ERIM PhD Reference Guide

2.4 Second and Third Year
The second and third year are used for:
Taking courses (only second year; not relevant for PhDs with ERIM research
master background)
Literature review
Writing papers
Presenting papers at conferences
Performing the empirical part of the research
PhD candidates are encouraged to participate in conferences to meet and learn from
other researchers and to present their own work. To find out which conferences are
suitable for your research interests, ask your supervisor or daily supervisor. They
frequently receive invitations for conferences and can easily keep you informed
about interesting opportunities. (For funding of your travel plans, see section 4.1 and
the ERIM Support Programme 10 in annex A.3).
Another important milestone in your PhD trajectory is the 2,5 year meeting. For MSc
degree holders with a four‐year contract, this meeting takes place 28 months after
the PhD appointment date. For ERIM Research master graduates, it takes place 22
months after appointment as a PhD candidate.
Before this meeting, a PhD candidate must submit a progress report of about two
pages to ERIM. The progress report should inform the Director of Doctoral Education
about the first stage of your PhD track, including a description of chapters or working
papers you are working on (or have completed), your field work, the data you have
collected, and the conferences at which you have presented. The report should also
present a detailed research plan and schedule for completion of your PhD thesis. The
progress report provides important information for an evaluation meeting with the
Director of Doctoral Education and your supervisor in the first half of your third year.
2.5 Fourth Year
In the fourth year, the research is completed and the thesis is written. Once the
thesis has been completed, the defence of the thesis will not take place until
approximately six months later. All regulations concerning your PhD defence can be
found in the doctoral regulations of the Erasmus University (‘promotiereglement’).
See http://www.eur.nl/english/information_for/doctorate_students/.
ERIM has its own PhD series. Dissertations can be published in printed and electronic
format. All published PhD dissertations in the ERIM PhD Series can be found at
http://repub.eur.nl/res/org/1. If published in this series, ERIM will pay for the design
and printing (see EPS manual of the year of graduation). For further information
please contact the PhD Series Coordinator and/or Doctoral Programme Manager.
The first thing to do is to file a request for the PhD defence (‘verzoek tot promotie’).
This request should contain the subject of the thesis and name(s) of the
2 Overview of the programme 15