Program

First year (GS1)

The first year of the UvH Graduate School has three main objectives:

• to develop academic knowledge and skills, including writing academic English, which is needed to write a strong research proposal and a theoretical/empirical article or a review article for publication in a peer reviewed international academic journal.
• to introduce PhD candidates to key concepts and research methods in the interdisciplinary fields of Humanistic Studies and the Ethics of Care. 
• to create a supportive environment in which PhD candidates can build a ‘community of researchers’ to discuss their work-in-progress and share experiences. 

Additionally, all PhD candidates will schedule regular meetings with their own PhD supervisor(s). 

PhD candidates submit their research proposal and article to the UvH Board for the Conferral of Doctoral Degrees, where it is reviewed and assessed. After approval, PhD candidates may proceed to the subsequent years in the Graduate School.  

Participation in the GS program is compulsory. The minimal requirement of attained credit points (ECTS) in the first year is ten (10) of which nine (9) are compulsory and one (1) elective. 

Subsequent years (GS2+)

In the subsequent years, PhD candidates partake in elective courses in research methodology (such as ‘participant observation and shadowing’ or ‘narrative research’) and academic skills development (such as ‘presenting academic work’). Together with their supervisors, they have designed a tailor-made education program that responds to their individual needs in pursuit of doctoral research, writing a thesis, publishing in international academic and professionally oriented journals and for a broad audience and readership. In addition to UvH-based courses, PhD candidates can follow specialized courses from other universities, institutes, and research schools.

Participation in the GS program is compulsory. All PhD candidates must attain 12 ECTS in the GS2+ phase before submitting their PhD dissertation to a PhD review committee.

Embedding in  the academic community

PhD candidates are encouraged to partake in UvH Reading groups, UvH Chair group meetings, Monthly UvH research seminars or other research fora in which draft academic work is discussed. PhD candidates are required to present a paper at an (inter)national academic conference at least once during their PhD trajectory and are strongly encouraged to do so regularly.