The PhD-track at the LUMC has been developed to ensure a progressive journey throughout your time as a PhD. A number of parties are involved: the PhD candidate, his/her supervisors and the members of the guidance committee. Together you will embark on your project in an academic hospital that supports top level research and personal development. As the infographic shows, the PhD-track is well structured and follows the PhD regulations of Leiden University.

A general guideline for all the requirements as a PhD candidate can be found here (document in Dutch).

The Graduate School is responsible for the PhD programme at the LUMC and every PhD candidate in the LUMC is part of the Graduate School. To track your progress throughout your PhD, the LUMC has developed the Graduate School module, called Converis as a digital platform where the progress of your PhD track will be recorded.

Contact Graduate School

The Graduate School Module (Converis) is where you keep track of your PhD progress and register all the formal steps that in the end build up to your defense. At the start of your PhD your primary thesis advisor (promotor) will be notified to register you in the Graduate School Module. Once that is done, you will receive an email with further instructions to complete your registration. If you did not receive an email in the first few weeks, it is wise to ask your primary thesis advisor.

After the dean has formally accepted your registration as a PhD candidate, together with your supervisors you will have to compose a training and guidance plan. This plan can be uploaded in the Graduate School Module. The template for this plan, along with the PhD regulations and other manuals can be found within Converis under the drop down menu “Help” and then choose “Help”.

Throughout your PhD track you can continue to build your portfolio with progress meeting reports and the attended courses, conferences and lectures.

Next to your promotor and co-promotor(s), every PhD candidate is advised by a guidance committee. This committee consists of at least two independent researchers not directly involved in the PhD who can supply feedback and guidance. In regular meetings, the progress of your project is discussed and since the committee is independent, they can offer advice from a different point of view. Ideally, one of your members is from another department. We advise you to get to know your Guidance Committee because they are there to help you in case problems do arise during your PhD. For example, if you are experiencing issues with your daily supervisor, co-promotor or promotor and you don’t know how to deal with it, your guidance committee can advise you how to handle it. You can also contact the junior (chair of LAP) or senior confidential counsellor (prof. dr. Eline Slagboom).

Keep these Golden rules for Supervision in mind when discussing your PhD projects and progress with your supervisors and/or guidance committee.

Keeping you Portfolio updated, making reports in Converis, having a Guidance Committee… when all is going well with your PhD and you are happily doing research this can all feel as a hassle. Sometimes your promotor is also not at all interested in these things – everything is going well right?

Luckily, for most PhD’s this is the case. However, no one expect their PhD to end badly. But there can be health issues with you, someone in your family or with your promotor, the department may have to rearrange, sometimes there is a difference in opinion. When you’ve registered in your portfolio together with your PTA that you are on track at the 10 month mark, you have written and signed backup if things go sour. You’re Guidance Committee can also assist you or give advice when there is a disagreement. So make sure that you know and trust your guidance committee and keep your portfolio up to date and you are all set to finish your PhD.

Working as a PhD candidate towards your thesis can be daunting at times and almost every PhD candidate hits a rough spot at some point. To some extent, difficulties are part of the process, but situations might spin out of control. If you come across problems, we encourage you to share these. You could approach your (co-)promotor directly or, if you wish to talk to someone more objective, you can contact a member of your guidance committee or the LAP confidant (vertrouwenspersoon) or LUMC counsellor.

Every employee of the LUMC is assigned a year card to keep track of the hours you have worked and the days off. At the end of the year, an overview is created of the total hours you have worked and what is left of your annual leave. The year card is accessible online through Albinusnet.

The Golden Rules are part of the Supervision Action Plan to further professionalize the PhD supervision process at the LUMC. The Golden Rules define the responsibilities and expectations of both the supervisor and supervisee. The supervision process truly is a joint effort. Find more information through the OSF PhD Folder and print one for you and your supervisor!

