Application

Application for a PhD Position at Wageningen University

Step 1:
Read all relevant information on this website (including other tabs) carefully.
  
Step 2:
Choose a Graduate School of Wageningen University which can facilitate your PhD research. The research subject must fit in the research programme of the Graduate School. Contact that Graduate School and send the documentation listed below.

  1. Letter motivating the application.
  2. Preliminary research proposal (about two A4), that includes a problem definition, research questions, the proposed methodology linked to the research questions and up-to-date literature references.
  3. References from at least two supervisors/professors, with information regarding your performance on the Masters programme and the prospects for finishing a PhD in the area of application.
  4. Curriculum Vitae, including information on education, research experience and list of publications.
  5. PhD candidates from non-Anglophone countries are required to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language (TOEFL or British Council, IELTS). This certificate is not a requirement for PhD candidates who have completed their higher education with English as the language of instruction.
    Requirements: IELTS: 6.5 , with a minimum of 6.0 for each (academic) module.
    TOEFL: 580 points for the written TOEFL, 237 points for the computer based TOEFL and 92-93 points for the Internet based TOEFL.
    Test results must be dated within 24 months prior to an application to the PhD Programme.
  6. Photocopy of a diploma of higher education; minimum requirement: equivalent of a Masters degree.
    Also include transcripts of academic records.
    If not in English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish or Afrikaans, an additional official translation is required.
  7. Photocopy of your (valid) passport.
  8. Information on the funding you have arranged. Wageningen University and the Graduate Schools will usually not assist in finding funding sources. By arranging your own funding you get much better chances of being accepted.

Step 3:
The Graduate School evaluates your qualifications and checks if your proposal fits it’s research programme. After a positive evaluation, your application is forwarded to a prospective Supervisor (Professor within a Chair group) from Wageningen University for further evaluation. Evaluation criteria are:

  • education level (at least at MSc)
  • experience as an independent researcher
  • the publications already written
  • the scientific quality of the preliminary proposal
  • the originality of the preliminary proposal
  • the strategic fitting of research topic in the area of interest of the Supervisor and in the research field of Supervisor's research group
  • the capacity and expertise that the Graduate School and research group have available
  • fluency in English
  • the available funding
  • for Sandwich PhD candidates: the CV of the Supervisor in the home country.

You cannot proceed further until the application has been approved by a Supervisor. This may take some weeks as Wageningen University receives many PhD applications. If you and a Supervisor have a mutual wish for a new PhD project; proceed with the steps in the Timetable.

  
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