Doctoral thesis

Thesis requirements

The doctoral thesis needs to be submitted to the Assessment Committee before the end of the PhD candidate’s contract. If this cannot be achieved, a paid extension of the PhD journey is necessary. The requirements, procedures, responsibilities and rules pertaining to the doctoral thesis are described in the Doctoral Degree Regulations of Utrecht University. You can find it on the university’s website in English and Dutch. The supervisory team, as well as the PhD candidate, are responsible for the quality of the research in the doctoral thesis according to the prevailing standards.

In addition to these general requirements, the GSLS has formulated several additional guidelines for the thesis of a GSLS PhD candidate. These guidelines reflect our vision on doctoral education. A PhD journey is the training of a young academic towards an independent scientist, who is fit for a career inside or outside academia. The doctoral thesis is a written document demonstrating the scientific development of the PhD candidate.

Thesis content

In contrast to common belief, the thesis does not need to contain papers published or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The thesis must contain at least a general introduction, publishable research chapters and a general discussion. The chapters in a PhD thesis form a collective unit, which contains a thread through the thesis that is reflected upon in the general discussion.

General introduction

In the general introduction, your PhD candidate describes their view of the current state- of-the-art in your discipline. They highlight gaps in scientific knowledge and introduce an overview of the thesis research. The general introduction contains information that readers need to know in order to comprehend the context of the research chapters. A review article may be used as part of the general introduction. In this case, a short general introduction and overview of the thesis has to be added. There is explicitly no minimum length for the introduction; quality is the only criterion.

Research chapters

Each research chapter contains work, demonstrating that your PhD candidate followed the scientific research cycle:

your PhD candidate identifies a gap in scientific knowledge;
your PhD candidate outlines an approach;
your PhD candidate describes an appropriate collection and analysis of data, or existing relevant databases;
your PhD candidate reflects on the results within the context of the specific field.

The length and format of a chapter, the scientific depth, the quality of data collection and analysis thereof, should be of a level customary to the specific discipline. For further details, please read the separate section When can a manuscript be part of the doctoral thesis? (bottom of page). There is no requirement for the number of research chapters in a PhD thesis: quality, coherence and the specific contributions of the candidate prevail over quantity. The guideline is 3 or more publishable chapters, but fewer can be justified for example by the extensiveness of the work. We define a publishable chapter as a (future) publication or a substantial part of a more extensive study.

General discussion

Where research chapters and sometimes the general introduction are collaborative efforts, the general discussion should be your PhD candidate’s own product. In this final chapter, your PhD candidate reflects with a birds- eye perspective on their research chapters and notable findings. Your PhD candidate identifies future opportunities for research, and discusses the impact on the research field and society. There is explicitly no minimum length for the discussion; quality is the only criterion.

Personal and scientific development

Your PhD candidate’s development is typically broader than the scientific content of their research chapters. PhD candidates can reflect on their broader personal and scientific development in an attachment to their thesis. This is optional and may be used by the Assessment Committee to acquire a complete picture of your PhD candidate, as an academic in training. However, it falls outside the thesis content and will not be judged by the Assessment Committee. Your candidate may use the GSLS PhD Competence Model (see Chapter 5.1 of the PhD Guide) as a guideline to draft this attachment. Examples of such a PhD portfolio can be found here (pdf).

When can a manuscript be part of the doctoral thesis?

The degree of your PhD candidate’s scientific contribution determines whether a manuscript can be part of their doctoral thesis. Not their position in the list of authors. Therefore, each chapter of their the- sis should explicitly indicate how your PhD candidate has contributed to this work. If relevant, this also applies to the general introduction and discussion. Please find examples of author contribution here (pdf).
Collection of data only by your PhD candidate is not sufficient in itself for inclusion of a chapter. Your PhD candidate should have followed the scientific research cycle (see the section ‘Research Chapters’).
If your PhD candidate, as part of a team effort, has conducted a crucial part of a larger study, but your PhD candidate is not the first, second or last author, the work can still be included in the thesis, as long as your PhD candidate explains their role in the study. If your PhD candidate’s contribution to that publication is not sufficient in itself to be a chapter, your PhD candidate may supplement the material with their own relevant work.
A (publishable) research chapter does not already have to be submitted or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal to be included in the thesis. However, the PhD candidate and the supervisors should strive to publish these chapters in peer-reviewed open-access scientific journals. For manuscripts that are published or will be in the future, your PhD candidate will be (co)author of the respective thesis chapters, in recognition of their scientific work.

Note: It is important to know that PhD candidates of Utrecht University are required to offer a digital version of their thesis to the University Library. The thesis will be incorporated into the Utrecht University Repository, the digital scientific archive of the university that is publicly available. The PhD candidate has the possibility to place an embargo on certain chapters of the thesis.

In assessing the PhD thesis, the Assessment Committee uses an assessment form based on the guidelines in the Doctoral Degree Regulations of Utrecht University. The Life Sciences deans would like to inform the committee members about the GSLS guidelines above as well. Hence, MyPhD sends a letter together with the manuscript. You can find the letter to the assessment committee here.

When committee members accept the invitation to take part in the committee, they are asked to document their decision within 1 month in MyPhD. They assess the thesis on four aspects, namely originality, scientific level, written presentation and an overall assessment. In addition, they will be asked if the thesis might be awarded cum laude designation, i.e., thesis quality is among the top 3-5% in the relevant field of research worldwide.