Every year a number of candidates start their PhD trajectory at our Graduate School!
We would like you to meet some of our candidates:
Meet the PhD candidates of the Graduate School FRT VU!
Nycholas Oliveira
My name is Nycholas Oliveira, and I am from South Africa. I hold a Bachelor of Theology from the Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa and a Master of Theology (NT Studies) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. My MTh dissertation combined text-critical and social-scientific approaches to comment on social identity dynamics in early Christianity. Currently, under the guidance of Prof. Peter-Ben Smit and Prof. Gijsbert van den Brink, I'm working on clarifying my PhD topic, which will focus on the relationship between religiosity and societal flourishing. I will conduct my research as a Marie Curie fellow and within the Graduate Research on Worldwide Challenges (GROW) project framework.
When I'm not doing academic research, you can find me exploring the Netherlands with my wife, Robyn, taking in all the sights and sounds, and of course, sampling the great beer! If I'm not doing that, I'm probably relaxing at home with a great fictional novel in hand.
Really grateful for this opportunity to study at the VU; I aim to make the most of it!
Vanessa Englert:
My name is Vanessa, I am a 4th year, part-time PhD student at the Seminari Hindu Spirituality and Society under the supervision of Prof. Nandram and Dr. Bindlish. As a scholar at the overlap of Management and Hindu Spiritual Studies, I focus on applying qualitative empirical methods to discover the nature of shared spiritual experiences in organizational settings such as the office, class room, in doctor’s consultation, etc. The motivation for this research stems from my conviction that how organizations are set up should serve human kind to be their full Selves – which includes their spiritual side. The first idea for this research was born from my practice as enabling consultant, where creating spaces to Be is how I support my clients in their organizational development on individual, team and structural level. My daily dedicated yoga practice in turn nourishes me to show up and contribute my part in all areas of life. German born and raised, I live nomadically, currently in Amsterdam and moving on towards Spain in October.