Rejection of doctoral degree after defense incomprehensible and undesirable

The Dutch PhD Network (PNN) has reacted with shock to the situation at Tilburg University (TiU), where a PhD candidate was denied her doctorate for unclear reasons before Christmas based on her dissertation defense. Chair Meaghan Polack: "It's unbelievable that this is happening at a knowledge institution. This sets an undesirable precedent in Dutch academia."

To obtain their doctoral degree, PhD candidates spend years working on a scientific problem, culminating in a dissertation. This well-known "booklet" or "thesis" therefore constitutes proof of competence in independently practicing science. Polack: "The dissertation has already been extensively reviewed and approved before its defense by both the supervisors and an independent committee of experts on the topic. The public defense, a snapshot of a maximum of 60 minutes, is therefore no longer the time to judge a PhD candidate's scientific qualities."

Traditionally, the defense of a dissertation is a purely ceremonial event, where no substantive quality assessment takes place. The PNN therefore believes that withholding a doctorate after the defense without a very compelling reason, such as fraud, is unacceptable. The PNN views the resit designated by Tilburg University, for which there are also no clear regulations, with suspicion. "As far as we know, there has never been a resit of a defense in the Netherlands. Why was a resit chosen? Moreover, it is completely unclear what rules this resit will have to comply with, since the Tilburg University doctoral regulations make no provision for this whatsoever," says Polack.