How long: employed doctoral candidates are usually appointed for 4 years. Only universities award doctorates.
Your status: most doctoral candidates are university employees with a salary under the collective agreement of Dutch universities (from 1 July 2026 salaries rose by 3.1% plus €50 a month). There are also candidates funded by scholarships and external candidates without a university job.
How to get in: normally a master's degree. Positions are advertised as jobs – you apply for a specific project.
Where to look: doctoral positions and calls are published on the websites of universities and their doctoral schools and on EURAXESS, and on AcademicTransfer. Programmes in the Netherlands in our database: Netherlands – 105 doctoral programmes (as of November 2026) »
Sources: Eurydice – national description of third-cycle (PhD) programmes (updated 27 November 2023); University of Twente – CAO NU 2026–2027. As of October 2026.
Sources: European Commission – Study in Europe (education.ec.europa.eu/study-in-europe), Eurostat, official national study and residence portals and authorities, Eurodesk, enic-naric.net, studentnews.eu. As of September 2026.
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