Supervision
If you want to have a PhD in the Netherlands, a professor at a university has to "nominate" you for the title of doctor. This professor is called your promotor. In many cases, the promotor also fulfillls the role of daily supervisor, but someone else can also take the role of daily supervisor.
Tips for good supervision
It is important that you make good agreements with your supervisor(s) about the supervision. This can prevent a lot of disappointments or conflicts at a later stage. We list a few tips:
- Make agreements with your supervisor about who is responsible for which aspects of the research, how often you will have a progress meeting, to which conferences you can go and about authorship in publications
- Have regular, recurring meetings with your supervisor(s). This prevents problems when your supervisor(s) do not have time, and it commits yourself to checking your progress regularly.
- Schedule regular meetings with your daily supervisor and your promotor (if they are not the same). This way you can prevent differences in opinion between your daily supervisor and promotor.
- If you experience difficulties in the supervision, do not hesitate to discuss this and possibly contact a confidential advisor (within or outside the graduate school ).
- In addition to your daily supervisor, make sure you have a number of people around you with who you can regularly share your problems or frustrations. Usually these people will be your office mates or fellow PhD candidates.
You can find more tips in the research report "Behoud talend (keep talent)".
Conflicten tijdens je promotietraject
The timely completion of your PhD research is a shared responsibility between you and your supervisors. Therefore, problems should be solved within this team. Sometimes the problems become a conflict and it is not possible to solve them directly any more. For these situations, PNN has made a roadmap in which we give information about which steps PhDs can take in case of conflict.
Read more:
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.