity,
whether or not you work with graphs or only text; whether or not you need coloured images etc..
Please note that you will need to provide 12 copies of your thesis to the university and 2 copies
to the AISSR (see above); in addition, you will need a copy for each member of your committee.
Therefore count on a minimum of 20 copies - but maybe you would like to have more for colleagues or family.
Examples of printing companies that we often see in the social sciences are the following, alphabetically ordered (NB: this list is illustrative: it is by no means exhaustive and the companies
on the list are not as such officially recommended/endorsed by the AISSR):
•
•
•
•
•
•

Almanakker > http://www.almanakker.nl/
Ipskamp printing > https://www.ipskampprinting.nl/
Printservice Ede > https://printservice-ede.nl/
Proefschiftmaken.nl > www.proefschriftmaken.nl
Proefschrift all in one > http://www.proefschrift-aio.nl/
Wörhmann Print Service Zutphen > http://cpibooks.com/nl-proefschrift/

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – FINANCIAL SUPPORT

2017-2018

11.8 Defence costs
There are various costs that relate to the PhD defence: these can be split between production
costs (for the editing and printing of the PhD thesis) and other costs, such as location, reception
and dinner/lunch with your committee. The AISSR can reimburse some of the costs related to
the printing and editing of the thesis (see under 10.3. of this guide), but not the other costs that
relate to your defence. The costs for the PhD defence that are not reimbursable (and you will
therefore have to pay yourself) are the following:
• Reception
The defence takes place at either the ‘Agnietenkapel’ or the ‘Aula’ (Spui). The Agnietenkapel is the more common location. It is not possible to defend at an alternative location, for
example in an office or a teaching room.You can opt to have drinks or snacks served in the
Agnietenkapel or Aula after the defence ceremony. The costs depend on the number of
guests and the types of drinks/snacks ordered. A reception is not an obligation. However, if
a reception is not ordered you are asked to leave the defence location immediately after the
defence. In that case there is no possibility for on the spot congratulations. Catering on location is provided by Eurest. There is no possibility to cater yourself on location, or to have
a caterer that is different from Eurest. If you decide to have a reception on location, please
note that the catering ordered at Eurest cannot be limited/capped (i.e. you cannot just order
5 cans of tea: you just order ‘tea’ and then later you pay later the amount you have actually
used). This makes it difficult to estimate what you will spend on the reception in advance.
Alternatively, you may consider taking guests to a nearby bar/café.
• Dinner / lunch with the defence committee
Sometimes, there is an (informal) expectation that PhD student will take his or her defence
committee out for lunch or dinner. Although this is not a formal requirement, in practice
many PhD students do this as a gesture of appreciation.

11.9 Premium for theses defended within six months
Under AISSR regulations, students who defend their PhD thesis within six months after the
termination of their PhD grant will receive a premium payment of EUR 1,500. In view of the
practical and bureaucratic problems PhD students can encounter in the process leading to up to
the thesis defence, AISSR management has decided to offer this premium payment of EUR
1,500 if:
a) the defence takes place within six months after the termination of the PhD grant; or
b) the student’s manuscript is approved by the Doctoral Committee within four months after
the termination of the PhD grant (academic holidays not included, if any or all of the sixweek evaluation period falls in an academic holiday).
In the event that circumstances beyond the student’s control (for example, if the committee
takes more than the allotted six weeks to evaluate the manuscript) make it impossible to
45

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – FINANCIAL SUPPORT 2017-2018

obtain approval from the committee within four months after the termination of the grant, and
provided the student can furnish evidence (e.g. the mailing date) verifying that the manuscript
was delivered in time, the student has a right to request AISSR management to grant the
premium as soon as the committee approves the thesis. This rule only applies if the
committee approves the manuscript in the first round of evaluation.