As a PhD candidate at the LUMC, you are encouraged to develop yourself on different levels through following courses and attending conferences. The guideline is to follow a total of 280 hours: 140 hours of academic activities (such as conference attendance) and 140 hours of activities focusing on transferable skills (courses, such as a time management course). The goal of this guideline is to further encourage your personal development. Remember that a lot of activities count for these hours, as well as the mandatory courses at the beginning of your PhD.

All the activities should be registered in the Graduate School Module, under specific or fixed milestones.

As a PhD candidate here at the LUMC, there are four mandatory courses to follow. You are encouraged to follow these within your first year. These are known as the Fixed Milestones within the Graduate School Module (Converis).

1. PhD Introductory meeting, organized by Leiden University
   Link
   
2. Basic methods and reasoning in Biostatistics
   Link
   
3. eBROK course
   Link
   

It is possible to get an exemption from the eBrok course in case you do not work with patients, patient material or clinical data. In order to get this exemption, your promotor has to ask for an exemption from the Dean. Please discuss this timely with your promotor if you think it is not applicable to you. For questions about the eBROK course and the organization of the center specific meetings in the LUMC please contact GRP@lumc.nl.

4. Scientific Conduct for PhDs
   Link
   

Depending on the type of skill/knowledge you are interested in you can consult the following websites:

• Graduate School Module, Converis
  In Converis the “Inventory of courses”-list under the “Help”-button gives you an overview of relevant courses from different providers including the links for registration.
  Link (use your LUMC credentials to login).
  
  
• Leiden University Training Programe for PhDs
  The Leiden University Training Programe for PhDs gives several courses to help you conduct your research, write your dissertation, develop your career and gain self-insight.
  Furthermore, HRM Learning & Development of Leiden University offers PhD training courses. These personal and research skills courses are to accommodate you, as a young professional and are free of charge for PhD candidates. Improve your skills in time managing, writing, presenting and creative thinking by taking these courses.
  
  
• Boerhaave Nascholing
  Life-long learning is made easier by the Boerhaave Nascholing by giving you a clear and high quality infrastructure on postgraduate courses/workshops. Visit the website and have a look around at the variety of courses. Here you can also find the link to the “Basic methods and reasoning in Biostatistics”.
  
  
• Airtable
  On this website, you can find an overview of all mandatory, highy recommended and suggested courses at the LUMC, including the links and further information.
  
  
• The Erasmus Postgraduate school Molecular Medicine (MolMed)
  This postgraduate school is accessible for you as a PhD candidate. Here you’ll find courses such as Photoshop and Illustrator, Introduction to Graphpad, InDesign, Biomedical Research techniques, etc. These are more hard-skill oriented courses, but they also often provide more general courses on for example career development or Biomedical writing. Check this website regularly for interesting opportunities!
  
  
• Medical Genetics Centre South-West Holland (MGC)
  MGC aims to provide PhD candidates with an environment in which high quality research can be practised, while also offering opportunities to engage a wide range of aspects of cellular biology and molecular and medical genetics, including the provision of an extensive course program.

Make sure to also keep an eye out on our LAP LinkedIn and Instagram page, where we frequently repost interesting/relevant courses or events.

The LUMC provides you with regular high level research seminars or lectures from top scientists visiting from all over the world. As a scientist you are mainly focused on your own line of research, but broadening your horizon often pays off with new ideas or solutions you otherwise may have missed! Besides, listening to some of the best scientists the world has to offer (for free!) is a chance you do not get every day. At the LUMC there are a number of recurrent events and lectures that are organized for free. PhDs are more than welcome to join these events, actually you are encouraged to do so.

The LUMC likes to provide their researchers with inspiring, high quality research from inside (TOP Research seminars) and outside the LUMC. For more information about lectures and other events, consult the Albinusnet agenda or the agenda on the LUMC website.

