{"id":5923,"date":"2015-11-30T17:26:07","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T16:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/11\/30\/promoveren-in-vier-jaar-dat-lukt-bijna-niemand\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:20","slug":"promoveren-in-vier-jaar-dat-lukt-bijna-niemand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/11\/30\/promoveren-in-vier-jaar-dat-lukt-bijna-niemand\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting a PhD in four years? Not very likely!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Als je dan eenmaal klaar bent, kan de verlossende handtekening in het zweetkamertje worden gezet.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

A supervisor who doesn\u2019t have much time to supervise, final chapters that take ages to finalise, or data-collecting processes which go on for years. Many PhD students get behind schedule while working on their theses. Only one in ten PhD students manages to get his or her doctorate within the scheduled four years. How come so many PhD candidates take so much longer than expected?<\/p>\n

Every year Erasmus University accepts between 120 and 190 new PhD students on a contract. Those who obtained their doctorates in 2014 generally took 63 months to do so, according to figures published by VSNU. Although the majority of PhD candidates are on four-year contracts, the VSNU figures show that few candidates actually complete their degrees within four years: approximately 10 percent. Which is not to say that the remaining 90 percent are all necessarily experiencing hold-ups. Some of them do manage to finish their dissertations within the scheduled four years, only to have to wait a few months before being allowed to defend them. Also, some PhD students are on longer contracts, e.g. because they only work four days a week or give a lot of lectures in addition to doing research. However, that does not alter the fact that one in three PhD students on a contract does not even manage to complete his or her degree within seven years.<\/p>\n

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Stress<\/h3>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018Their lives have revolved around their research for four years, so quitting is not an option\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEpke le Rutte\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Rens van de Schoot, an Associate Professor at Utrecht University, confirmed that many PhD students get behind schedule. Along with Hans Sonneveld and Mara Yerkes, he investigated the reasons for these hold-ups in 2013. His study took into account the fact that some PhD projects are scheduled to take three or five years to complete, and assessed candidates on the discrepancy between the scheduled and actual duration of their research periods. \u2018We noticed that nearly every PhD candidate got behind schedule to some extent,\u2019 said Van de Schoot. \u2018In some cases it was just by a few months, but in other cases it was considerably longer than that.\u2019 On average, the respondents in Van de Schoot\u2019s study, who were all doing PhDs at four universities, including EUR, took ten months longer to get their doctorates than planned.<\/p>\n

Even so, it is desirable that PhD candidates complete their PhDs within the agreed time span, said Charlotte de Roon, Chairwoman of Promovendi Netwerk Nederland (PNN, Dutch PhD Students\u2019 Network). \u2018You see, PhD candidates on a contract are only paid for the work they actually do within that period, and universities generally don\u2019t extend PhD students\u2019 contracts.\u2019<\/p>\n

PhD candidates are increasingly being pressured to get their doctorates according to schedule, said Elaine Mak, Director of the Erasmus Graduate School of Law (EGSL). \u2018It\u2019s getting harder and harder for us to be able to offer extensions once those four years are up.\u2019 Since ESL provides problem-based learning, which is mainly delivered by tutors, PhD students generally cannot be offered teaching positions. \u2018We can offer them a hospitality agreement [allowing them to continue using the university\u2019s facilities], but that doesn\u2019t help them make ends meet.\u2019<\/p>\n

De Roon is aware that PhD students who are behind schedule tend to get stressed out once their due date draws nearer. \u2018They have two options: continuing their research without any income, or looking for a new job. People working on dissertations are not eligible for unemployment benefits. And it takes so much time to find a job or start in a new job that it\u2019s all the more likely that they\u2019ll never complete their dissertations.\u2019<\/p>\n

Epke le Rutte, Chairman of Promeras, Erasmus MC\u2019s PhD students\u2019 network, is also familiar with the sight of PhD students getting stressed out when they are getting behind target. \u2018It\u2019s a painful subject. They are unlikely to get an extension, and it\u2019s so hard to finish your thesis at night or on the weekend once you\u2019ve got a new job. But their lives have revolved around their research for four years, so quitting is not an option.\u2019<\/p>\n

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No magnum opus<\/h3>

\u2018In the great majority of cases, the hold-ups are external factors,\u2019 said Van de Schoot. \u2018For instance, illness, a data set which is not completed on time, or a supervisor who suddenly moves to another country. At any rate, the problems are never caused by a lack of motivation on the PhD student\u2019s part.\u2019<\/p>\n

Even so, external factors are not to be blamed for every student\u2019s failure to finish on schedule. Liesbet van Zoonen, the Dean of the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities (EGS3H), believes that PhD students have a tendency to be overambitious. \u2018I\u2019ve noticed that some PhD students are confused as to what getting a PhD actually means. It means that you\u2019re capable of conducting independent scientific research. But many PhD students feel they have to be brilliant intellectuals, as well.\u2019 Van Zoonen feels that they often set overly ambitious goals for themselves. \u2018Which results in a kind of fear of failure, an idea that it\u2019s never going to be good enough.\u2019<\/p>\n

Perfectionism is definitely a contributing stumbling block, says EGSL Director Mak. And Dutch students doing PhDs in law, who tend to take a little longer than their counterparts in other fields, may be more prone to this than others. In Mak\u2019s words: \u2018Our PhD students still tend to write comprehensive dissertations, whereas PhD students in medicine or economics tend to be awarded doctorates for individual articles. It\u2019s not unheard of in law that PhD students will do very well for three years, only to get stuck in their final year, once they\u2019re supposed to write their books.\u2019 It is vital, both Mak and Van Zoonen believe, that students not consider their thesis a magnum opus. \u2018A PhD is a ticket that will allow you to embark on a career in science.\u2019<\/p>\n