11.10 Financial aspects of foreign participation in thesis committees
AISSR management has laid down the following criteria for paying the expenses associated
with foreign-member participation in thesis committees.
1. The foreign member’s participation is of the utmost importance for an adequate evaluation
of the manuscript (an invitation based solely on relational considerations is insufficient).
2. The foreign member’s presence is important not only for the defence ceremony but also for
the AISSR in other respects. Examples are if the foreign member gives a presentation at a
staff seminar or meets with a group (minimal 5) of PhD students to discuss their work in
progress.
3. If other research schools or institutes also have a stake in the foreign member’s visit, the
costs will be shared between them and the AISSR.
4. The AISSR can only fund the visit of one foreign committee member.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE- ETHICS & INTEGRITY

2017-2018

12. Ethics and Integrity
The AISSR has developed a procedure for the ethical review of research plans and an Integrity
protocal.
Ethics
The aim is for you to devote time and effort to thinking through and making explicit how your
research plans will lead to good research, not only in a methodological sense but also in
another sense, call it social, ethical, aesthetic or something else.
The Faculty Ethics Committee has formally mandated the AISSR Ethics Advisory Board to
advise and give guidance in addressing ethical issues specific to research in the domain of
social sciences. This board supports the ethical reflection on new research projects and, if
needed, grants permission to conduct them.
If you ask for ethical permission, your research plan, including your ethics section, will be
assessed by the AISSR Ethics Advisory Board, which is composed of researchers at the
Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research. In the case of a disagreement, it is possible to
call upon the ethics committee of the Social Science Faculty.
Each PhD is required to submit their proposal for ethical review to the AISSR Ethical Advisory
Board.
Procedure ethical review (aissr.uva.nl/research)
Contact: k.kraal@uva.nl
Integrity
The AISSR has developed an Integrity Protocol that articulates AISSR-wide standards on
scholarly integrity and research data management in the AISSR research community. Its
purpose is to promote and guard academic integrity for the AISSR, but also to facilitate quality
of our research enterprise in terms of scholarly and societal impact. Good research practices
come with responsibilities that not only acknowledge the professional role of academics in
academia, but also in society as a whole.
The Protocol builds on fundamental principles and responsibilities that have become the basis
of international consensus: honesty, accountability, professional courtesy and fairness and good

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – PHD TRAJECTORY PLAN

2017-2018

stewardship. The standards with respect to all of these themes apply to all researchers:
regardless of discipline or research group; regardless of one’s views on how theoretical
argument relates to the empirical world (diverse positions on epistemology and on the value of
causal and descriptive inference); and regardless of one’s methodology (e.g. particular
qualitative or quantitative methods). Given that social scientists are public intellectuals, the
standards apply to researchers in all their professional capacities and all their public statements
(in online- or print-writing, audio or video interaction).
The integrity issues on which we focus also relate to standards of collegiality and responsibility.
However, our focus here is on issues and misconduct with respect to actual research integrity,
where misconduct is understood as ‘scientific dishonesty and infringement of scientific
5
integrity’.
The Protocol focuses on standards with respect to five different aspects of (non-)integrity that
deserve further elaboration: (1) Scientific fraud; (2) Plagiarism; (3) Self-citation; (4) Ownership
and intellectual property rights; (5) Authorship; (6) Conflicts of interest; and (7) Research data
management (RDM).
These standards should be taken as binding guidelines for the entire AISSR research
community, and can be the basis of scholarly review of individual members and programme
groups in that community. Most importantly, the standards ought to be the subject of discussion
and debate to clarify, carry-out and update these standards to the end of improving our scientific
quality.
The AISSR Integrity Protocol will be published soon. For questions please contact: Yomi van
der Veen (y.m.vanderveen@uva.nl)

See: Singapore Statement on Research Integrity, www.singaporestatement.org (8 April 2016). Compare with: European Science Foundation and ALL European Academies (2011), “The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity”,
URL www.esf.org/fileadmin/Public_documents/Publications/Code_Conduct_ResearchIntegrity.pdf
VSNU (2004, herziening 2014), “De Nederlandse Gedragscode Wetenschapsbeoefening. Principes van Goed Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs en Onderzoek”, URL:
www.vsnu.nl/files/documenten/Domeinen/Onderzoek/Code_wetenschapsbeoefening_2004_(2014).pdf
5
Heilbron, Johan, (2005), “Scientific Research: Dilemmas and Temptations”, KNAW.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – PHD TRAJECTORY PLAN

