On 19 May, Prout sent a letter to the Executive Board to draw their attention to the problems that especially bursary PhD candidates of Utrecht University encounter. These PhD candidates neither have an employee status nor a student status within the University, causing them to find themselves disadvantaged legally and socially. For example, they don’t have access to housing facilities for students (because they are not students), but neither can they find accommodation through the social and private rental sector (because they do not have a labour contract). Another problem is that they have no voting rights at University and Faculty Council elections. Prout has urged the Executive Board to give bursary PhD candidates and PhD candidates employed by the UMCU the same rights and resources as their fellow PhD candidates employed by the university. Read the English translation of our letter here.