Training and Education

Education
Education for PhD students of the Graduate School of Life Sciences exists out of 20 credits of the ETCS (European Credit Transfer System).
This credit system is a systematic way of describing an educational programme by attaching credits to its components. Credits can be obtained by attending courses and workshops.

The 20 EC can be obtained in several ways.

     1. General courses (4 EC)
         All PhD's must obtain at least 4 EC out of the wide
         variety of general courses that the UMC Utrecht and
         GS-LS offer. This offering is composed by the 
         Directorate of Education and Training (DO&O) of the
         UMC Utrecht.

     2. Thematic courses of the own PhD program
         (8-16 EC)
         PhD's are able to follow specific courses at the own
         PhD program. At least 8 EC must be obtained by
         courses offered by the own PhD program, to a maximum
         of 16 EC. Each PhD program itself is responsible
         for the organisation of the courses they offer their students.

    3. Thematic courses of the other PhD-programs 
        PhD-students are allowed to attend all courses of choice 
        whitin the GS-LS, so PhD students are able to attend
        courses in PhD programs other then their own. This is one of
        the major benefits of earning your doctoral degree at the 
        GS-LS; having a wide variety of courses to choose from.

    4. Other activities 
        PhD students are able to obtain credits by attending
        workshops that aren't offered by the GS-LS, retreats,
        symposia, etc. The chairman of the PhD program has to
        approve these requests and decides how many credits the 
        activity is worth.

Courses
General Courses can be found at this website. The budget for general courses is € 1600,- in total per PhD student. Declaration forms can be found here (intranet page in Dutch). Declarations can be send to your division, before the end-date of your promotion.

Thematic courses are offered by each PhD-program; overviews of those courses can be acquired by the coordinators of the PhD programs.

Graduation
Send your TSA for approval to the PhD program coordinator. To then obtain your doctoral degree (PhD), fill out the forms provided by Utrecht University. For more information: 
 

• Graduate School of Life Sciences - Certificate procedure