2017-2018

13. PhD Trajectory Plan form
st

(first draft to be finalised in the 1 month of the PhD Trajectory. You can only enrol in the
educational programme when this Trajectory Plan is completed and approved by your
supervisor)
This form needs to be filled out and updated for each annual meeting. It is signed by the
promotor(s) and the PhD candidate and formally approved by the programme director, the AISSR
academic director and the GSSS academic director (training element). When completed please
send it to your programme manager.
Personal details:
1.
Name of PhD candidate:
Starting date:
End date:
Title of the research project:
Programme group:
Supervision Team:
6
2.
Promotor:
3.
Co-promotor(s): please indicate if also daily supervisor
4.
Third reader(s):
Summary Dissertation:
5.
Summary of dissertation research and definition of research problem (not to exceed
100 words):
Education:
6.
Courses followed/planned:
Year 1:
Year 2:
Year 3:
Year 4:
7.
Involvement in PhD clubs:
Teaching:
8.
Teaching load and agreements with the supervisor and department
Year 1:
Year 2:
Year 3:
Year 4:
6

Please note that a daily supervisor need not necessarily be a full professor. The promotor does, however, need to be a
professor and can be distinct from the daily supervisor.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – PHD TRAJECTORY PLAN

2017-2018

Supervision:
9.
Agreements on supervision between PhD candidates and (co)promotors. Specify the
frequency of meetings, etc. If applicable, which agreements have been made regarding
7
supervision in case of promotor’s absence or sabbatical leave?
Year 1:
Year 2:
Year 3:
Year 4:
Publishing:
10.
Publication Plan
Year 1:
Year 2:
Year 3:
Year 4:
Participation (international) academic community:
11.
Conferences and workshops
Year 1:
Year 2:
Year 3:
Year 4:

PhD candidates and supervisors are advised to meet on a regular basis. To prevent misunderstandings, it is also
advisable to keep a list of appointment dates and to take notes during meetings.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – PHD TRAJECTORY PLAN

2017-2018

Overview Schedule
12.
Trajectory at a glance
Schedule for 4 years PhD Trajectory*
Year 1
Month

Activity

Hand in PhD Trajectory Plan

Hand in 8-Month Paper

Go-No-Go/Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation & update of Trajectory Plan

Fieldwork start

Hand in Fieldwork Report

(24)**

Return from the field

Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation & update of Trajectory Plan

(28)*

Draft 1st chapter/article finished

(32)**

Draft 2nd chapter/article finished

(36)**

Draft 3rd chapter/article finished

Annual Thesis Progress Evaluation & update of Trajectory Plan

(40)**

Draft 4th chapter/article finished

Draft dissertation finished

Dissertation finished/Exit meeting

Year 2

Date***

*This trajectory plan is a model for a 4-years trajectory. Please adjust the plan in agreement
with your contract and your supervisor and programme director/programme manager.
** Indicative, please adjust these according to your specific planning
***Please insert the specific dates.
Checklist
Did you request permission to apply for a doctorate degree from the department
secretariat (for Anthropology: secretariaat-antr@uva.nl, Sociology: secretariaat-socfmg@uva.nl), Political Sciences: sec-pol-fmg@uva.nl, GPIO: gpio-fmg@uva.nl)? This
should be done at the start of your trajectory.
Did you submit your research proposal to the AISSR Ethical Advisory Board
(aissr.uva.nl/research/ethical-review)? This should be done before the start of your data
gathering/fieldwork

PhD candidate:
Date:
Signature:
Promoter/supervisor:
Date:
Signature:
Please submit a signed version of the (updated) Trajectory Plan to your programme
manager.
51

