# How to navigate a PhD career in NL

Canonical: https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-02  
Themes: Work, Study  
Time: A full-time doctoral trajectory is in principle four years. The decisions in this guide are front-loaded: which category you are in and what your supervision plan says are settled in the first months, and both are hard to change later.  
Time-sensitive figures registered through: 2026-12-31  
Source: How to in NL (https://howtoin.nl)

## Summary

Not every PhD candidate (promovendus) in the Netherlands is an employee, and what you are entitled to follows from which type you are. Covers the categories, the university CAO terms, supervision, and the immigration route.

## Overview

The single most useful thing to know about a Dutch PhD is that PhD candidates are not one category. Universiteiten van Nederland distinguishes candidates employed by a university or a university medical centre from those who are not, and the difference decides whether you have an employment contract, a salary scale, a pension, sick pay and the protection of the collective labour agreement, or none of those. The word used for you on a website is not the answer. What you signed is.

## Before you start

Find out which of the categories you are in, and get it in writing. Then find out which collective labour agreement applies to you, because the CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten covers universities and the university medical centres and other research organisations work under their own frameworks. If you are being recruited from abroad, establish who your sponsor for immigration purposes will be at the same time, because the research institution has to be recognised by the IND.

## Which kind of PhD candidate are you?

Universiteiten van Nederland registers candidates in four main types by contract and funding, and states that the category you are first registered in applies for the whole trajectory even if your actual situation changes later.

- **Employed by a university or a university medical centre** Universiteiten van Nederland splits this into the employed PhD candidate and the employee obtaining a PhD, where the doctorate is not the main job. Where the CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten applies, you are an employee with everything that follows: a salary scale, holiday, sick pay, pension and the CAO's own PhD provisions. A university medical centre is an employer here too, but it has its own collective agreement, so check which one you are under.
- **Scholarship-funded** Universiteiten van Nederland describes this as a candidate supported by an external scholarship provider rather than employed by the university or medical centre. There is no employment contract with the institution, so the employment protections that come with one do not apply, and what you receive is set by the scholarship rather than by a salary scale.
- **Externally funded** Funded in the form of time and/or financial support from an employer, which might be a company, a government body or a research institute. You are normally employed by that organisation rather than by the university, so your employment terms come from that employer and its own collective agreement, while your research is supervised at the university.
- **Self-funded** Conducting research in your own time and at your own expense. Universiteiten van Nederland notes that candidates who are not employed sometimes have limited or no access to the support the university offers, so ask specifically what you do and do not get before you commit.

## Steps

### 1. Establish which category of PhD candidate you are

Universiteiten van Nederland classifies PhD candidates into four main types by contract and funding: candidates employed by a university or a university medical centre, split into the employed PhD candidate and the employee obtaining a PhD; scholarship-funded candidates supported by an external scholarship provider; externally funded candidates funded in time and/or money by their own employer; and self-funded candidates researching in their own time and at their own expense. It also states that the category you are first registered in applies throughout, regardless of later changes in your actual status.

**Do this:** Ask, in writing, which category you will be registered in and whether you will have an employment contract with the institution.

**Documents needed:**
- The offer letter
- The draft contract, scholarship agreement or hosting agreement

**Timing:** Settle this before you accept

> **Common mistake:** Assuming a PhD position means employment. Only the first category is employed by the university or medical centre, and the rest do not carry employee protections from it.

**Source:** [Universiteiten van Nederland: Healthy practices in the Dutch PhD system 2.0, the registration types](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/files/publications/Healthy%20practices%20in%20the%20Dutch%20PhD%20system%202.0.pdf)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career#step-1

### 2. Find out which collective labour agreement applies to you

The CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten covers employees of the Dutch universities. University medical centres and other research organisations operate under their own collective agreements, so the terms differ even where the work looks the same. The published CAO text on the Universiteiten van Nederland site covers 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, and a new agreement for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 was reached on 22 June 2026. Read the agreement your employer actually applies rather than a summary, and check whether a newer one has been published since.

**Do this:** Ask which collective agreement your contract falls under, then read the chapter covering PhD candidates in it.

**Documents needed:**
- Your contract
- The applicable collective labour agreement

**Timing:** Before you sign, and again when a new agreement takes effect

> **Common mistake:** Reading a CAO summary page and assuming it is current. A summary can still show an earlier agreement while a newer one has been reached.

**Source:** [Universiteiten van Nederland: CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten, the published text](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/cao-universiteiten)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career#step-2

### 3. Check the duration and the shape of your contract

For an employed PhD candidate the CAO sets a fixed-term contract for the intended duration of the doctoral trajectory, in principle four years at a full working week, extended proportionally for a part-time appointment. It also allows a one-off contract of at most 18 months at the start, to assess suitability. There is no limit on the number or total duration of successive fixed-term contracts for a PhD candidate, which is a deliberate exception to the ordinary chain rule. On request the contract is extended by the duration of pregnancy and maternity leave, parental leave and, since 1 August 2023, additional birth leave taken during the doctoral period, and the 2026 to 2027 agreement adds a one month extension for candidates who express or feed milk during the contract.

