During your PhD, you make agreements with your supervisors concerning your personal development and the supervision you receive. No later than three months after the start of your appointment, these agreements should be recorded in a Training and Supervision Plan (TSP). External PhD candidates must do this within six months following admission to the Graduate School.

Agreements concerning training and supervision

One year after the start of your appointment, the Training and Supervision Plan is elaborated in more detail and revised if and where necessary. It should, in any case, cover the following aspects:

• Planning of fieldwork, labwork
• Any courses and training programmes you will follow in your training as a researcher and when you will take the courses.
• Agreements concerning the form and frequency of the personal supervision you receive during your appointment as a PhD candidate and the distribution of responsibilities between the various supervisors.

Article 6.8 of the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten) includes these agreements involving the Training and Supervision Plan content content.

It is determined in the PhD Guidelines that the training plan for employed PhD candidates, contract- and internal self-funded PhD candidates encompasses the entire doctoral process and consists of at least:

Employed PhD candidates, contract- and internal self-funded PhD candidates must take at least:

• 140 hours of academic training activities (training in the candidate’s specialism, conference attendance, etc.).
• 140 hours of training activities focusing on transferable skills (such as time management, job orientation, presenting).

Every PhD candidate is free to choose the training activities that suit their research and career plan the best. However, some courses are mandatory for all:

• PhD Introductory meeting
• Scientific Integrity
• Data Management for Archaeologists.

External PhD candidates do not need to do 280 hours of training but only the three courses mandatory for all types of PhDs (PhD Introductory meeting, Scientific Integrity and Data Management for Archaeologists) and up to two more courses of their choice.

Furthermore, the Faculty of Archaeology’s employed PhD candidates, contract- and internal self-funded PhD candidates must present their research on PhD days in years 1 and 3.

Note: The Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) is obligatory for all PhD candidates and is registered in GSM (Graduate School Management); see the Manual.

BKO & Authorship

At the start of the PhD trajectory and the formulation of your Training and Supervision Plan, you will discuss with your supervisor whether you would like to qualify for the partial University Teaching Qualification. 

Decisions about additional research output (article, weblog, other) to the production of your PhD thesis must be discussed and listed (Output Plan). Also, discussions on co-authorship should be addressed at the start.

Data Management

Once research has been completed, the dataset from the dissertation needs to be deposited in a Trusted Digital Repository. It is important to take this into account from the start of your research work.  To be able to conform to this obligation, the Faculty of Archaeology provides assistance. Also, PhDs are advised as soon as possible after the start of their research to participate in the Data and Project Management course for PhDs. This course will give you a clear understanding of the principles and benefits of good data management.