Year 3

Year 4

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE- 8-MONTH PAPER

2017-2018

14. Structure of the 8-month paper8
1. Project title
2. Brief description of the project (16 lines)
3. Research question
a. Describe the field of study and the existing/relevant body of knowledge with reference to
what is not known, what has been neglected and what the central aim of the proposed
research is.
b. The core question: What is the central question you would like to answer with this
research? How will you break the central question down into sub-questions such that
the answers to these, when linked, provide answers to the central question?
Substantiate each sub-question.
4. Innovative character of the proposed project
• What is the significance of your thesis?
• Does it make an original contribution to the field?
• Is it of specific social or theoretical relevance?
5. Theoretical considerations
• Sketch the dominant theoretical approaches.
• Sketch the dominant empirical and theoretical debates.
• How does your research fit in with the present state of research and
theoretical discussions in your field?
• Which scholars in your field do you find especially relevant to your work?
6. Proposition, hypotheses and concepts
• What is the central proposition?
• What are the working hypotheses?
• What are the main theoretical concepts you intend to use?
7. Data
• Describe the empirical data, i.e. the sources to be used for answering the
research questions.
• How do you intend to gather your data?
• Do you have all the permissions that may be required?
• Have the necessary informants agreed to cooperate?
• Do you have access to the archives you need?
8. List of publications relevant to the project

Please note that this is not the same as the research proposal for or through which a PhD student is hired, though that
proposal may serve as the basis. In the case of students with Vidi, Vici, ERC or similar grants, the 8-month paper should
always reflect the interests of the project. 8-month papers are a minimum of ten and preferably not more than 20 pages.
Line spacing:1.5, font size: 11 or 12, font: Times New Roman, Book Antiqua, Arial or similar. Papers may be longer if
the daily supervisor deems necessary.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – 8 MONTH PAPER

2017-2018

9. Short provisional bibliography
10. Proposed time schedule for the activities planned.
11. Draw up a provisional table of contents in writing.

14.1 Main evaluation points for the 8-month paper
The 8-month paper is mainly intended to set out the following aspects of the student’s project
and the research problem to be studied:
• Disciplinary embedding
- Subject of research in relation to the field of study.
- Choices made and presuppositions on which these are based.
The disciplinary embedding of a research problem is considered adequate when the
following aspects of the problem have been clarified:
- The field of study.
- The research theme(s) associated with the problem.
- The choices and presuppositions made in relation to the subject matter.
- The rationale for these choices and presuppositions.
•
Relevance
A well-formulated substantiation convinces the reader of three things:
- That the research problem has not yet been answered satisfactorily.
- That answering the research problem is worthwhile in that it contributes to
science.
- That the student has tried to make the research problem as informative as
possible.
•
Precision
The student’s research is aimed at finding an answer to a question. That answer
represents a statement about a particular subject. To be considered precise, a research
problem should incorporate as comprehensive as possible a formulation of this statement.
There are three steps to the precise formulation of a research problem: limit the domain,
add a core statement, and define the variables (and underlying relations between them).
•
Methodical functionality
- A research problem is considered functional when it helps the researcher to
determine or stake out the steps that need to be taken to answer the research
question. A functional research problem: makes clear what the purpose of the
research is and is worked out to into a fitting research framework. Possible
functions of a research problem include describing, comparing, defining,
evaluating, explaining and designing.
- A research problem must be placed within a research framework. This
framework is an elaboration of the basic research problem into a number of
sub-questions, each of which requires a particular line of investigation within the
parameters of the overall research project.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – 8 MONTH PAPER

