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Courses for PhD students

All oio's working at the Institutes AMOLF, ARCNL, CWI, DIFFER, Nikhef and NIOZ can follow five training courses within NWO-I to support their training as scientists. These are conducted by external training agencies and organised by the central P&O Department of the NWO-I office.

You will receive an invitation if you are in the contract year in which the training course in principle fits best. If you prefer to take a training course at another time, have a different training need or are working at ASTRON, SRON or NSCR, please contact P&O at your institute.

Taking Charge of your PhD

  • Six to eight hours online module, one day training and three times intervision.
  • Target group: first-year students.
  • You have a research plan and soon after starting it you realise how much you need to be able to do besides research: making and adjusting your planning, getting help, receiving feedback, dealing with setbacks ...
  • So, register quickly. In this training you will develop your plan, a smart planning and insight into what is needed to implement your plan. You will also practise a number of skills and experience the power of social support.

Scientific writing

  • Five sessions of three hours/1.5 ECTS.
  • Target group: second and third year students.
  • You have started writing and discovered that writing your own scientific article in English really is more difficult than reading professional English literature. During the course, you work on your own article step by step: from the design of the structure via well-constructed paragraphs to well-functioning sentences.

Presenting your research

  • Four sessions of three hours/1.0 ECTS.
  • Target group: second and third year students.
  • Giving a presentation, holding the audience's attention during your lecture or pitching your research ... How do you do this well and with confidence? In this training you work on your own topic: you learn to select information and clarify it to your audience, and you practice your presentation in front of a group.

Career orientation

  • Four sessions of seven hours, and individual coaching sessions, online and ad hoc.
  • Target group: fourth year.
  • You want to prepare for your job after your PhD. What kind of job suits you, where do you fit in and how do you get there? This training provides insight into your ambitions and talents and into the opportunities both within and outside the academic world. You learn to present yourself on the job market and practice networking and other relevant skills.

Online training Science Integrity

  • NWO-I wants their trainee researchers to remain aware of research integrity in daily practice. Discussing integrity is essential as it contributes to an open, safe, and inclusive research culture in which good scientific practices are ensured. NWO-I, therefore, offers four online modules to combine with the Dilemma Game App.
  • This training is for all NWO-I PhD students and researchers in the first year of their appointment. It is part of the NWO-I training programme for PhD students.
  • Register for the training here
  • Download the app
    More information can be found in the programme (see attachment at the bottom of this page).

Practical

  • Language: all training courses are given in English.
  • Time commitment: the 'organised' time per training course is mentioned. In addition, you will spend your own time on preparation etc.
  • Location: the group training sessions take place live at the NWO-I office in Utrecht. The Scientific Integrity training course you do individually online.
  • Costs: attending most training courses is free of charge. For Career Orientation, you pay a contribution of € 700 gross (approximately € 350 net), which is deducted from the transition allowance.

Participation postdocs

Although the training courses have primarily been developed for PhD's, NWO-I postdocs are nevertheless welcome to take part. If you as a postdoc are interested in one of the training courses stated above, then make this known to the P&O department of your institute. 
N.B.: For postdocs, the same investment in the form of holiday leave hours applies as for researchers in training.

Bussiness orientation

NWO-I offers PhD candidates the opportunity to also look into a possible career outside of academia. For example, they were invited to the online PhD excursion at ASML that took place on 27 February 2025.

Contact

For more information about the NWO-I courses, please send an email to trainingen@nwo-i.nl. 

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