Funded or non-funded position

If you intend to pursue a doctorate at Leiden University there are two possibilities: a funded or a non-funded position. 
 
PhD candidates from outside the European Union must realise that a work permit is always required for the doctoral programme unless, of course, they conduct their research and do their writing as part of or in addition to another job or in their own time and in their own country.

Funded position

There are several ways to get a funded position. You can:
  

• Respond to an advertisement: vacancies can be found on the websites like:
  - Research Institutes 
  - Scientific positions at Leiden University (in Dutch)
   
• Contact the Graduate Schools
   
• Approach a professor: Doctorate or PhD candidates in the Netherlands are usually not considered to be students who study within a framework of a well defined and structured PhD programme. Although such programmes do exist, they are not common, and it is quite normal to approach a full professor with a research proposal. 

Non-funded position

It is possible to enter the PhD programme on the basis of self-obtained grants. If the individual is accepted, he or she usually receives a paid appointment as a research assistant:
 

• Contact the Graduate Schools 
   
• Approach a full professor
   
• Funding oppurtunities