Contact information
UNU-MERIT
PhD Office
Boschstraat 24
6211AX Maastricht
the Netherlands
+31 43 388 4400
phdprogramme@merit.unu.edu
Application procedure
- Can I also deliver application files in person?
Our student affairs office is located in our building at Boschstraat 24, in Maastricht. You can deliver documents there, or if closed, leave them in our mailbox or at the reception. It is not our preferred option though, we prefer online applications.
- Can I visit Maastricht before applying?
It is possible to visit Maastricht. However, this visit needs to be arranged by you personally. At this time, we do not offer any open days/consultation hours at the institute, nor can we offer assistance in preparing the proposal or other application documents content-wise, as that would create a conflict of interest during the review round of the applications. In case you are interested to talk to us, please contact our PhD office to register for one of our online consultation sessions.
- What should the research proposal include?
The main objective of asking you to write a research proposal, is to get a clear idea of your research interests and background. This will help us find out if we can offer the right supervision for your research project. By giving detail on the literature you plan to contribute to, the research question and the methodological approach you plan to follow, we are in a much better position to assess our supervisory capacity for your topic.
Therefore, ideally, the research proposal should include some of the following parts (1) background to your research topic (relevance, literature to contribute to, gap in knowledge) ; (2) research question(s) ; (3) theoretical/analytical framework ; (4) methodological approach (eg qualitative/quantitative study; data sources and data collection methods).
Please note that a PhD dissertation can be written as a monograph or a collection of research articles. If you would opt for the latter, you may also readily develop a research proposal reflecting this structure, outlining about three research papers, with a short description the of research question, theoretical framework and methodological approach.
We are aware that you may not have this fully developed at this stage, and it is indeed part of the first-year programme to develop the proposal in greater detail. However, we encourage you to reflect on your research plans in preparation to your application and share with us your thoughts.
- Can I be too young or too old for the programme?
Age is not a hard criterion we consider when selecting the applicants, but for the full-time fellows an indicative age limit of 32 should be considered. As said, we may accept slightly older candidates if they have strong proposal, but in general the selection of candidates for the full-time programme tends to be relatively young.
- What are my chances of being accepted in year one?
The selection process is competitive, as the programme receives many high-quality applications. On average, more than 300 people apply during our annual application round, yet we are only able to select a cohort of up to 10 fellows each year. [TOP]
Referee
- How can I encourage my referees and employer to submit reference letters?
When you use the application form, you will enter the contact information of your referees. Please use the application form – this is how we know who your referees are. The referees will be automatically notified by us and we directly ask their views on your performance. Once we have received your referee’s feedback, you will be notified that your application is complete.
Language Requirements
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Do I still need a TOEFL if I am from an English-speaking country, or if I have studied for my master’s degree in an English-speaking country?
As the website indicates, if you are a native speaker or studied in English for your BA or MA, you do not need a TOEFL or other proof.
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What are the minimum scores for admission on language tests?
If you cannot be exempted from the English proficiency requirement, we need proof of your proficiency in English. We accept TOEFL, IELTS or Cambridge English: Proficiency and Cambridge English: Advanced tests. The TOEFL code number of Maastricht University is 7102.
Maastricht University has established minimum scores for admission. For a TOEFL test, we require a minimum score of 100 (IBT). For an IELTS test, we require a minimum score of 7.0. For the Cambridge English: Proficiency test, the minimum grade required is a C and for the Cambridge English: Advanced test Grade of A is required.
Due to experience in previous years, we will also verify partial scores to ensure that all students are capable of participating fully. The requirements for partial scores are:
TOEFL IBT
Reading: 23 or higher
Writing: 23 or higher
Listening: 22 or higher
Speaking: 22 or higher
IELTS
Reading: 6.5 or higher
Writing: 6.5 or higher
Listening: 6.5 or higher
Speaking: 6.5 or higher
Cambridge English: Proficiency
Reading: Grade C1 or higher
Writing: Grade C1 or higher
Listening: Grade C1 or higher
Speaking: Grade C1 or higher
Cambridge English: Advanced
Reading: Grade B
Writing: Grade B
Listening: Grade B
Speaking: Grade B
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My TOEFL has expired, can I still submit it?
An expired copy will do. In case we need an updated one, we will let you know individually after reviewing the documents.
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In my country, the next TOEFL exam date is after your application deadline. Can I send the exam results after the deadline?