2017-2018

14.2 Points of note for the 8-month paper
•
•
•

•
•

•

•
•

•

Does it pose a clear, central ‘social science’ question/problem?
Is there an overarching idea and hypothesis? Are there good working hypotheses?
Does the author express a clear and original line of thought? Is the author’s own position
sufficiently clear? Is the author prepared to take certain risks in the course of the
research? Is the subject truly relevant? Is this the first time that the problem is being
studied? Does the topic have social relevance? Does the study include interesting
comparative aspects?
Has the author integrated relevant thematic literature and has the topic also been studied
in a setting besides the case study location (in terms of the scope of the study)?
Is there evidence of a debate, dispute or difference of opinion? Does the author make
reference to important discussions? Has the relevant literature been studied? Has the
author used results from other studies?
Is it clear how the theories presented will fit into the thesis? What is the theoretical
relevance of the study? Is there sufficient theoretical grounding? Will the thesis contribute
to important theoretical debates? Is there a balance between the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ (in
terms of the relationship between description and explanation)? Does the author plan to
confine their discussion to social science interpretation? Have they clearly opted for social
science explanations, or are they simply planning to make inventories?
Does the paper operationalise concepts in lucid terms? And is there a clear link between
theoretical and empirical aspects?
Has the author engaged in the key processes of elaborating, compiling, developing and
describing? In other words, does the author go beyond simply summing up unchanging
and uncontextualised concepts; do they seek out patterns and apply a ‘social science
approach’?
What is the author trying to demonstrate and what data are needed to do this?
Is the plan overly ambitious? Is there enough of a focus, and have the boundaries been
sufficiently delineated? What are the author’s chances of actually being able to gather the
required data within the specified period of time?
As regards research methods:
o What is the relationship between quantitative and qualitative research? How
has the source material been studied? What is the quality of the sources? How
will the interviews be carried out? Does the paper provide adequate information
about the interviews and respondents? Is it clear why a certain period or
periods is/are being studied? Is the material representative? Is it clear which
data and methods will be used?
o The paper should also provide a provisional table of contents and present a
structure and plan that are formulated as clearly and concisely as possible.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE- FIELDWORK REPORT

2017-2018

15. Structure of the interim fieldwork report (if applicable)
1.
2.
3.
4.

Name
PhD supervisor
Fieldwork location
Description of data collection to date
• Month by month overview
• People interviewed/spoken with
• Archives/information sites visited
• Special cases/events
5. Problems in the field
• Difficulties of access
• Language issues
• Research design issues
• Personal and/or traumatic issues
6. Initial data analysis
• Which themes can already be identified?
• Reconsideration of the main research question(s)
• How well do the findings connect with the theoretical framework?
• What topics/issues need more attention?
• Revision of the proposed table of contents
7. Schedule for the coming months

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – PHD BASED ON ARTICLES 2017-2018

Annex 1 Guidelines for PhDs based on articles
1. All guidelines are subject to the General Doctorate Regulations of the UvA (Algemeen
Promotiereglement) and to the formal agreement between the official PhD supervisor and
PhD student (as recorded in the PhD Trajectory Plan).
2. The General Doctorate Regulations of the UvA require:
a. “If the thesis consists of an article or articles in the name of several authors: a page
with a complete reference list with a list of authors for each article and an
explanation of the relative importance of the co-authors; “ (Article 15, clause 5).
b. “If the thesis manuscript includes articles that have been written by several authors,
it is the duty of the supervisor to evaluate whether the doctoral candidate has made
an independent contribution to the articles that is sufficient to warrant the conferral
of the doctorate. If necessary, the supervisor will inform the Doctorate Committee of
the manner in which the articles were written and what the contribution of the
doctoral candidate was. As defined in Article 15, clause 5, the candidate is required
to include a list of references in the thesis manuscript”. (Article 16, clause 5)
c. ‘If the doctoral thesis consists (partly) of articles that have been written in the name
of several authors, the co-authors of these articles may only make up a minority of
the remaining (voting) members of the Doctorate Committee”. (Article 20, clause 8)
3. PhD students at the AISSR have the option to complete a PhD thesis on the basis of
research articles. It can also be written in the form of a monograph.
4. In keeping with the primary role of PhD supervisors under the General Doctorate
Regulations, it is at the PhD supervisor(s) and supervisors discretion whether to permit a
student to do a PhD thesis based on articles or as a monograph.
5. It is wise to make the choice for an article-based thesis or a monograph during the first year
of the PhD.
6. In the case of an article-based thesis, all agreements must be recorded in the PhD
Trajectory Plan that is signed by the PhD student and PhD supervisor.
7. A PhD thesis based on research articles must meet the following minimum criteria:
a. The thesis should consist of at minimum four substantive articles (as opposed to
pieces that could only be submitted as book reviews or research notes).
b. One of the articles may also be published in or submitted for an edited collection of
papers published by an academic press.
c. At least one of the articles should be written by the PhD student as sole author.
d. The articles can include pieces for which the PhD student is listed as second (or
later) author, but the student should be the first or only author for the majority of the
articles (i.e. should there be four articles, no more than one may list the student as
second or later author).
e. In exceptional cases a PhD thesis may include no single-author article(s). In that
case, the PhD student should be the first author of all articles that make up the
56

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – PHD BASED ON ARTICLES 2016-2017

10.