Networking with your fellow PhD candidates can create unexpected useful interactions. Learning from each other’s problems and how you solved them, to hearing of interesting courses and events or it might even lead to a cooperation! How to go about this? A good start is to follow the LAP newsletter and social media. LAP regularly organises events to allow PhD candidates to meet one another or to just enjoy a nice coffee, beer or interesting lecture/workshop to break up the routine. In the newsletter LAP also often promotes events outside the LUMC organised by e.g. LEO (University broad PhD association) or by Leiden Bio Science Park.

Everyone working in the LUMC has an LUMC account which is key to access the computers and to enter the majority of the websites linked to the LUMC. When you start in the LUMC, you should receive a username and password through the HR department. If not, please ask your promotor or contact HR via the personnel service center (servicepunt personeel).

The Graduate School Module (Converis) can be entered with your LUMC account.

The local intranet of the LUMC is called Albinusnet and contains practical information such as news from the LUMC, the agenda with upcoming events or contact information of fellow employees.

The public website of the LUMC is mainly aimed at external visitor, but some additional useful information can be found on LUMC.nl.

When working from home, you can use the green "Follow-You Desktop 2.0" icon to access all the standard LUMC applications or you can log into Outlook only. The login uses your LUMC account and an authentication via SMS, but has to be requested before you can login from home the first time. More information on how to arrange access can be found here. Recently, the newest authentication method when working from home on private laptops/devices has been introduced. From November 15th 2022 onward multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is required. You can read more about it here.

The Follow-You desktop is also available when working in the LUMC. However, when working in the LUMC you can use your desktop as usual. Follow-You is only necessary for certain applications such as HiX and SPSS. For questions regarding ICT applications, the ICT Servicedesk is available via (071-52) 64747.

It’s possible to request a ULCN-account of Leiden University. This account can be arranged through the Walaeus library. A ULCN-account can be used to access online journals and electronic catalogues from home and to enter the LU Career development platform.

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a website where you can register your publications and research activities. It helps to connect different researchers and increase the findability of your work. PhD candidates are advised to sign up for ORCID and you can also use it to import your publications into Converis. More information on this can be found on the website of Leiden University.

All articles that will be published have to be run through the iThenticate software. More information can be found on the Walaeus page of the LUMC website.

Open Access provides free online availability of research output without restrictions, thereby increasing the visibility of a publication enormously. The Executive Board has decided that Leiden University will endorse Open Access. More information can be found on Albinusnet or the website of the Leiden University. The website also provides information for contact persons for additional information. The contact person for the LUMC is Tessa de Roo.

Furthermore you can find all relevant databases on the website of the Leiden University library. Lastly, Researchgate is also a useful website to follow your fellow researchers and supervisors on their most recent publications.

The RSD is the centre of research support for all LUMC researchers and you can contact RSD for any research related question. You can contact them through TOPdesk or via email.

The library in the LUMC is called the Walaeus library and offers facilities and support for research. The library has a large number of subscriptions of journals and also a large collection of physical scientific books. You can also request a ULCN-account to have home access to online journals.

The LUMC contains several research facilities that provide the required resources and services to conduct high quality research and promote innovation. As a PhD candidate at the LUMC, you can also have access to these facilities.

Technical focus areas

• Bioinformatics Data analytics Computational Biology
• Leiden Genome Technology Center
• Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics
• Interdivisional flowcytometry Core facility
• Light and Electron Microscopy
• LUMC Computer Cluster (Shark)
• Leiden University Computer Cluster (ALICE)

Leading facilities

• Biobank Facility
• Biosafety level 3 Facility
• Interdivisional GMP-facility LUMC (IGFL)
• LUMC hiPSC Hotel (human induced pluripotent stem cells)
• Central Animal and Transgenic Facility Leiden

A further list of LUMC facilities can be found on Albinusnet.

The LUMC offers several grant and research facilities. Please visit this website to find the different facilities and their contact information.