Yes, you can. In case we select you for the programme, it will be conditional on you passing the English language threshold. [TOP]
Masters/Bachelors Degree
- Is it possible to apply before I have received all of my grades for my Master’s?
It is not possible to start the programme without having fully completed an MA or MSc. If you can submit your grades list, and indicate completion before the end of the month of the application deadline, we can take your application on board for review. Nevertheless, we will not be able to accept you in the programme yet. In case you are invited to participate, you will need to send us the degree and completion certificate.
- What are the required documents concerning the grades of my Bachelor’s and Master’s?
We need the transcript with the grades, a document explaining the grading scale (if it’s not on your transcript already), as well as a copy of the degree certificates.
- How do I get certified copies of my Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas and grades?
You will need to ask your higher educational institute to offer you a certified copy, or you can ask them to send us a direct confirmation / copy of your certificates. Universities should freely offer you the confirmation, but they might have individual ways of offering this confirmation to you or us.
- I have original copies of my certificates. Will you accept if I make copies and certify them with a notary public for uploading with my application?
For the application, you can just send us regular copies but if you are accepted onto the programme, we will need certified copies.
- Does my earned degree fulfil the requirements to apply for the programme?
Generally, if you have a completed Bachelor’s degree and a completed Master’s degree (with the grade certificates), that is sufficient. We will submit those documents to the Dutch ministry of education, which approves your entrance to the PhD programme. Your admittance to the programme is conditional upon the ministry approving your participation. If for some reason you believe that your MA or MSc is not a generally accepted degree, please send the pdf documents toour PhD office (phdprogramme@merit.unu.edu). We will verify your eligibility.
- What is meant by an upload of a degree, a certificate and a grading scheme?
The degree is a certified copy of the degree from your university. In case you do not have such a copy, your university can offer you one or send one directly to us. We need these documents to ensure access to the PhD programme in Maastricht and we are legally not able to allow you access to the programme unless this certified degree is approved by the Dutch ministry of education. A certificate is a grade certificate, where we can see which courses you followed during your BA and MA, and the grades you scored. The grading scheme informs us if your grades were A-B-C, a scale 1-5, 1-10, 1-20 and at what grade you pass/fail. The last two documents are used by our academic committee to select candidates.
- Can I submit the requested original degrees past the deadline?
We understand that it is sometimes hard to send us originally certified degrees. We need those in order to be able to formally register you in the programme. Generally, universities will send them directly to us, if you request them to send us a certified copy.
For the selection process, after the deadline, we will need readable pdf uploaded degrees and grade certificates. For registering you later, we will need the certified documents, but we can process your application if your documents are available in pdf format.
Tuition and Scholarship
- Do the full-time fellows have to pay a tuition fee?
For fellows that come on a UNU-Fellowship, or other grant or scholarship, the tuition fee is waived.
Schedule
- What courses are offered in the full-time PhD programme?
During Semester 1 (September – December), 4 mandatory courses are offered. You can find more information about these courses here. During Semester 2, the fellows follow elective courses to develop skills and knowledge related to the topic of their dissertations. The elective courses include courses on quantitative and qualitative methods, (e.g. (advanced) econometrics courses, experiments and behavioural economics, focus groups discussions, key informant interviews, skills courses such as STATA, R, ATLAS.Ti ) and thematic courses offered by internal staff and external partners.
Supervisors/Publications
- Is there a list of supervisors and their respective research fields?
All members of the institute with a PhD (Dr.) degree can supervise PhD fellows. A list of the staff members and research fellows and their research interest is available on the website. The publications of all staff are available online and freely downloadable, and you can search by staff member to find out if the publications are related to your research interest.
- Can a professor or expert from my home university or country be on my supervisory team?
According to the official Dutch rules, a supervisory team should consist of at least a full or associate professor from a Dutch university, your promotor and your primary supervisor. In addition to your promotor, you can have co-supervisor(s), who should at least hold a PhD, but not necessarily be a full or associate professor. Your supervisory team can consist of a maximum of 3 people including the promotor.
This means that it is possible to have members on your supervisory team that are not working in Maastricht. They need to have a PhD degree from an institution recognised by the Dutch state. Additionally, your primary promotor needs to agree to work with them on the supervisory team. In practice, discussions about your supervisory team will take place after you have been accepted in the second year of the programme.