Utrecht University offers very limited opportunities for applicants who are not employed to obtain a PhD. Only in exceptional cases do highly talented and motivated applicants gain admission to a PhD programme.
If you are not employed by Utrecht University, you can obtain a PhD in various ways:
A PhD on a scholarship
These scholarships can come from foreign governments, international organisations or Dutch funds for foreign PhD candidates.
Please note that Utrecht University has stopped participating in the NFP PhD scholarship programme in 2014.
A PhD as an employee of another employer
This is an option for employees of a university of applied sciences who have been given a PhD voucher.
A PhD as an external PhD candidate
In this case, you will work on your dissertation in your own time under the guidance of a Utrecht University professor. You will need to find a supervisor yourself. Once you have found a supervisor, the two of you will develop and agree on a plan of work.