**Do this:** Check the contract length against the four year norm, and if you are offered 18 months, ask in writing what the assessment is and when the decision is taken.

**Documents needed:**
- Your contract
- The collective labour agreement

**Timing:** In principle four years full time, or an initial contract of at most 18 months

> **Common mistake:** Accepting a shorter appointment without asking who funds the final year. Universiteiten van Nederland states that where funding is available for less than four years, the university, faculty or department must arrange the final year before the programme begins.

**Source:** [Universiteiten van Nederland: CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten, the articles on PhD candidates](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/cao-universiteiten)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career#step-3

### 4. Get your education and supervision plan in writing

The CAO requires the employer to see to it that a personal education and supervision plan (opleidings- en begeleidingsplan) is agreed for the PhD candidate, after consultation with the candidate and in agreement with the supervisor or promotor, and that it is issued within 3 months of the start of the contract. It is filled in further towards the end of the first year for the remaining duration, and adjusted from year to year where needed. It must record which knowledge and skills are to be acquired and how, who supervises you and who the promotor is, the number of hours of personal supervision per month you are at least entitled to, and a teaching commitment averaging no more than 20% of the agreed working hours over four years.

**Do this:** Ask for the plan inside the first three months and check that it names the supervision hours and the teaching percentage explicitly.

**Documents needed:**
- The education and supervision plan
- The names of your supervisor, co-supervisor and promotor

**Timing:** Issued within 3 months of the start, refined towards the end of the first year

> **Common mistake:** Letting the plan stay informal. Supervision hours and teaching load are exactly the things that erode without a written figure to point at.

**Source:** [Universiteiten van Nederland: CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten, the education and supervision plan](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/cao-universiteiten)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career#step-4

### 5. Sort out the immigration route with your institution

Where you come from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland, the researcher route under Directive (EU) 2016/801 is the usual one for doctoral research. The IND requires an employment contract or a host agreement with the institution, and requires the research institute to be a recognised sponsor, which you can check in the IND public register. The fee is €254 and the decision period is 60 days. A PhD candidate who is employed on ordinary employment terms may instead be on the highly skilled migrant route, and a candidate who is enrolled as a student is on a different route again, so confirm which one your institution is applying for.

**Do this:** Ask the institution which IND route it will use, check it in the public register of recognised sponsors, and hold on to the hosting agreement.

**Documents needed:**
- Your passport
- The employment contract or host agreement
- The institution's sponsor details

**Cost:** €254 IND application fee for a residence permit as a researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801 (2026) (EUR 254)

**Timing:** The IND must take a decision within 60 days

> **Common mistake:** Assuming your route follows automatically from being at a university. The route depends on the agreement you have and on the institution being a recognised sponsor for it.

**Source:** [IND: Residence permit for a researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801](https://ind.nl/en/residence-permits/work/residence-permit-researcher-directive-eu-2016801)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career#step-5

### 6. Plan the progress reviews and the final year

Universiteiten van Nederland describes a go or no-go interview during the trajectory, preferably within the first year for employed and scholarship-funded candidates and, for other candidates, ideally no later than 18 months after the start. It states that a no should never come as a surprise, that the candidate must be told in good time where progress is insufficient and what is needed for a go, and that the institution must explain how to appeal a decision to discontinue. At the start of the planned final year, it recommends that the supervisors and the candidate agree a schedule in the plan for completing the dissertation.

**Do this:** Ask when your go or no-go review is scheduled and what the criteria are, and agree a written completion schedule at the start of your final year.

**Documents needed:**
- The education and supervision plan
- Your progress reports

**Timing:** The review is preferably within the first year, and the completion schedule at the start of the final year

> **Common mistake:** Finding out the criteria at the review. Universiteiten van Nederland is explicit that a candidate should be told in good time what is required to receive a go.

**Source:** [Universiteiten van Nederland: Healthy practices in the Dutch PhD system 2.0, progress and completion](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/files/publications/Healthy%20practices%20in%20the%20Dutch%20PhD%20system%202.0.pdf)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career#step-6

## Documents

- Your employment contract or, where there is none, the scholarship or hosting agreement
- The collective labour agreement that applies to your employer
- Your education and supervision plan (opleidings- en begeleidingsplan), once it is issued
- The names of your supervisor, co-supervisor and promotor, in writing
- Your residence document and the hosting agreement or employment contract the IND route requires
- Your Graduate School or Research School registration

## Costs

| Amount | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| not stated | An employed PhD candidate is paid on the salary table of the applicable collective labour agreement, which for universities sets separate PhD steps rather than an ordinary scale. Amounts are revised by each new agreement, so read the current salary table rather than a figure quoted elsewhere. |
| EUR 254 | €254 is the IND application fee for a residence permit as a researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801 (2026). |
| not stated | Where you are not employed by the university, income is whatever the scholarship or your own employer provides, and the university salary table does not apply to you. |
| not stated | Tuition-style fees are not the usual model for a Dutch doctorate, but a Graduate School can charge for specific courses, so ask what your training budget covers. |

## Structured costs

- Application fee: EUR 254 (2026) [step-5]. €254 IND application fee for a residence permit as a researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801 (2026)
- Application fee: EUR 254 (2026). €254 is the IND application fee for a residence permit as a researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801 (2026).

