The Governance and Technology for Sustainability (CSTM) section offers the opportunity to pursue a PhD degree within the different CSTM Research Themes. PhD candidates benefit from experienced supervision by CSTM staff members and a supportive environment within the department and the broader university network.
PhD programmes at CSTM
CSTM offers two different types of PhD programmes: the Designated PhD programme and the Open PhD programme. Designated PhD positions are part of a research project for which CSTM has secured grants, and are paid according to national standards. Open PhD positions are funded by external grants secured by the PhD candidate themselves. They come with more flexibility related to the research topic, as they are not directly related to ongoing projects within CSTM. Learn more about the two programmes by visiting the respective pages below.
A PhD programme in the Netherlands, assuming full-time availability, takes on average four years. During this time, you conduct your research project under the supervision of at least one full professor and one senior staff member at CSTM. Upon completion of your dissertation and its public defense in front of an assessment committee, you receive a doctorate from the University of Twente.
While you work on your PhD at CSTM, there is a workspace available for you at our offices in the Ravelijn building, where you can also meet, discuss and collaborate with your CSTM colleagues. Although we generally expect our PhDs to do a major part of their research based at the university and in close contact with your supervisors, there are often opportunities to work outside of Enschede and the Netherlands, for example to conduct fieldwork or to collaborate with research groups in other countries.
Twente Graduate School
PhD research at CSTM is positioned in the Twente Graduate School (TGS; which is part of the University of Twente). Therefore several TGS-related conditions apply while doing your PhD, including:
- A monitoring system, including a ‘go-no go’ qualifier after 6-9 months into the research period, and periodical progress meetings and reports.
- The obligation to follow a 30 EC programme of PhD-dedicated courses, such as methodology of social sciences and career-development. (A waiver is possible when similar activities or objectives have already been undertaken or achieved elsewhere.)
Peer-to-peer support
Next to the support from their supervision team at CSTM, PhD candidates can also access peer-to-peer support via the PhD Network of the University of Twente (P-NUT) and the BMS Faculty’s PhDs for PhDs initiative.