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Open PhD positions

When a promising researcher identified a research topic of interest and secured adequate personal funding for completing a PhD-research project, they may present their project idea to CSTM. CSTM will assess the applicant and their proposed project, next step can be to connect to the envisioned promoter and if consent is reached, some forms need to be submitted to the promoter and the Dean of the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS). Based upon the approval of the Dean, the promoter then can enroll you into the PhD programme. Some conditions can be assessed at forehand, as listed further below.

Specific conditions for open PhD positions

In principle, an application for an open PhD-position can only be awarded when all of the following conditions are met:

  1. Adequate own funding on the part of the candidate
    CSTM cannot offer grants for research, nor for travel and living expenses; such funding will have to be demonstrably secured by the candidate themselves, preferably on the basis of a research grant from an external funding organization (as explained in point 2. In addition to covering the travel and living expenses, this external grant should also include a yearly tuition fee as required by the University of Twente and the BMS Faculty. Find more details on the UT tuition fee packages below.
  2. Positive indications of a candidate’s research competence in the relevant field
    An application should ideally come with a proposal that has been awarded a research grant by an organization with a recognized academic reputation, upon intrinsic assessment of the related research proposal. Still, alternative proof of a candidate’s abilities is possible, such as examples of academic work written in English, a draft of a research plan that communicates ambitions and skills, or endorsement by academic peers (e.g. MSc. thesis supervisors).
  3. Fit between the proposed research topic and pre-specified CSTM research themes
    To be accepted by CSTM, applications for PhD research should demonstrate a strong fit with one or more of the topics on the list of research themes below.
  4. Availability of supervisory capacity within CSTM
    Even when there is a sufficient fit with a given research topic, it may be that the relevant supervisors are currently not available, given their involvement in existing research projects or other tasks.
  5. An academic master degree in a relevant discipline
    The candidate must have an academic master degree in a relevant discipline, such as Public Administration, Public Policy, Political Science, Policy Studies, European Studies, Business Administration, Economics, Law, Sociology, Anthropology, Development Studies, Systems Science, Sustainability Science, Energy Management, Energy Engineering, Water Management, Water Engineering, Environmental Management, Environmental Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Civil Engineering.
  6. A candidate’s continued and substantive availability to do the PhD research
    Sufficient research progress requires that a candidate is available to work on their research project at least three days per week, for a consecutive period of four years. The candidate is generally required to spend at least three months each year at CSTM.
  7. Sufficient command of the English language
    Candidates need to provide proof of sufficient command of the English language. An IELTS score of at least 6.5 or a TOEFL score of 90 (TOEFL/IBT) or Cambridge CAE-C (CPE) is taken as a general minimum. Further, the research proposal and application for a position with CSTM must be written in English by the applicant themselves.

Tuition fee packages

The UT applies a standard tuition fee for External PhD Candidates of € 15,000 per year . Following UNL guidelines, this fee consists of the following four categories:

  1. Basic Fee: € 2500 per year. 
    This is a fee for the basic facilities that are always offered during a PHD trajectory. This includes access and use of the library facilities as well as the overall UT infrastructure (e.g., including use of various licenses for systems, an online workplace, and the support of the secretariat etc.). In addition, participation in the mandatory TGS training programme is included as well.
  2. Supervision costs: € 8000 per year.
  3. Use of a workplace on campus and/or the BMS Lab facilities: € 1250 per year.
  4. Additional Activities: € 3250 per year.
    This includes e.g., membership of an additional graduate school, training/courses outside TGS, conference visits, costs related to the defence such as proofreading and editing, printing the dissertation, and costs for the PhD ceremony and/or related symposium, translation costs, Open Access publication(s), etc. 

Waiver

(Part of) the tuition fee can be waived upon request from the intended promotor by the Dean. The request for a (partial) waiver must be submitted as part of the request for registration of the External PhD candidate. In addition to not using the facilities as mentioned under categories 3-4, arguments for waiving (part) of the fee can be for example the strategic importance of the partnership, the financial positio of the external organisation (e.g., profit vs. non-profit), and the relevance of the research project for the research section. No supervision costs may be charged to PhD candidates who do not receive external funding and/or other financial support. In other words, only organisations or institutions can be charged with supervision costs, not individuals. Instead of a waiver, agreements can also be made about commitment to the research section andor department, such as providing education, support for organising conferences, etc.  The financial compensation of these activities translates into the costs for employing a PhD candidate for approx. 0.2 fte/years.

Additional Requirement with regard to Living Allowance

The University of Twente follows the guidance upon creating only responsible external PhD positions, this is related to the cost of living and the "IND income standard":

  1. The University of Twente will only accept new scholarship PhD candidates who have a scholarship with a living allowance that meets or exceeds the IND income standard at the time of admission. (the IND income standard is indexed twice per year. It is currently € 1657 per month,- from 1 January - 30 June 2025)
  2. If a scholarship provider cannot guarantee a scholarship that meets the above mentioned condition, the University of Twente cannot admit the PhD candidate. This means that scholarship PhD candidates cannot supplement or top-up their scholarship themselves (e.g. through personal funds, loans, or family contributions).
  3. A third-party organisation, like a university (other than the University of Twente), research institute, ensuring that the total living allowance meets the IND income standard at the time of admission. Clear evidence, such as a scholarship agreement between the PhD candidate and the scholarship provider, must be submitted.
  4. This policy applies to: 
    - scholarship PhD candidates who will defend their thesis at the University of Twente
    - guest researchers with a PhD scholarshp who come to the University of Twente for a research visit for a period longer than six months.
  5. This policy will come into effect on 1 January 2025 and remain in place until further notice.

Themes for open PhD positions 

Studies can focus upon aspects of policy, governance, regulatory, innovations and transitions in society, as far as the targets and domain are relevant for sustainability and aligned with the CSTM Research vision. The boundaries set to sustainability are roughly based upon the SDGs and the social, environmental and ecological indicators. Supervision will be done by a responsible promoter holding full promoter right and a senior researcher dependent on theme and envisioned research strategy. Potential themes are described in an indicative list:

How to apply

Applications for open PhD positions at CSTM should be sent to Mrs. B. van Dalm-Grobben (b.vandalm@utwente.nl), with reference to one or more of the topics/supervisors mentioned above.

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