Graduate School of Archaeology
Admission to the Graduate School
Requirements for admission to the Graduate School and the steps described below in short are described in detail in the Leiden University PhD Regulations.
Requirements
Those persons are eligible for admission to the Graduate School of Archaeology who have been awarded a Master’s degree and are proficient in English. In exceptional cases, the Dean may, having received a written request to this effect and on behalf of the Doctorate Board, grant exemption from the entry requirements.
For more details, see the Leiden University PhD Regulations.
Finding a main supervisor
Finding a suitable principal supervisor is a key element and the first step in the process of obtaining a doctorate. Before further steps can be taken, the supervisor must confirm that they are willing to accept you as a PhD candidate (promovendus). Contact a professor or senior staff member with ius promovendi directly: contact information can be found by searching by name or by department:
Ius promovendi
In the Netherlands, the role of PhD supervisor could traditionally only be fulfilled by professors. Since 2018, however, associate professors can also have ius promovendi. The names of those at Leiden University are given in the register on this page.
PhD supervision team
A PhD supervision team consists of at least two supervisors, both of whom must hold a doctorate. At least the main supervisor must have ius promovendi and be affiliated with the Faculty of Archaeology. A second or third (co-)supervisor may be scholars from other institutes, faculties, or universities. The main supervisor must confirm their willingness to accept you as a PhD candidate before any further steps can be taken.
Ethics Committee
The ethics committee of the Faculties of Humanities and Archaeology gives binding advice on ethical issues in research. Using the checklist, PhD candidates must determine whether their research needs to be presented to the committee for an ethics review. If your research has important social science components, you may consider contacting the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences ethics committee instead; please discuss this with your supervisors.
Registration and admission process
This process must be started at least one month before the start of the PhD track for external candidates, and three months for employed or scholarship candidates coming from outside of EU/EAA.
Because a PhD candidate needs to be admitted to the Graduate School and get registered in the staff system, the process is two-fold:
Once your supervisor has confirmed that they are willing to supervise your PhD research, they will get in contact with the Graduate School Office, which provide instructions and login credentials for subbmitting an official appliaction. The application in which you provide information about your educational history and your planned PhD research is submitted through Graduate School Management system LUCRIS/GSM.
After the admission has been finalized, the first step to take is making agreements with your supervisors concerning your personal development and supervision, which are registered in a Training and Supervision Plan (TSP). A TSP is compulsory for all PhD candidates and must be uploaded to LUCRIS GSM no later than three months after the start date of the PhD track. External PhD candidates must do this within six months.
Your supervisor will initiate this procedure by contacting the HR office. During the registration process, you can expect to receive an email requesting personal information, as well as emails about the creation of your ULCN account. Once the procedure is finalized, you will be able to use your ULCN account to access your email, the Library, LUCRIS, and other services.