Supervision, Research, and Partners

Supervision, research and partners

• Research teams

  Within the Faculty of Religion and Theology, there are several research teams that conduct research. All research, including PhD research, is conducted within the structures of these research teams. Twice a year, all research teams are asked to formulate their research agenda, including their research focus and number of PhD candidates they are willing to take on, and put this on their website. Applicants to the Graduate School FRT VU are encouraged to adjust their application to the research agenda of their research team of preference. The Graduate School forwards the applications after the application deadline to the research team of the applicant’s preference. The research team then determines whether the applications fit within their research agenda.

  When accepted to the Graduate School FRT VU, PhD candidates automatically become member of one of the research teams. The research teams provide the ideal context for peer-reviewing and presentations of work-in-progress. Each research proposal must be presented in a research team before it can be submitted to the PhD Proposal Advisory Committee (PPAC) (step 9 in the ‘’doing your PhD step-by-step overview). Furthermore, every year, all FRT research teams organize a PhD conference for their member PhD candidates. During this 2-day conference, there will be plenary sessions and individual meetings with PhD candidates and their supervision team.

• Supervision

  In accordance with article 3.10.2 of the university’s Doctorate Regulations, every PhD candidate has at least one supervisor (promotor) plus a second (co-)supervisor. At least one of the supervisors is from the Faculty of Religion and Theology. The College of Deans can appoint a professor from another Dutch university or a foreign institution as the first supervisor. In this case, the College appoints a professor of the Faculty as the second supervisor.

  The main supervisor must have ius promovendi, i.e. has the rank of full professor (hoogleraar) or associate professor (universitair hoofddocent) with ius promovendi. A team of supervisors can consist of up to four members. Except for the main supervisor(s), the members of the team can consist of assistant/associate professors, full professors and/or experts with a doctorate degree. The function of the (team of) supervisor(s) is to supervise the process of writing, and to monitor your process regarding the requirements determined in your Training and Supervision Plan.

  In the training and supervision plan, the PhD candidate and the supervisors together lay down how the supervision will take place, including the members of the supervision team, the division of supervision time, and the planned number of years of research. The Graduate School FRT VU uses the standard of 336 hours of supervision time in total per PhD trajectory. This means that for the average PhD trajectory with a duration of 5,5 years, about 60 hours of supervision per year must be provided by the supervision team.

• Partner institutions

  The Graduate School FRT VU works together with several international partners. The Graduate School has made special arrangements with some of these partners, for example regarding fees, training programs, and supervision. Please consult the office of the Graduate School or the partner institution for more information.

  The current partners institutions are:

  • Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST), Faculty Development « Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, Ethiopia
  • International Baptist Theological Study Centre (IBTS), https://www.ibts.eu/, The Netherlands
  • The Queen’s Foundation, https://www.queens.ac.uk/, United Kingdom
  • Union School of Theology (UST), https://www.ust.ac.uk/, United Kingdom