Structure of the promotional trajectory

The structure or timeline of a PhD will look different for everyone, and may depend on your field, project, supervisory team, and other responsibilities you might have during your PhD trajectory. It can also differ significantly between employed, scholarship, and external PhD candidates, or even within a particular group of PhD candidates depending on the source and duration of funding, teaching (or other formal) responsibilities, and any other milestones. 

It's difficult to describe what you may expect without including disclaimers in every sentence. Regardless, here is a general overview to help you understand what a PhD trajectory at a Dutch university may look like.

Year 1
In the first year, you will begin with getting to know your topic and the research you will be doing. If you're already familiar with those, you might already begin working on your first paper. In some fields it's common to begin writing a (systematic) review that may be included in your PhD dissertation as well. In all cases, in the first few months you will also work on a Training Supervision Plan (TSP), which outlines your PhD trajectory for the next years. It will include things like the work you will be doing, the courses you may need to take, and other activities such as teaching or supervising students. The TSP should be developed together with your supervisory team, and preferably should be updated annually. At some graduate schools this is mandatory, but not everywhere. Even if your supervisory team doesn't look at it again after the initial signature, it's still helpful to update it yourself so you can use it as an overview of your trajectory. Remember that it's fine to deviate and make changes where necessary! Many PhD trajectories are subject to unexpected events and need to be updated accordingly.

The first year will look different for everyone, but in many cases it's all about preparation. You may need to write or finish a study proposal for ethical approval, write the study protocol, read up on literature, take courses to support your work, etc. Most PhD candidates won't have a published, or even a fully written, manuscript by the end of their first year!

In some fields it's more common to have to write the study proposal for ethical approval. This can take a very long time, both to write and for the ethical board to consider and approve your proposal. If this is expected of you, make sure to discuss with your supervisory team how to account for this in your TSP. What will you do if it takes longer than expected? Is there something else you can do in the meantime, so you won't need an extension at the end of your PhD? Although you all want the original plan to work, make sure to take some time to think about a back-up plan as well.

Important to keep in mind for internal PhDs (employed by the university) is that after their first year, there is a mandatory go/no-go meeting, during which you reflect with your supervisors on your first year. The regulations for this meeting differs between universities. Usually, PhDs are offered a 1 or 1,5 year contract, which is re-evaluated at this meeting, and extended with the another 3 or 2,5 years (to make 4 years in total) to finish the PhD. If you don't want to continue your PhD, this is the point to decide that! This is important for unemployment benefits and transition allowance.

Year 2-3
This is often the time where your research is up-and-running. You may be collecting data, performing analyses, writing manuscripts, etc. Many PhDs are also expected to do other tasks, such as teaching or student supervision. You may be expected to go to conferences to present your work. During this time, a lot (but not all) PhDs also start submitting their work for publication. There are differences between fields in how many papers you are expected to write or publish, and even larger differences in how long it will take to publish. It doesn't make you any less good of a PhD candidate if yours takes longer! For example, in general qualitative research and negative/null results are unfortunately more difficult to publish. However, many journals are starting to appreciate the importance of these studies as well.

Make sure to keep updating your TSP so you continue to have a good overview of your trajectory. Discuss regularly with your supervisory team how you are doing, where you are going, and if you expect any problems and how they can help if those problems occur. It may become a lot more stressful compared to the first year, but remember to take time off as well! It's important to rest and recuperate, and to take good care of yourself. Your research, as important as it is, won't disappear when you aren't working on it for two weeks.

Year 4
In the last year, you will want to start working on your dissertation. Which chapters are included, do you need to finish any of them? What do you need to write in your introduction, how will you organize the discussion? It's helpful to start thinking about it in time, since it can take a while for your dissertation to be approved and your defense to be planned. It can be good to discuss a potential extension with your supervisory team early in your 4th year as well if you think you will need it.