Ius promovendi

Ius promovendi, i.e. the right to act as formal supervisor of PhD students, is automatically granted to all Full Professors. In addition, it can be granted to Assistant and Associate Professors provided they meet the following criteria:

• The Assistant/Associate Professor has a proven track record in research.

• The Assistant/Associate Professor regularly supervises PhD students and has proven to be a good supervisor by independently and successfully supervising at least 2 PhD students until completion of their trajectories (i.e. the PhD thesis was approved by the Assessment Committee), where ‘independent’ means that the candidate has served as the daily supervisor of these PhD students and has determined the direction of their research together with them. At least one of these trajectories was completed within the last five years. The PhD trajectories supervised by the Assistant/Associate Professor did not incur unreasonable delays.

• The Assistant/Associate Professor has completed the course 'Supervision Excellence at the University of Groningen' or a similar course.

• The Assistant/Associate Professor is employed at the University of Groningen (or at the UMCG).
  

There are two ways in which staff members can apply for the ius promovendi.

1. Assistant Professors can apply for ius promovendi when applying for promotion to Associate Professor 2.

2. Assistant/Associate Professors can apply at any moment for ius promovendi by sending a request to the Faculty Board.

Via promotion procedure to Associate Professor 2

When an Assistant Professor is appraised for promotion to Associate Professor, the BC1 can also look into the possibility that the Associate Professor receives ius promovendi. Assistant Professors should mention their wish to be granted ius promovendi in their cover letter and demonstrate that they meet the relevant criteria in their promotion file.

If the BC1 recommends that the Assistant Professor is promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and concludes that they satisfy the relevant criteria for ius promovendi, the Dean will send a written request to the University’s Doctorate Board. The Doctorate Board will assess whether the applicant is ‘sufficiently competent’ in accordance with the requirements and inform the Dean, the Associate Professor and his or her supervisor of the decision in writing.

Via request to the Faculty Board

Assistant/Associate Professors can at any time apply for ius promovendi via the following procedure that was established by the Doctorate Board of the University:

1. Assistant/Associate Professors who believe that they meet the criteria can request the Dean to be recommended for ius promovendi. The request can be sent to the secretariat of the Faculty Board. (This request can also be made by the scientific director of the Associate Professor's institute.)

2. The Assistant/Associate Professor must substantiate this request with documentation that demonstrates they meet the relevant criteria, including an evidence-based curriculum vitae, a list of their five best publications, any external evidence of recognition as a research, an overview of research projects granted and completed, an overview of PhD projects supervised and completed, and the date on which the UTQ certificate was awarded. The overview of PhD projects should include the starting date of the project, the (projected) date of the PhD defence, and a description of the contributions of the Assistant/Associate Professor to the project. When projects have faced delays, an explanation should be offered as to why the delay occurred.

3. The Dean will examine the provided documentation and consult the director of the Assistant/Associate Professor’s research institute, the director of the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, and a professor from the relevant discipline. These officials review the documentation, possibly consult others in the relevant discipline, and consult the primary supervisors of PhD students supervised by the Assistant/Associate Professor.

4. If the provided documentation and the consultations convince the Dean that recommendation for ius promovendi is justified, the Dean will submit a written request to the Doctorate Board, including the information submitted by the Assistant/Associate Professor and the findings from the consultations.

5. Based on the information submitted, the Doctorate Board will assess whether the applicant is ‘sufficiently competent’ in accordance with the requirements set out.

6. The Assistant/Associate Professor and the Dean will be informed in writing of the decision taken by the Doctorate Board.