PhD students as employees

In the Netherlands, PhD students (promovendi) are not considered students, but academic researchers. If hired on a PhD position, they get an appropriate salary for a researcher with a Master's degree. Open positions are advertised on the ILLC Webpage.

Typically, we have about three to five advertisements a year. They are advertised at any time (there is no particular time of year for applications) and normally have a tight deadline, so you would have to continuously watch the announcements. Please do NOT send unsollicited job applications to the ILLC or GPiL: instead, follow the instructions in the job advertisement closely!

Thesis topic and supervisor. Normally, these jobs come with a precise job description which will determine your PhD thesis topic and supervisor. Only apply to a position if you are fascinated with the project described.

Employee status, salary and duration of appointment. PhD students hired as an employee will not have student status, but will be full time employees of the Universiteit van Amsterdam. They do not pay a tuition fee. The gross monthly salary will be in accordance with the University regulations for academic personnel, and currently ranges between € 1900 and € 2400. Depending on the source of money, the position will be for a period of three to five years (most often four).

Teaching duties. Graduate student teaching assistants are expected to assist with courses, and sometimes teach courses themselves. The exact teaching duties depend on the source of money. If in doubt, ask the contact person mentioned in the advertisement before you apply.

Requirements. In order to be a PhD student in the Netherlands, you need a degree equivalent to a Dutch Master's degree. The ILLC only hires PhD students with research experience, Typically, this is gained during the writing of an MA or MSc research thesis.

Evaluation. For all jobs, you will first be hired for one year and be evaluated after the first year. Only after a positive evaluation, your employment period will be extended to the full length.

Graduate studies. Typically, PhD students take a few courses in their first year, but the main emphasis of the job is the independent research in the project. The main component of the studies is the writing of an independent research thesis. To get an impression, you can find the publications in the ILLC Dissertation Series here.