The aim of writing a PhD thesis is to develop oneself into a well-equipped researcher and to learn to conduct high-quality health care research. The PhD thesis and all submitted papers and work-in-progress must be in English.
End-terms for acquiring the PhD title
End-terms are clear from the start of the PhD trajectory and are communicated to the PhD student by the (co)promoters and PhD co-ordinator.
- Each CAPHRI PhD thesis consists of at least 5 high quality papers of which the PhD student is the first author, that have been submitted to international, peer reviewed, scientific journals.
- At least 3 papers are accepted for publication.
- In addition, the PhD thesis includes an introductory chapter and a conclusion/discussion chapter.
- The Training and Supervision Plan has to be completed successfully to show one has become a well-equipped researcher. In the first pages of the thesis, the School CAPHRI has to be mentioned.
- A successful defence of the PhD thesis
Once the team of promoters is of the opinion that the PhD thesis is of sufficient quality, it will be presented to a review committee consisting of several independent and external assessors, assembled by the promoter. This review committee will assess the quality of the thesis and will decide whether the thesis is of sufficient quality to be defended at Maastricht University.
For the exact admission procedure for defence of the thesis, see ‘Attainment of doctoral degrees’ at www.promotiewijzer.nl. The whole approval procedure, starting with submission of the thesis to the review committee and ending with the PhD defense ceremony, takes at least 20 weeks. Estimated printing costs for printing the dissertation in the Netherlands is 2000 euro. Participants are free to choose where they print the dissertation.
In a thesis the following text has to be included:
'The research presented in this thesis was conducted at the School for Public Health and Primary Care: CAPHRI, Department <name>, of Maastricht University. CAPHRI participates in the Netherlands School of Primary Care Research CaRe. CAPHRI was classified as ‘excellent’ by the external evaluation committee of leading international experts that reviewed CAPHRI in December 2010.'
Practical information on promotion
For answers to practical questions such as, which costs are there, how many booklets do I need to order and who is responsible for the reading committee, you can visit www.promotiewijzer.nl.