11.

thesis. Approval for such exceptions must be explicitly requested from and granted
in writing by the PhD supervisor.
f. In exceptional cases a PhD thesis may consist of only three research articles if a
substantial amount of time was spent on collecting new data. This must be
approved in writing by the PhD supervisor.
g. At least one article should be accepted and three other articles formally submitted
and under review.
h. PhD student who want to pursue an academic career should try to build up a strong
academic CV. Therefore, it is advisable to submit the four papers to journals with a
good reputation, and not to journals that do not meet the minimal criteria of
internationally peer-reviewed journals. These minimal criteria are typically
formulated on programme group/discipline level.
i. The articles should be accompanied by an introductory chapter and conclusion that
are single-authored by the PhD student and that provide an integral overview of the
project, identifying links between the articles and articulating the broader research
agenda.
j. The model of authorship (e.g. co-authorship with supervisors or PhD supervisors) is
to be mutually agreed between the PhD supervisor and the PhD student and must
be recorded in the PhD Trajectory Plan.
Authorship should without exception be based upon:
a. Substantial contributions to ideas and development thereof, or development and
analysis of theoretic models, or data collection, or analysis and interpretation of
data. We strongly advise to include a footnote or other text form that specifies the
contributions.
b. Preparation of the actual manuscript or critical revision of the article's intellectual
content.
c. Responsibility for the article version that shall be published.
The above three criteria (8 a, b and c) must all be fulfilled in order to qualify as coauthorship. An administrative relationship, acquisition of funding, collection of data, or
general supervision of a research group alone does not constitute authorship.
PhD candidates should explicitly discuss co-authorship with all possible parties (among
which one’s supervisor). Where the work is directly a result of the PhD project, the PhD
candidate will be first author. In other projects, order of authorship should be decided on the
basis of importance of contribution and otherwise alphabetically. All agreements should be
documented in the PhD Trajectory Plan.
These criteria should be met for each article separately.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – MINIMUM GUIDELINES

2017-2018

Annex 2 Monitoring PhD Contracts and Rights
The AISSR seeks to maintain standards for fair and effective treatment and supervision of all
PhD scholarship conducted within the AISSR fold. To facilitate such treatment and supervision,
we have developed guidelines to PhD standards.
We will distinguish between modal standards and minimum standards. The modal standards
guide the reviewing process: when contracts are below these standards reviewing will take
place and supervisors and programme groups will be contacted to provide additional information around the contract and the PhD student in special. Main question to be answered is if
the PhD student is equipped enough (educational background, finances, experience) to finalise
his/her thesis under the contract conditions. The minimum standards are in principle the bottom
line under which preferably no contracts should be offered. These minimum standards have
been approved by the AISSR Programme Council.
Note that these are guidelines and not rules, since we know that PhD contracts may and do
sometimes depart from the standards, also the minimum in exceptional cases. Furthermore, as
AISSR we have to respect the top-down structure of our organisation and with that the autonomy of our programme groups and supervisors/professors. With this important point in mind, here
are the standards that guide our monitoring of PhD contracts and benefits.

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – MINIMUM GUIDELINES

2017-2018

Guidelines PhD Contracts

Monthly pay

Modal

Minimum

The modal income for a PhD’s con-

Similar to Modal

tract is no less than € 1.430 bursary
amount (while living in the Netherlands), which in contractual time
translates into the income from an
UvA contract of 0.8 FTE employment.
This can involve monies coming from
a given combination of UvA-financed
teaching and research time. But it can
also come from any other external
source of funding – as is already true
for those with an extra-UvA employer.
Research time

The modal research time is roughly

In UvA contracts, the guideline is that

0.6 FTE. When other activities are

this be no less than 0.4 FTE reserved

carried out at an employer or within

for a research appointment, half of the

the context of employment that is

0.8 FTE minimum. When other activi-

related to or an extension of the PhD

ties are carried out at an employer or

research this should be clearly stated.

within the context of employment that is
related to or an extension of the PhD
research this should be clearly stated.

