End of the contract
In this section, we explain what happens at the end of your contract. Not sure yet what type of PhD candidate you are? Go to this page to find out!
Employed PhD candidates
Unfortunately, it is the rule rather than the exception that finishing your dissertation takes longer than the duration of your employment contract. Employee-PhD’s with a full appointment mostly have four-year employment contracts with the university. However, many PhD candidates need more time: most research points to an average duration of five years. The fact that this is common practice could be an incentive for your employer to offer you a contract extension.
Who is involved in your application for contract renewal? It is not just your supervisor who decides on the extension of your contract. Such an application involves many different parties. First, the application for renewal will be dealt with by your immediate superior. It helps if you already discussed and prepared your application for renewal with the significant actors from your department, such as your direct supervisors and university project managers. They may be consulted in the process of assessing your application.After this, your application will be provided with advice by the P&O-advisor at faculty level. Subsequently, the application is provided with financial advice by the controller or financial employee of the faculty. Finally, the application, together with all of the advice, is assessed by the faculty’s Operations Director (directeur bedrijfsvoering).
If your contract expires and is not extended, your formal employment with the university ends. If this happens and your thesis is not yet finished, this could put you into a difficult position. But once your contract has expired, you can unfortunately no longer claim a great deal of the rights you had as an employee.
Transition allowance
Als je contract eindigt op het initiatief van de werkgever, heb je recht op een transitievergoeding. Deze vergoeding is bedoeld om je de mogelijkheid te geven je om te scholen of een eigen bedrijf te starten, hoewel er geen specifieke verwachtingen zijn over hoe de vergoeding moet worden besteed. De transitievergoeding bedraagt 1/3e van je maandloon, vermenigvuldigd met het aantal jaren dat je bij die werkgever hebt gewerkt. De hoogte van de transitievergoeding kan worden berekend met de rekenhulp van de overheid (website in het Nederlands).
Please note: Expiry of a temporary contract is also considered a form of dismissal without fault, meaning that employed PhD candidates are entitled to this payment. The right to a transition allowance exists regardless of whether the PhD research is finished or not. If you do not receive it together with your final paycheck, you should contact your employer to make sure the arrangements are made.
You are not entitled to this allowance if you resign yourself. Moreover, if you sign a termination agreement (also known as a vaststellingsovereenkomst) with your employer, you make agreements about the allowance. If it is not included in that agreement, you will not receive a transition allowance.
A final caveat is that your appeal to a transition allowance expires if you get offered a new contract by the university – regardless of whether you accept it. This does not take into account proportionality of the new contract. Technically you can be offered a much smaller contract, or a contract for an “undesirable” position (i.e., below your “level”), and will still be denied the transition allowance.
OIO Phd candidates at UMC’s
Er is een specifieke clausule in de cao-UMC voor promovendi met een oio-contract (onderzoeker in opleiding). Volgens artikel 17.4.4 kent de werkgever een eenmalige bonus toe aan promovendi die hun opleiding hebben afgerond binnen de looptijd van hun arbeidscontract en succesvol hun promotie hebben voltooid binnen de contractduur. De bonus bedraagt € 750,00 bruto. Raadpleeg je promotor of afdeling om te verduidelijken of “afronding” het indienen van je proefschrift betekent of het succesvol verdedigen ervan.
Non-employed PhD candidate
As a PhD candidate that is not employed, the ending of a PhD trajectory is regulated by local PhD regulations. Please make sure that this is clear at the start of your trajectory and discuss any questions with your supervisor. For instance, think about the conditions you will have to meet to be able to schedule your thesis defense or the general timeline of the trajectory.
If you plan to undertake doctoral research without a paid position or through a guest (hospitality) arrangement, it is wise at the start of your PhD project to make agreements with your supervisors regarding topics such as expenses, reimbursements, graduation bonuses, and printing costs of the dissertation. In any case, ensure clear agreements are made concerning the planning and evaluation of your PhD trajectory and the conditions under which you may apply for your defense.
Do you want to know more and work at a UMC? Contact Martine van der Linde for advice.
Martine van der Linde
Labour conditions - hospitals
Do you want to know more, and are you an external PhD candidate? Contact Teebah Abu-Zahra for advice.
Teebah Abu-Zahra
Labor conditions - external, international and scholarship PhD candidates
Are you currently experiencing issues during your PhD that you need help with?
Most institutions have a number of contact points for help. This compass is designed to help you find the right support.
In the drop-down menu you can select the institution that you are doing your PhD at. Then the roadmap will show you available contact points. In most cases it makes sense to start by considering contact points in your immediate work environment first and then progress to higher levels (like institutional or national).
At the bottom of the page you can find some examples of problems you can run into and a list of descriptions of each contact point.
Your first contact points
Colleagues: Sometimes it can already help to talk with your colleagues about the issue you are experiencing. This will help you judge the severity of it and can provide you with allies in taking further action.
Daily supervisor*: Naturally, your daily supervisor is the first contact point for all issues. They can help you determine the next steps. Of course, you may not feel comfortable discussing everything with your supervisor, or maybe your daily supervisor is involved in the issue. In these cases have a look at the other available contact points.
Promotor or Co-Supervisor*: Especially, in cases of issues with your daily supervisor, consider reaching out to your promotor or another member on the supervision team and ask for a one-on-one meeting. Maybe they can (temporarily) step-up and help you resolve the issue.If you have a conflict with your supervisor(s), you can also have a look at the PNN PhD supervisor conflict roadmap.
*Note that your annual review talk with your supervisory team is a good opportunity to address issues or suggestions for improvement.
National contact points
Labor unions: Organizations representing the interests of academic staff, offering support on employment-related matters, rights, and fair treatment.
NWO Scientific Integrity Desk: A specialized desk addressing scientific integrity concerns in projects related to or funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Netherlands Board of Research Integrity (LOWI): An independent body handling complaints related to scientific integrity, providing a platform for fair investigation. If you feel like the local scientific integrity committee at your institution did not handle a case correctly, the LOWI can be the next contact point.
Making a police report: In cases involving a criminal offense, please consider contacting local law enforcement to report incidents and seek assistance.