Annual Performance & Development review PhDs

Once a year, a Performance and Development Interview is organized for every PhD candidate. These interviews are required by Dutch labour law and are centrally organized in the spring of each year under auspices of the Promotie Begeleidings Commissie (“PhD Support Committee”), for short the PBC. This committee oversees the progress of all PhD projects, and provides advice (to the PhD candidates, the supervisors and the Scientific Director) on all aspects thereof. As an advisory committee the PBC has no formal power, but its advice is important and should not be set aside lightly. The principal role of the PBC is to support the candidate with advice, in order to make the process as smooth as possible, signal potential hurdles early, and help the candidate overcome them. The written material in connection with the PBC process (report as input to the PBC interview, and report written by the PBC) will be shared with both the candidate and the supervisors and becomes part of the candidate's personnel file. However, during the interview with the PBC (i.e., with the supervisors absent), it is possible to keep the discussion (or elements thereof) confidential, if so desired by the candidate.

The 2024 PBC exists of:
Chairs: Anthony Brown, Nienke van der Marel, Matthew Kenworthy
Members: Thanja Lamberts, Simon Portegies Zwart, Matthieu Schaller, Aline Vidotto, Serena Viti

There is a difference between the interviews for 1st year PhDs and for later years, as described below.

1st year PhD’s:
Since PhD contracts are initially for 1 year, the 1st PhD interview is an important evaluation point for continuing the project. Continuation of the project is the outcome in the vast majority of cases, and in these cases the PBC will advise extending the contract to the full 4 years. In a very small number of cases doubts arise; since these cases are few, they are handled on a case-by-case basis, the intention being to find a path forward that is in the best interest of the candidate. In these cases, a course of action may be defined that should bring the project back on track within about 3 months, and which will be evaluated after this period. The “6-months interview” with the PBC takes the form of a presentation (approximately 30 minutes) by the candidate, where the subject, context, approach, approximate steps and schedule and (if available) first results are outlined, to an audience consisting of 1 of the PBC chairs, 1 staff member with knowledge of the field, and the PhD supervisors. The committee will discuss these plans with the candidate, and will also talk to the candidate and the supervisors separately. Finally, the PBC will write a concise report which will be sent to the candidate and the supervisors. Both this report and the presentation slides (which together form the annual report) need to be submitted by the supervisor in Self Service, together with a Results & Development form.

PBC interviews in later years:
After the first year the PBC evaluates the progress of each PhD student once a year, based on a written progress report submitted by each candidate. The progress report must be written using a template which will be supplied by email. It is expected that this report be discussed with the supervisors prior to submitting it. The completed form must be uploaded in the database https://jobs.strw.leidenuniv.nl/2024/pbc at least two working days prior to the interview. During the interview the PBC will first discuss progress with the PhD student (20 minutes), without the presence of the supervisors, and will then speak with the supervisors, without the presence of the PhD student. The PBC will provide feedback in the form of a report, which will be sent to the candidate and the supervisors. This report may contain recommendations concerning the project, which, together with the rest of the report, must be discussed by the PhD student and the supervisors. Both the progress report and the PBC report need to be submitted by the supervisor in Self Service together with a Results & Development form.
Contact: Alina Vink, secretariat STRW avink@strw.leidenuniv.nl

Other roles of the PBC:

1) it is possible to schedule an appointment with the PBC any time of the year (in these cases no report is written), should the candidate (or supervisors) want advice on any aspect of the project. Just contact one of the PBC chairs for this.

2) sometimes the PBC will want to schedule an additional progress meeting outside the annual cycle.

3) the PBC also plays an advisory role in connection with contract extension requests. Such requests (which must be made by the supervisors to the Scientific Director) must always be accompanied by a detailed schedule leading to a completed thesis at the end of the requested extension period. The PBC assesses the feasibility of the proposed schedule, and reports its assessment to the Scientific Director, who decides on the request.

4) the non-scientific parts of the PhD thesis (see official PhD regulations for more information on this) require formal approval by the PBC. This can be done by email, through one of the PBC chairs.