Review of the Research Institute for History and - Universiteit Utrecht

sum, in which PhD-positions compete with other expenses. The combined result of rising PhD-salaries and
stagnant funding has dramatically reduced the number of PhD-positions fi nanced by the Faculty, to four new
positions in 2004. If anything, this number may further decline in the years to come. OGC nevertheless has
managed to increase the total PhD-fte has during the period under review, by successfully applying for NWO
funding.
Between1997 and 2004, 151 dissertation-exams have been successfully completed: 124 exams by OGCsponsored
PhD students (Aio, Oio, PhD-international) and 27 by external PhD students. External PhDs have
no formal position at the university, and do their research in their own time and at their own expense. The
contribution of this category of PhDs is substantial, both in terms of research output (18%) and of revenue
for the Faculty. Their contribution has been systematically under-acknowledged in the past. OGC intends to
remedy this in the future and involve external PhD-candidates more in OGC-activities. Their position will
be regulated by the Graduate School Arts & Humanities, which Utrecht University is in the process of
creating.
A standard PhD-contract is 4 years. There is variation in the actual length of the appointment because
of several reasons.
• Some PhDs opt for an 80% contract and for them the thesis should be fi nished after fi ve years.
• Some PhDs get leave for maternity or pregnancy or paternity leave, and legally their appointment will be
extended proportionally.
• Some PhDs get sick-leave, and the institute’s policy is to extend their appointment proportionally if, apart
from the delay by illness, the project is progressing on schedule
• International PhD regularly get a stipend for only 2 years.
For these reasons to assess the success rates of PhD one may look at PhDs who started their project between
1987 and 1999 and fi nished their exams before the end of 2005 (PhD who started 2000 or later may still be
completing their thesis). As the starting point for the assessment we have used the fi nal date of the appointment
(or stipend) of the PhD, and measured the difference between this date and the date of the approval by
the exam committee (leescommissie). This then results in the following table and graph:
365 Research Institute for History and Culture OGC
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