The Minister of Education, Culture and Science has recently presented a policy document Wetenschapsvisie 2025: Keuzes voor de toekomst (Academic Vision: Choices for the Future). Two items are particularly relevant for PhD candidates.
The Minister announces – again – plans for the introduction of a bursary PhD experiment. A bursary PhD candidate is a PhD student, whereas currently most PhD candidates in the Netherlands are university employees. Prout keeps a close and critical watch on these developments.
Executive Boards (Colleges van Bestuur) will receive the legal option to give the ius promovendi to associate professors (universitair hoofddocenten). If an Executive Board decides to do so, also associate professors can become a member of the examination committee (beoordelingscommissie).
Jet Bussemaker by Partij van de Arbeid (CC BY 2.0)