Procedure towards defence

Defending your dissertation at the defence ceremony will be the crown of your work as a PhD student. Before the ceremony can commence, your manuscript has to meet up with the requirements of a dissertation. Besides writing your thesis, several administrative steps have to be taken to bring the process to a good end. Below the administrative process is summarised and all necessary forms are digitally available for your convenience. A formal description of the PhD regulations of Leiden University is available here.

Admission

Before starting your PhD, you have to be admitted to the Graduate School. Fill out the admission form (appendix 1) and upload the requested documents. Original or certified copies of your diploma and transcripts should also be made available to the Graduate School Office.

Within one year after starting your research an official request (appendix 2) to appoint your supervisor(s) should be send to the Graduate School Office.
Appointment of a co-supervisor(s) (if applicable) can be requested during the whole course of your PhD via a formal e-mail to the dean of the Faculty.

PhD Training Programme

During the course of your PhD, you will attend the PhD training programme of the faculty. These courses are there to assist you in becoming a better scientist in the broader sence of the word. For the complete programme, please check out the website.

Besides the 4 compulsory courses, other professional courses are offered by either the Graduate School or the HRM department of the University.
Advanced courses in your subject are offered by your Institute or (Inter)national Research School

After completion of all compulsory courses you will receive a certificate. Other courses can also be included in the certificate. To do so, proof of completion of these courses can be sent to the Graduate School.

From Manuscript to Dissertation

After you have finished your manuscript, your supervisor has to approve it as a dissertation (‘proefschrift’ in Dutch). Your supervisor should send a formal letter (appendix 3) to you (the PhD-candidate). A copy of this letter should be sent to the Graduate School Office and the Doctorate Board (‘College voor Promoties’ in Dutch).

After approval your dissertation can be sent to the Promotion Committee (a.k.a. the reading committee). You supervisor should first send an e-mail to the dean of the Graduate School for approval of the Promotion Committee. The committee comprises the following members. The chairman is the Scientific Director of your Institute, your (co-)supervisor(s) and at least 3 other members with at least one of them not employed at the Leiden University. The majority of the committee members should be a professor.

Once the dean has approved of the Promotion Committee, your dissertation can be sent to the committee. Within 6 weeks each member has to sent his/her assessment - in writing - to your supervisor. If all assessments are available, the results should be made known to you (the PhD candidate) by a formal letter (appendix 5). A copy of this letter should be sent to the Graduate School and the Doctorate Board.
Upon receiving this letter, the Dean will officially confirm that you are admitted to the public defence of your dissertation using (appendix 6).

Scheduling your Defence

When you have received appendix 6, your defence date can be scheduled.
First you have to fill out the online application form (appendix 7) of the beadle (‘pedel’ in Dutch). The Beadle will send an e-mail response to you stating which documents you will have to present at the Beadle’s Office to schedule your defence.
When the date is set, please notify the the Graduate School Office via e-mail about the date.

Printing your Dissertation

When your dissertation is approved by the promotion committee, you can prepare the manuscript to be sent of to the printer.
The Scientific Director of your Institute has to approve of the non-scientific parts of the dissertation before you can print it. The approval should be done by a formal letter from the Director to the Graduate School.
The non-scientific parts of your dissertation comprise your propositions, the acknowledgments and the cover of your dissertation.
The editing of the title page and its reverse should be approved by the beadle and be in accordance with the format (only available in Dutch).

Towards your Defence

When your dissertation is finished and at the printers, your defence date is scheduled the last administrative steps have to be finished.
The Opposition Committee questioning you during the public defence has to be approved by the dean of the Graduate School. Your supervisor can send an e-mail with a request to do so to the dean.

The Opposition Committee should comprise the following members; the Rector Magnificus (chair of the committee), the Scientific Director of your Institute (secretary of the committee) and at least 5 other member. The majority of the members of the committee should be appointed at Leiden University. All members of the committee should hold a doctor’s degree, the majority should be a professor. The members of the Promotion Committee can part of the Opposition Committee, but don’t necessarily need to be.
Please make sure all the members of the committee are invited to the ceremony.

Distribution of Dissertation

At least three weeks before your public defense 10 printed copies of your dissertation should be delivered at the Beadle’s Office.
Another 5 copies, along with a License Agreement for inclusion in the Institutional Repository (appendix 4) have to be submitted to the University Library, along with a digital copy. More information on submitting you dissertation to the Library can be found on their website.
At the Graduate School Office 2 copies have to be delivered.
As a PhD-candidate, you also have to make sure each member (excluding the chair) does receive its copy of your dissertation.

Important addresses

Graduate School Office
P.O. Box 9502
2300 RA Leiden
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
+31 (0)71 527 1758

visiting address:
Gorlaeus Laboratories, room HB 2.10
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden

Dean of the Faculty of Science
P.O. Box 9502
2300 RA Leiden
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
+31 (0)71 527 6990

visiting address:
Gorlaeus Laboratories, room B 1.14
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden

Doctorate Board
p/o mrs. M. Wanders
P.O. Box 9500
2300 RA Leiden
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
+31 (0)71 527 3130

Beadle’s Office
P.O. Box 9606
2300 RC Leiden
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
+31 (0)71 527 7211

visiting address:
Rapenburg 67-73
2311 GJ Leiden

Webcommunication Science - Last edited: 05 Oct 2012