Duration

The modal appointment duration is 4

The minimum term of an appointment

years, where the PhD contract is at or

when at the start of a PhD should be

close to full time. When this period is

3.5 years where the PhD contract is at

shorter it should be argued that PhD is

or close to full time. When this period is

equipped enough to complete the

shorter it should be argued that PhD is

trajectory within the given timeframe.

equipped enough to complete the
trajectory within the given timeframe.

Guidelines PhD benefits
For PhD who are financed by external parties, external parties might have formulated different
benefits. Therefore, please check the specifics of your contract with your programme manager.
a. PhD students registered as AISSR PhD are entitled to register to take courses within the
AISSR doctoral programme.
b. PhD students registered as AISSR PhD are entitled to ask for compensation of research
expenses and to attend at least one academic conference per year (guideline: agreement of
his/her supervisor; is he/she presenting a paper). In case of external funding: applications
should be submitted to the project leader of the externally funded research, and if the

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – MINIMUM GUIDELINES

2017-2018

project’s means are insufficient to the AISSR programme director. Applications will be
evaluated on their substantive merits.
c. PhD students registered as AISSR PhD are entitled to €1500 for dissertation production
costs (based on receipts, reduced by other contributions, such as from NWO).
d. PhD students registered as AISSR PhD receive €1500 bonus for obtaining a doctorate
within 6 months of expiry of the formal employment contract/bursary agreement or, after
approval by the reading committee, within 4 months of expiry of contract (with due regard
for the holiday period July and August).
e. PhD students registered as AISSR PhD may send a formal request to the programme group
manager for English correction up to a maximum of €1500.
f. Reimbursement PhD students coming over for his/her defence: airline ticket;
accommodation to a maximum of a 7 days stay; per diem to a maximum of €30 a day (10
lunch and 20 dinner) for a period of max 7 days (this only concerns PhD students living
abroad who will not have reimbursed the costs mentioned above out of their project or
otherwise).
Monitoring PhD Contracts
Formal agreements are developed by supervisors and programme group/department and monitored by AISSR. In specific cases (when contracts are flagged by AISSR) and when approved
by both new PhD and supervisor the potential contracts will be shared with the AISSR PhD
Sounding Board who may give their advice within a given timeframe. Conformance with agreements will be discussed during the annual Human Resource meetings. The overall monitoring of
contracts will be discussed during the PhD Sounding Board meetings. All cases will be dealt
with confidential and anonymous.
Flagging your case
When an AISSR PhD is of the opinion that his/her contract is not a fair contract he/she can take
the following steps:
1. If possible, discuss the contract terms and your PhD Trajectory with your supervisor. When
supervisor and PhD both agree that the terms need to be discussed the supervisor has to
take this to the programme group director and AISSR Management. When there exists a
conflict of opinion between supervisor and PhD, PhD can discuss this with the PhD representative of his/her group who can take the case (anonymously) to the PhD Sounding
Board or see step 2.
2. When it is not possible to discuss the terms with the supervisor PhD can discuss the terms
during the annual Human Resource Meeting or contact one of the following persons:
a. Programme group manager. The programma group managers are well informed on
the policies within that programmegroup as well as AISSR policies.
b. Programme group director. The programme group director is well informed on the
policies within that programmegroup.
60

AISSR-GSSS PHD GUIDE – MINIMUM GUIDELINES

2017-2018

PhD representative. The PhD representative can discuss your case in the Sounding
Board.
d. Executive director Jose Komen. The executive director is well informed on the
policies within that programme group as well as AISSR policies.

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Information For PhD Students And Supervisors Aissr Guide 2017 2018 Online

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