Menu

Universiteit Leiden

nl en

Graduate School of Humanities

Application procedure

On this page you can find out more about applying for a PhD position at the Faculty of Humanities.

You can register with the Graduate School of Humanities online via Converis GSM. Please send an email to: phd-admissions@hum.leidenuniv.nl for login information (username and password).

Required digital documents

For the online application, all PhD candidates (employed, contract and external) need to submit:

  • digital copies of your all your university diplomas and transcripts in the original language and with an official translation in English, French, German or Dutch.

Contract and external PhD candidates must also submit:

  • a curriculum vitae;
  • two letters of recommendation, including one from your MA thesis supervisor;*
  • a statement from your intended PhD supervisor that he/she has accepted you as a PhD candidate (this can be a letter or an email);
  • confirmation from your intended PhD co-supervisor(s) that they are willing to be the second/third co-supervisor (this can be a separate document or combined with the supervisor statement)
  • a description of the proposed PhD research. Please use this document to draft your research proposal and make sure that you have checked with your supervisor if there are any additional requirements for your proposal. PhD candidates who are going to write their PhD thesis in Dutch may fill out the form in Dutch, all other PhD candidates need to fill out the form in English;
  • a copy of your MA thesis or of other research related work which offers proof that you have the competence and skills for PhD research. If your thesis was not written in English, French, German or Dutch, please enclose a short summary and a translation of the title of your thesis in one of these languages.*

* This does not apply to PhD candidates at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA)

Required documents in paper form

In addition to your online application you need to submit the following documents in paper form:

  • officially certified copies (in paper form) of your Master's diploma, including transcripts and English translation.

You need to send these to the Graduate School Office in a sealed envelope. The address is:

Leiden University
Graduate School of Humanities Admissions Office
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden
The Netherlands

If you have a non-Dutch diploma If you have a Dutch diploma

Language proficiency

If you are a contract or external PhD candidate starting a PhD trajectory at the Graduate School of Humanities on or after 1 September 2024, you will need to submit proof of your language proficiency. The required minimum language proficiency need to be fulfilled at the start of the PhD trajectory. The following minimum requirements apply:

English Dutch Other languages

Ethics committee

The ethics committee of the Faculty of Humanities gives binding advice on ethical issues in research. Using the checklist, researchers are to determine whether their research needs to be presented to the committee for an ethics review.

This website uses cookies.  More information.