Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology

PhD

PhD research forms a vital part of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (CADS) and its intellectual community. Currently, CADS hosts almost 50 PhD candidates working on a wide variety of topics.

Applying for a PhD

The Institute of CADS distinguishes between two PhD categories:

Regular – A PhD candidate who is hired by CADS and thus a formal employee. These candidates are paid through ‘eerste geldstroom’ (including those funded by ‘profileringsgebieden’), ‘tweede geldstroom’ (NWO), or ‘derde geldstroom’ (EU).
Contract and External (‘beurspromovendi’ and ‘buitenpromovendi’) – A PhD candidate with an indidvidual scholarship or self-funded. These candidates are considered guest researchers.

There are two ways for applying for a PhD:

Apply to an advertised PhD vacancy in an existing research project.
Apply with an individual research proposal and funding from a self-obtained scholarship.

This latter category of application is only permitted under certain conditions and subject to case-by-case evaluation by the Institute Board. The decision is based, among other criteria, on the feasibility of the funding, quality of the proposed study, qualifications of the applicant, availability of adequate supervision, and relation of the proposed study to the Institute’s expertise.

The Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology does not offer a funding scheme or strucural PhD Grants.

If you have questions, please send an e-mail to our director of research, Annemarie Samuels.

Important information

Admission to the CADS PhD programme includes:

Registration at the FSW Graduate School;
FSW (e-mail)account;
A workspace at CADS;
A LU-Card (for the Library, photocopying and printing);
Access to library (also online);
Regular (monthly/bimonthly) meetings with (co)supervisor(s);
Annual review (GROW) with supervisor and graduate mentor; or, in case of an extrenal or self-funded PhD: annual meeting with the Graduate Mentor
Access to
- Monthly research seminars;
- institute meetings and gatherings;
- courses (relevant (under)graduate courses and transferable skill courses);
- courses from Leiden Global and the Netherlands School of Anthropology (NESA)
- PhD seminars organized at CADS
Administrative support and advice regarding project finances.

Candidates with self-obtained research funding pay a bench fee of €8,500 a year for a maximum period of four years. The first payment should be made before the start of the PhD programme. A refund of the bench fee—for example in the case of (early) termination of the PhD—is not possible.

Note that the bench fee pays for the PhD training and supervision, and therefore cannot be used to pay for research/travel/visa/conference/training costs for the PhD candidate. For these costs candidates should allocate at least €2500 per year in order to guarantee successful execution of the project.

Note that some scholarships (e.g. LPDP) have already set bench fees based on previously determined contract/agreements with the fund provider and Leiden University. In these cases, the bench fee/tuition fee that has been agreed upon will be binding

All PhD candidates should be registered at the Leiden University Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences by the beginning of their PhD Trajectory. The PhD Regulations (‘promotiereglement’) of Leiden University apply to all PhD candidates registered at the Graduate School.

The Leiden Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences' PhD regulations, an overview of the formal procedure from start to defence, and the relevant forms and templates are available on the Graduate School website.

In addition to the Graduate School PhD Regulations, PhD candidates at the Insitute of Cultural Anthropology and Development sociology follow the CADS PhD Training Protocol. This protocol outlines the milestones and expectations with regard to training trajectories (e.g. course work), supervision, teaching training and committee work.

CADS offers a vibrant office with flexible working space, meeting rooms and a common room for its PhD’s. The monthly research seminars are a curriculum component of the PhD Training. For upcoming seminars, see here.

Research clusters play an important role in providing a space for learning and intellectual exchange, and ensure that PhD students have connections and a space to share their work with junior and senior staff beyond their specific project and/or supervisor. Every PhD becomes a member of at least one research cluster.

CADS furthermore organizes PhD-seminars, such as the monthly Bring-Your-Thesis-Seminar, annual PhD-conference and other PhD-workshops and social initiatives throughout the year.

Supervision and social safety of PhDs at our Institute

CADS aims to be a safe and healthy working environment for all its employees. Since 2022 the Institute CADS has instated a Graduate Mentor who will pay special attention to the work life, progress and wellbeing of PhD students. All current PhD students can approach the GM, Jasmijn Rana, for advice regarding their trajectory and supervision.

If you experience (or witness) any unacceptable or transgressive behavior in your work (including fieldwork), please turn to your daily supervisor, the graduate mentor, or another trusted colleague to discuss the matter. If you need further support or advice you can turn to the faculty’s confidential councilor or file a complaint at one of the university’s complaint committee’s. If you are not looking for individual help, but want to raise awareness about an unsafe situation, you can contact Leiden University’s ombuds officer.

For more information, see the Social Safety page on our website.