PhD students start network at NWO-I
A total of 459 PhDs work at the nine NWO Institutes. Although they all share the same position, there is little contact between them. However, that will soon change. Katrin Hättig, PhD at NIOZ, took the initiative to set up a PhD network at NWO-I. Kevin Murzyn, PhD at ARCNL, immediately joined. In the first exchange with other PhDs from NWO Institutes, everyone was enthusiastic. Katrin: “There instantly were a lot of ideas for what the network could do, for example, helping PhDs find their way in the jungle of different rules.”
Would you like more information, or would you like to join straightaway? Please send an email to Thecla van Wageningen via the email address PhD-network@nwo-i.nl.
Different position
In the meeting room of ARCNL, Katrin joins online for the interview about the plans that she and Kevin have. Texel is a long way from the Science Park in Amsterdam. Katrin (smiling): “At NIOZ, the physical distance always plays a role. That situation is different for Kevin who can bump into fellow PhDs from CWI, AMOLF and Nikhef at the Science Park.” The most important reason for Katrin’s initiative arises from her own experiences associated with the difficult positions PhDs sometimes find themselves in at an institute: they are employed by NWO-I, but gain their doctorate from a university.
Katrin explains: “A colleague from NIOZ who gains their doctorate at the University of Amsterdam has to deal with different rules than I do at the Graduate School of Geosciences of Utrecht University. Some employment conditions of NWO-I differ from those of PhDs with an appointment at a university. Compared to tenured colleagues, it is also more difficult for the constantly changing group of PhDs at an institute to make sense of all of the information from NWO-I and the institute.” “Also, more than one-quarter of NWO-I PhDs do not come from Europe. So they need to get used even more to how things are organised in the Netherlands”, adds Kevin.
Positive approach
The idea for the network arose at NIOZ, where eighty PhDs work. After the summer of 2023, a delegation from this group came together. Katrin: “We tried to organise ourselves with eight PhDs, two from each department, and wondered whether PhDs at other NWO-I Institutes came up against similar issues. Could we come into contact with them?”
“Our approach was mainly positive: wouldn’t it be great to exchange experiences and perhaps organise joint events? At the same time, we discovered Promovendi Netwerk Netherlands (PNN), which is the national interest group formed by PhD candidates working at one of the Dutch universities, university medical centres, or research institutes. When we enquired about whether we could join PNN, the advice was to set up an NWO-I PhD council with members from all nine institutes and subsequently register this council as a PNN member.”
The link with PhDs
The NWO-I directors immediately embraced the wish to create a network of PhD candidates’. Subsequently, responsibility for the project was put in the hands of Thecla van Wageningen (policy adviser at the department Policy & Strategy at the NWO-I office) who supported the initial introductions. Thecla: “The importance of the group was immediately clear to me. The difference with universities is that PhD candidates there can approach their own PhD council. At NWO-I, several institutes, such as Nikhef, have a network for PhDs, but the other PhD candidates are somewhat left by the wayside. NWO-I thinks it is a good idea that PhDs can more easily contact each other. In addition, it is also important for the NWO-I office to remain in touch with the PhDs, for example to catalogue training needs, career possibilities and suggestions.”
Thecla explains that in the NWO-I vision for Recognition & Rewards, setting up a PhD candidates council is part of the action plan in the making. The PhD candidate policy was an important subject too in the SEP evaluation that took place at each institute at the end of last year. Thecla: “A group leader or PhD supervisor does not always have the answer to questions not directly linked to the PhD trajectory. From that perspective, setting up an NWO-I PhD network is also a step in the right direction.”
Coming up against the same issues
The first exploratory meeting with PhD candidates from all institutes took place in February at NWO-I in Utrecht. Kevin looks back at that meeting with satisfaction: “The most important goal of the network is to meet each other. We exchanged experiences and everybody was enthusiastic. At ARCNL, PhDs are affiliated with three different universities and at NIOZ even with five. All of these universities have their own graduate school with training courses that are mandatory at some schools, but not at others. NWO-I also offers training courses. So, which should you take? Synchronising the rules is one of the wishes that was expressed.”
Katrin adds that onboarding also emerged as a similar subject: “How do you tell new PhD candidates what they need to know? Ideas were also proposed for thematic meetings about career opportunities or employment conditions, and the setting up of a mentoring programme. The PhDs also discussed housing, which is a problem throughout the Netherlands. Katrin: “Institutes in the same geographical area could match the demand for housing with the supply of housing.”
Kevin mentions the idea for an NWO-I sports day: “Last year, AMOLF took the initiative to organise a volleyball tournament, which they did with CWI, Nikhef and ARCNL. It would be fantastic to organise such a tournament or, better still, a sports day for all institutes.”
Network off to a flying start
PhDs see the added value of the NWO-I PhD network currently being set up. They are still thinking about a suitable name, and Kevin is building an online platform. Kevin and Katrin are pleased with the support from Thecla and NWO-I. They hope to give the network a flying start so that it becomes attractive for PhD candidates to join. The next meeting is on 19 April at NWO-I in Utrecht.
Join and become a member of the online community!
Would you like more information, or would you like to join straightaway? Please send an email to Thecla van Wageningen via the email address PhD-network@nwo-i.nl.
Text: Anita van Stel
Newsletter Inside NWO-I, April 2024
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.