## Timing

The CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten sets the duration of an employed PhD candidate's contract as in principle four years at a full working week, extended proportionally for a part-time appointment. It also allows a one-off contract of at most 18 months at the start, to assess suitability. It sets no limit on the number or total duration of successive fixed-term contracts for a PhD candidate, which is a deliberate exception to the ordinary chain rule. On request, the contract is extended by the duration of pregnancy and maternity leave, parental leave and, since 1 August 2023, additional birth leave taken during the doctoral period, and the 2026 to 2027 agreement adds a one month extension for PhD candidates who express or feed milk during their contract.

## Time-sensitive facts

Registered claims: 2

Earliest expiry: 2026-12-31

Review owner role: HowToIn editorial and release owner

For a later period, verify the linked official source rather than carrying an older amount forward.

## Structured timing

- Decision period: within 60 days [step-5]. The IND must take a decision within 60 days

## Common mistakes

- Assuming all PhD candidates in the Netherlands are university employees. Universiteiten van Nederland registers four types and only the first is employed by the university or medical centre.
- Assuming the CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten covers you because you work at a research institution. University medical centres and other research organisations have their own collective agreements.
- Repeating the claim that the standard doctorate has moved to 45.6 months. The CAO describes the duration as in principle four years at a full working week, and Universiteiten van Nederland describes four years full time as the norm.
- Signing an 18 month contract without asking what happens next. The CAO allows one initial contract of at most 18 months to assess suitability, so ask what the assessment is and when it happens.
- Leaving the education and supervision plan to drift. The CAO requires it to be issued within 3 months of the start of the contract and further filled in towards the end of the first year, and it is what records who supervises you and how much time you get.
- Agreeing an open-ended teaching load. The CAO requires the plan to record a teaching commitment that averages no more than 20% of the agreed working hours over four years, with an exception for the combined teacher and PhD candidate role.
- Reading a CAO summary page and assuming it is current. The full text published by Universiteiten van Nederland still covers 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, while a new agreement for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 was reached on 22 June 2026, so check both.

## Next steps

- Get the education and supervision plan in writing inside the first three months, with the supervision hours and the teaching percentage stated in it.
- Confirm who your promotor is and, where your day-to-day supervisor is someone else, that you have at least one conversation a year with the promotor about the research.
- Ask your Graduate School what training and support you are entitled to, particularly if you are not employed by the university.
- Check that your residence permit route matches your actual status, since the researcher route under Directive (EU) 2016/801 requires the institution to be a recognised sponsor.
- Read your contract against the Dutch statutory minimums, and know where to go if something goes wrong, because being at a university does not change the employment law that applies.
- Plan the final year deliberately: agree a completion schedule with your supervisors rather than assuming the writing fits in whatever time is left.

## Related guides

- [check-your-employment-contract](https://howtoin.nl/check-your-employment-contract)
- [understand-your-employment-rights](https://howtoin.nl/understand-your-employment-rights)
- [apply-for-the-orientation-year](https://howtoin.nl/apply-for-the-orientation-year)
- [get-your-diploma-evaluated](https://howtoin.nl/get-your-diploma-evaluated)

## Official sources

- [Universiteiten van Nederland: CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten, the published collective agreement](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/cao-universiteiten)
- [Universiteiten van Nederland: Healthy practices in the Dutch PhD system 2.0, with the four registration types](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/files/publications/Healthy%20practices%20in%20the%20Dutch%20PhD%20system%202.0.pdf)
- [Universiteiten van Nederland: Negotiation result for the CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten 2026 to 2027](https://www.universiteitenvannederland.nl/files/publications/Onderhandelingsresultaat%20cao-NU%202026-2027%20d.d.%2022%20juni%202026%20def%20zonder%20handtekeningen.pdf)
- [IND: Residence permit for a researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801](https://ind.nl/en/residence-permits/work/residence-permit-researcher-directive-eu-2016801)
- [IND: Public register of recognised sponsors for scientific researchers](https://ind.nl/en/public-register-recognised-sponsors/public-register-research)

## About this document

This is a machine-readable rendering of https://howtoin.nl/navigate-your-phd-career.

Published by How to in NL, part of Flux Forward (https://fluxforward.world).

Last reviewed against its official sources on 2026-09-02.

Canonical JSON: https://howtoin.nl/content/guides/navigate-your-phd-career.json

General guidance only. Rules can change and may depend on your situation; verify important steps with the official source before acting.