ANNUAL REPORT 2005 - Universiteit Utrecht

1 The DRSTP in 2005The Netherlands has a long tradition in theoretical physics which involves researchperformed at university institutes, industrial laboratories, and government institutions.The strength of this research area is, for a large part, based on the unity ofmethods employed in a wide range of applications. This reveals itself both in scientificresearch as well as in academic education.In order to structure and coordinate the graduate education in theoretical physics,the Dutch Research School of Theoretical Physics (DRSTP) was accredited in 1994by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and reaccreditedin 1999 and 2004. The school is, at this moment, a cooperation between the theoreticalphysics groups of six Dutch universities: Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA),Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA), University of Groningen (RUG), Leiden University(UL), Radboud University Nijmegen (RU) and Utrecht University (UU, commissioner).In addition, there are several associated groups and individual researchers.The main objectives of the Dutch Research School of Theoretical Physics are to implementa joint programme of graduate education in theoretical physics and to maintainand strengthen research in theoretical physics from a broad unifying perspective thatexploits the interrelationships between different fields of theory. The DRSTP is basedon the conviction that a joint venture of all the moderately sized local theory groups,each with its own profile, offers added value for the achievement of these objectives.The current version of the mission statement and a short description of the DRSTPorganization can be found in appendix A.The DRSTP graduate programme in 2005The DRSTP offers a joint programme of graduate education in theoretical physicsleading to a PhD. As part of the research training, under supervision of a memberscientistof a participating university, the Research School guarantees a wide rangeof educational opportunities for its PhD students. These consist of postgraduateschools, advanced courses, seminars and topical courses in the Netherlands, and internationalexperience in the form of workshops, summer schools or extended researchvisits abroad. As in previous years the educational board published the educationalguide with an overview of the regular advanced courses taught at the universities.In 2005 nineteen students obtained their PhD. The average time between the start ofthe research and the date of the PhD exam is 52,1 months. In reaction to commentsin the reaccreditation report of the ECOS (KNAW) the rules for the admission ofstudents to the DRSTP have become more strict. In this admission procedure, theso-called “agreement of education and guidance” (plan for training and supervision)