The Graduate School of Medical Sciences (GSMS) is home to more than a thousand PhD candidates. It is the largest Graduate School of the University of Groningen (UG) with about 290 PhD thesis defenses in 2021. PhD candidates registered at the GSMS who defend their thesis account for more than 40% of the University's total. Nearly half of the PhD population at UG is international.
Admission to a PhD
In the Netherlands, only research universities may award PhD degrees and they do so based on their institutional accreditation as per Dutch law. This means that there are no separately accredited PhD programs as there are in many other countries. Instead, your admission to a UG doctoral program is based on two main (interlinked) criteria:
- We offer research expertise in your field of interest, and a supervisor affiliated to UG/UMCG has (pre-)accepted you;
- You are proficient in English, indicative scoring: TOEFL 92 or IELTS 6.5, the latter with a minimum band score of 6.0 on each individual part;
- You have access to sufficient funding for the duration of your PhD program (about 4 years for a full PhD program).
Both factors are crucial to consider when applying for a PhD position. Instructions on how to apply depend on the type of PhD position you apply to. Consult this webpage for more information.
Note that it is possible to enroll in a PhD program if you do not hold a master's degree (e.g. if you are an international medical graduate). It is however up to the supervisor, in consultation with the Graduate School, to assess whether you have the skills and competences to complete your PhD program within the time allotted.
How do I locate a supervisor?
As a prospective PhD student, you should first of all check if we offer expertise in your preferred area of research. You can do this by browsing the UMCG research website that contains information on each of its five Research Institutes:
- Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN-BRAIN)
- Chronic Diseases and Drug Exploration (GUIDE)
- Cancer Research Center (CRCG)
- Health Care Research (SHARE)
- Biomaterials (W.J. Kolff)
Funding
The second prerequisite for you to be admitted to our PhD program is funding: will you be dependent on opportunities offered by the University or will you apply to for example governmental scholarship programs? Are you a recent graduate looking for PhD opportunities abroad? Or are you already enrolled in a PhD program, and do you wish to pursue a Sandwich PhD?
The most important PhD categories are outlined here. Consult this webpage for some of the most important governmental funding agencies we have experience with at the GSMS.
Funding: our unique top-up policy!
Since 2016, the University of Groningen, applies a unique policy to top-up selective external PhD scholarships. No other Dutch university has implemented such policy!
The Top-Up program means that any student who has been admitted to the GSMS PhD program, and who has access to selective (partial) external funding for the period of research at the UMCG, will receive a top-up of their external scholarship to this standard allowance.
Approved schemes that automatically qualify for the UG top-up are ANID, CAPES, CONAHCYT, CSC, FAPESP, LPDP, Minciencias, and scholarships of similar organizations in other countries.
As of 1 September 2024 the top-up program is likely to change. Please consult our FAQ section for more information.
Research & Courses
PhD programs in The Netherlands are highly focused on academic output: most of your time you will dedicate to actually carrying out your research project. You also have access to courses, the majority of which you select yourself, in consultation with your supervisor. Your individual course selection is based on the specific requirements of your PhD project as well as the competences you personally wish to develop. Your PhD trajectory is laid down in a tailor-made Training and Supervision Plan (TSP). Consult the GSMS training overview to see which courses and activities the GSMS offers.
Considering that you will dedicate much of your time to research, it is no surprise that PhD theses in the Netherlands are among the most demanding internationally. At the GSMS, theses generally consist of 4-6 experimental chapters, with an introduction & discussion. Chapters will have been or will be published in peer-reviewed journals, aiming for Top-25% of relevant ISI-fields. Despite that there are no strict legal requirements in regards to what the end result of your PhD trajectory will look like, this document on your PhD thesis at the UMCG may give you an idea.
A PhD program at the University of Groningen will provide you with a solid basis for a professional career in both academia as well as other public and private sectors.
Contact us
If you need further help or advice, please contact the Graduate School of Medical Sciences. If you decide to do so, make sure that you always:
- Attach an English-language CV;
- Attach a summary of your research interests and any potential supervisors you may already have identified;
- Inform us of any funding opportunities you may have access to and/or wish to pursue