You can also sign up for the monthly Grants Newsletter in which Directorate of Research Policy (DR) gathers and publishes the main grant opportunities.

DR can also assist you in identifying specific funding opportunities, to assess whether your research idea match with a grant call and to advice and provide feedback on your draft proposal. Their experience and advice can increase your chances of getting a grant. Contact information can be found on Albinusnet.

• Mental health
  If you experience any problems during your PhD, please reach out! In case of complaints/conflicts with your supervisors or issues concerning scientific integrity, you may contact the appointed LAP PhD confidant Ivana Kancheva (i.k.kancheva@lumc.nl) as well as the LUMC counsellor Prof. Dr. Eline Slagboom (P.Slagboom@lumc.nl). They are your first contact points for LUMC-specific problems. Leiden University also has a new PhD psychologist. Her name is Agnes van Rossum and she offers free and short-term psychological support to all PhD candidates who are experiencing psychological issues that are either caused by, or directly affecting your PhD trajectory.
• Handling threats or intimidation
  Unfortunately, a lot of scientists experience hate reactions or threats during their career. That is why the website SafeScience (WetenschapVeilig) has been launched on November 7th 2022. This website is available 24/7 to help scientists find support in case of threats, intimidation or hate speech. For more information visit the Leiden University news page.

Registration at City hall

The first thing you need to do as soon as you arrive, ideally within five days, is to register at the Leiden city hall. This can be arranged via the Leiden municipality website. The Leiden Expat Center can also register you. After your registration you will get a citizen number (BSN). You will need this number for example if you want to open a Dutch bank account.

Note: Registration is based on your residential address, so if you live in another city, you need to do this via  your local town hall. The easiest way to find the website is to google the name of your city and the word Gemeente which means municipality in Dutch.

Insurance

As doing a PhD is considered a job in the Netherlands (not a study), you are obliged to have Dutch health insurance. For more information regarding insurance companies please contact the HR department.

In general, for information on such issues as insurances, bank matters, etc. you can contact the expat center of Leiden municipality or the Service Centre International Staff (SCIS).

Contact e-mail SCIS.

Coming to Leiden as an international requires some help in getting around! Luckily there are a variety of sources that can help you to get settled!

This website provides tourist information about Leiden and many tips for what to see or do in Leiden.

The Expat Centre Leiden (ECL)

The ECL provides information on formalities when you arrive and much more. Have a look at their website for questions about getting settled, working and living in the area.

The LUMC international desk (Loket buitenland)

The LUMC has many international staff members and the International Desk (Loket Buitenland) helps international LUMC employees to find their way in the LUMC and provides information about Dutch laws and regulations.

Contact the International Desk

Key topics for international PhDs

This page on Albinusnet leads to the overview of the various other pages on Albinusnet relevant for International employees. Information on the following topics can be found on these pages:

• 30% ruling
• Housing
• Insurances, Child Benefit and Pension
• Residence permits for international employees
• Tax Support for international employees

Make sure you are logged in with your LUMC credentials in order to access the Albinusnet page.

Learning Dutch

Although you can speak English with practically everyone in The Netherlands, learning Dutch helps you to get to know the country, its culture and society. In addition to many available online and offline courses, Leiden university Language centre provides Dutch lessons at different levels, check out their website for more information.

A free online module has been made by the Leiden University to learn Dutch for new international students, PhD’s and other employees.

You can ask your supervisor if it is possible to (partially) cover the costs of language lessons with the budget of the department.

