Developing a research plan
The candidate begins by developing a research plan and present it to the External PhD Committee. The Committee can help think of possible supervisors, but it is also possible for the candidate to contact a supervisor. Once the External PhD Committee has approved the plan, the external PhD student will proceed to the implementation phase. A formal external PhD contract (PhD1) will also be signed. This contract formalises the intention of both parties to undertake the PhD trajectory.
External PhD students proceed through two phases:
Phase 1 - in which the research proposal is further elaborated
Phase 2 - in which the approved research proposal is implemented
An official PhD contract will be created for both phases.
Graduate School
As soon as the contract and the approved research plan (including training plan) have been submitted, the PhD student will be able to make full use of the Graduate School facilities.
The Graduate School can be contacted via graduate.school@ou.nl.
Costs
The PhD student will not be employed by the OU, so the option exists to combine research with a job elsewhere. The PhD student will pay an annual fee of €250,- for OU-Graduate School membership.