2. PhD of the Future

THEMED SESSION 2 --> REGISTER

At the core of every PhD trajectory is academic research. However, in practice PhD candidates do much more–they are involved in education, supervision, outreach, policy advice, setting up networks with societal partners, and maintaining Open-Science infrastructures, to mention just a few examples. Many of these activities appear high on the strategic agendas of universities, but they are rarely officially recognised and rewarded within the PhD trajectory. The PhD of the Future is a movement started by PromovendinetwerkNederland (PNN), Nationaal Expertisecentrum Wetenschap & Samenleving (NEWS), and De Jonge Akademie to open our minds for new ways of organising and evaluating PhD trajectories. In this session we discuss with everyone present what the different obstacles, opportunities, and perspectives are for the PhD of the Future.

Sicco de Knegt is the director of NEWS. Prior to this, his roles included head of research policy at Leiden University and programme coordinator for Open Science and Recognition & Rewards at Utrecht University. From 2016 to 2020, Sicco was editor-in-chief of the higher education and science website ScienceGuide, and before that he conducted neuroscience research at the Universiteit van Amsterdam.

Karin van Vuuren serves on the board of Promovendi Netwerk Nederland (PNN), with a portfolio focused on research policy. She is furthermore a PhD candidate at the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management (ESHPM), Erasmus University Rotterdam, where her research examines the resilience of the health system related to crises.

Max van Duijn is chair of The Young Academy, part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and PI of the SIM lab at the Leiden University Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS). Research in his lab asks how social intelligence develops in humans and machines, and how this relates tolanguage and storytelling.