If you want to enjoy some drinks with your colleagues, or grab a bite on a budget, here are our picks:

• Want to go out for some drinks? Lemmy’s Biercafé or Het stadsbrouwhuis are the places where you can try many different beers.
• For a touch of history, visit Café De Bonte Koe or Café De Vergulde Kruik, two of the oldest cafés in Leiden. Café Barrera also has some interesting history, the Soldaat van Oranje has lived right above it.
• 't Suppiershuysinghe is a charming place to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee. You can also start your day with a tasty breakfast at ROOS or Anne&Max.
• For dinner and/or drinks we recommend Galerie Café Leidse Lente, where they serve affordable food but also have a nice courtyard to have a drink outside (Dutch weather allowing) or Lot en de Walvis.
• For good foreign food we also recommend going to Bocconi (Italian), Rodos (Greek) or Tabu (Mexican).
• Bar Lokaal serves it all and is open from the early morning until late at night. And also De Waag is open for most of the day, with the possibility to go dancing in the weekend.

Looking for a spot to hangout in the weekend:

• Hortus Botanicus
  The botanical garden close to the oldest academic building of Leiden university
• Oude Sterrewacht
  The old observatory with great surroundings
• De Burcht van Leiden
  A fort constructed in the 11th century, which now is a public park with great views of the city.
• Park Cronesteyn
  A public park at the border of Leiden with lots of green space and walking/cycling lanes to wander around.

Interested in museums? Within the city center and the Leiden Bio Science Park alone you will find no less than 13 museums. Here are our top picks:

• Rijksmusem Boerhaave
  This museum was nominated European Museum of the Year in 2019. Here you can observe some of the most significant discoveries in the history of science and medicine, with some discoveries done in the Leiden University (e.g. the first working dialysis)!
• Naturalis
  This is the natural history museum as well as a research center on biodiversity. Recently renovated, at the new Naturalis you can discover all about nature, as far back as the world of dinosaurs or the last Ice Age in the Netherlands.
• Volkenkunde
  Museum Volkenkunde is one of the oldest ethnological museums in the world, with artifacts from several ancient societies of different continents (e.g. Africa, China, Oceania, South America, etc.)
• Museum De Lakenhal
  Learn all about the city culture of Leiden from the 16th century to the present day.
• De Valk Windmill Museum
  Dozens of stories, hundreds of archives, thousands of books and monuments, hundreds of thousands of images and millions of newspapers and people in display within the last remaining windmill of the original nineteen.
• Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
  The National Museum of Antiquities is housed in an old monumental building and ‘Begijnhof’. It is the Dutch centre for archaeology. A large part of the collection consists of objects related to ancient Egypt, the Middle East, the Classical world and the early history of the Netherlands.

It is important to keep active during your PhD period. This is for example possible at the University Sports Center Leiden. As a Leiden PhD candidate, you can sign up for a membership at a reduced rate. The LUMC also has separate arrangements promoting physical health. You can find more information on Albinusnet.

There are a couple of steps you need to undertake when you are ready to finish your PhD. All formalities and documents are arranged through Converis.

1. First, your primary thesis advisor should approve you manuscript and form a thesis committee.
2. Then, the dean can approve the contents of your thesis and the thesis committee.
3. The thesis committee assesses the manuscript and sends this to the primary thesis advisor (PTA) and the PhD candidate, they can make final changes if necessary.
4. The dean gives permission for the public defense and you can plan a date for your defense!
5. You can upload the non-scientific part of your PhD for approval by the Graduate School.
6. The opposition committee can now be formed and approved by the dean.
7. Prepare for your defense!

Certain PhD students at the LUMC qualify to receive the PhD bonus. More information on this can be found on Albinusnet. It is also possible to receive a compensation for printing costs via Leiden University. More information can be found on the University website.

The details about how to manage this process and all the formalities can be found in the help-section of Converis ‘Time Schedule PhD graduation’. Be sure to carefully read this document as it contains all the rules and specifics for the different formal steps during the process.

This book is a toolbox for PhD students to plan and prepare for the PhD defence regardless of their scientific discipline or location. This book covers topics such as: understanding your defence format, preparing for committee questions, preparing mentally and dealing with anxiety. This book is crucial reading for students across the world looking to defend their PhD thesis. You can borrow this book now from the Walaeus Library.

For more information about printing your thesis, click here.