Four-Year Contract, Five+ Years of Work: New PNN Report on PhD Duration and Delays
March 21, 2025
The PNN (Promovendi Netwerk Nederland) presents its new report, “Four Years of Contract, Five+ Years of Work“analyzing the causes behind PhD delays in the Netherlands. Although most PhD contracts last four years, it has long been common for PhD candidates to take an average of five years to complete their dissertations. This situation creates uncertainty, financial difficulties, and additional pressure on early career researchers. “For over thirty years, addressing delays in PhD trajectories has been unsuccessful. Based on this research, we can provide important recommendations to solve this persistent issue,” says Benthe van Wanrooij, chairperson of PNN.
The study, based on focus group discussions with doctoral candidates nearing completion and recent PhD graduates, highlights six central factors influencing PhD delays or timely completion. These factors include unrealistic planning and project scope, the quality of supervision, and mismatches between formal completion rules and informal norms. Additionally, the PhD candidate's proactiveness, support from their surroundings, and the tension between professional development and dissertation completion also play crucial roles. Van Wanrooij adds: “We often see delays result from a combination of factors. Poor supervision, personal circumstances, and overly ambitious projects frequently cause doctoral candidates to continue writing their dissertation for years after their contracts have ended.”
PNN advocates for concrete measures to improve the feasibility of PhD trajectories, including realistic planning that accounts for startup and completion time, responsibility by graduate schools and supervisors for ensuring timely completion, clear and achievable dissertation requirements defined at the project's outset, and improved supervision quality through mandatory training for supervisors.
With this report, PNN calls on universities, policymakers, and research institutions to seriously tackle the structural causes of PhD delays. It is time to stop placing sole responsibility for timely completion on PhD candidates and instead create an environment where successfully obtaining a doctorate within four years is genuinely achievable.
END OF PRESS RELEASE
About PNN
Promovendi Netwerk Nederland (PNN) is the national advocacy organization for doctoral candidates in the Netherlands. PNN works toward fair working conditions, equal treatment, and improved status for doctoral candidates within the Dutch academic system.
Note for editors:
The full report is available beginning today at this link: https://hetpnn.nl/publicatie/four-years/The research will also be presented this afternoon at a symposium.
Voor meer informatie of interviewverzoeken:
Benthe van Wanrooij
chair@hetpnn.nl
+31 6 15 47 05 56
hetpnn.nl
