PhD duration at FOM decreases
PhD research at FOM is now on average 7 months shorter than in 2010. At FOM the average time it takes to complete a PhD - the period from the first day of employment to the date on which the PhD defence is held - has decreased by seven months from 59 months in 2010 to 52 months in 2014. The official period for completing a PhD in the Netherlands is 48 months, but in practice young researchers take significantly longer. From the perspective of good employment practices, FOM is not happy about that because it is not good for the employee's career and it costs more money. FOM is therefore making efforts to decrease the PhD duration of its PhD researchers, for example, by providing good supervision.
The PhD duration remains above 48 months due to the waiting time (three to four months) at the university until the formal PhD defence ceremony can take place, even though the thesis has already been completed and the researcher is no longer a FOM employee. Unforeseen setbacks also play a role. The decrease in the average PhD duration can also be seen in the average duration of the period of FOM employment of PhD researchers: between 2010 and 2014 this decreased on average from 52 to 49 months. For the 109 PhD researchers who graduated in 2014, a period of employment that is on average three months shorter equals a saving of about one million euros in salary costs. FOM can use this money to fund new research.
Career young talent takes centre stage
In FOM's view a PhD should take four years to complete. FOM helps to realise this objective by requiring the PhD researcher and the supervisor to jointly make a good plan, monitor the progress in a structured manner and proactively respond to setbacks. FOM also supports an efficient PhD trajectory with tailored training programmes. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances (for example a disappointing experiment or the PhD's long-term illness) can cause delays. As an employer, FOM believes it has the obligation to provide its PhD researchers with good supervision and to extend the period of employment in the event of unavoidable delay.
Besides the successful graduation of its PhD researchers within four years, FOM highly values a good connection with the employment market after the PhD graduation. PhD researchers at FOM are prepared as well as possible for this by means of training courses and career advice. Ultimately a considerable proportion (about 70 percent) of FOM PhD researchers find employment outside of the academic world. Making the researchers aware of their career perspectives during the course of their PhD research has proved to contribute to a quick graduation and increased opportunities on the employment market. FOM views this as its contribution to the knowledge economy.
FOM director Christa Hooijer: "All too often a long PhD duration and a high dropout rate are silently accepted as an inherent fact of the Dutch PhD system. Our approach shows that with specific attention for the needs of PhD researchers, the 'societal benefit' of PhD graduates can be increased without the quality of the PhD research being compromised. 'Employee PhD researchers' who are supported well by the employer are more attractive and cheaper for society than 'student PhD researchers' or 'scholarship PhD researchers' who have a looser connection with their research institution and supervisor."
More information
For questions you can contact Gabby Zegers, +31 30 600 12 22.
Further information about the FOM training workshops and courses.
You can read more about the personnel policy of FOM in the Social Annual Report .