Scholars: dramatic measure

The Cabinet Wants to Downgrade PhD Candidates from Employees to Students

The Cabinet intends to implement a legislative change that would result in PhD candidates no longer being appointed as full employees, but as students. This is stated in the response to the Veerman committee report. The primary goal of the grant-based PhD system (bursalenstelsel) is cost savings for universities. Furthermore, the measure is expected to lead to greater scientific ‘output’ and a quality boost. However, the PhD Network Netherlands (PNN) believes that the Cabinet is missing the mark with this measure.

More Than a Question of Principle

A first objection to downgrading PhD candidates to grant recipients (bursalen) is the fact that PhD candidates in the Netherlands currently perform essentially the same work as ‘regular’ university staff. They conduct research and publish a proportionate majority of scientific articles. Additionally, they teach bachelor’s and master’s students or supervise interns. The only argument for giving PhD candidates a student status would be that they attend an average of three weeks of courses per year and receive incidental supervision for writing their dissertation. This argument is tenuous.

Bad for PhD Candidates

A second objection lies in the major consequences that the implementation of the system will have on the income and employment conditions of PhD candidates. A grant-based PhD candidate (bursaalpromovendus) receives an allowance from a grant and is therefore not an employee of the university and has no employment conditions.

Previous experiments with grant-based PhD candidates (including at Utrecht University, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Groningen) revealed that they experience several disadvantages due to their status. As they are neither employees nor students, these grant recipients fall between the cracks. For instance:

• They are not insured for illness or disability.
• They do not automatically have the right to (financial compensation for) maternity leave.
• They receive no travel allowance.
• They do not build up a pension.
• They are refused when trying to buy a house or rent affordable (social) housing.

Consequently, the measure makes it less attractive to pursue a PhD in the Netherlands.

Bad for Science

Content-wise, changes are also to be expected that will not make obtaining a PhD more appealing. While the grant system may allow more PhD candidates to be attracted for the same money, whether those candidates will actually deliver quality is another matter. Due to budget cuts, the supervision of PhD candidates is already under pressure in recent years. Professors have to supervise more PhD candidates and have less time to do so. This does not benefit the quality of the scientific research and could even mean that PhD candidates need more time to complete their dissertations or drop out prematurely.

Bad for Higher Education

Grant-based PhD candidates are not allowed to teach in the Netherlands because teaching demonstrates an employment relationship between the university and the PhD candidate. However, students pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree will also feel the consequences; with the removal of employed PhD candidates, they will receive less lecturing and less guidance in workgroups. Universities would have to solve this by hiring other, more expensive, personnel to replace them, which is not expected given the current budget cuts to Higher Education. Moreover, grant-based PhD candidates miss out on teaching experience, which is indispensable if they wish to work as a university lecturer or researcher after obtaining their doctorate.

Bad for the Knowledge Economy

The Netherlands aspires to be among the world's top five in science and therefore needs young, talented researchers who will continue to contribute to research and innovation in our country after their PhD. For Dutch students, pursuing a PhD on a grant will become less attractive. The likelihood that excellent students will leave the country to pursue a PhD abroad is therefore expected to increase.

For foreign PhD candidates—who are often accustomed to a grant system—the measure may make it easier to find a PhD position in the Netherlands. However, the question remains what their contribution is to the Dutch knowledge economy. A portion of them will return to their country of origin after completing their PhD, or move to countries where career prospects are better than in the Netherlands. This means investing in PhD candidates for four years, only for them to leave for competing countries.

The grant system lowers the international competitive position of Dutch science, resulting in a ‘brain drain’ (loss of knowledgeable people). The Cabinet's intention is precisely to give Dutch science a quality boost. This requires attractive and high-quality PhD positions.

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