PhD candidates @ work
Short impressions of PhD candidates at work.
Marian Hickendorff
PhD candidate Psychology
"I was able to pursue my dual interest in educational psychology and psychometrics in this research project.
Why did Dutch primary school children suddenly have more problems than they used to in solving problems such as 732 : 23? That was the kick-off question of the PhD project I started at the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University in 2005. After graduating in the Leiden Psychology master’s programme Methodology & Statistics, with many minor courses from Developmental & Educational psychology, I was able to pursue my dual interest in educational psychology and psychometrics in this research project. The many possibilities and the great personal freedom made this project unique for me. Moreover, by setting up a collaboration with CITO, the Dutch national institute for educational measurement, a whole range of opportunities opened for me. Not only was the process of data collection much easier, I also got the chance to discuss my ideas with professionals who have another perspective than scholars working at the university.
Now that I am reaching the final stages of my research project, I can say that the opening question was a fruitful start. It led to many interesting results which resulted in diverging continuation studies. Finally, my findings have not only proved to be important for researchers, but have also influenced policy makers in primary education."
Joost Berkhout
PhD candidate Public Administration
"In many ways, I got the best of both worlds!
"Why did I choose a PhD programme at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Leiden University? I consider the Leiden PhD programme especially attractive as one benefits from some aspects of an Anglosaxon graduate school while being within a more ‘continental’ academic system. I took several challenging international Summerschool courses organised by the European Consortium for Political Research. For example, I engaged in several PhD level courses available in my field in cooperation with other Dutch universities. At Leiden one generally gets the freedom and support to develop these activities yourself, such as visiting conferences or going to summerschools.
At the same time, as a PhD candidate you are part of the institute as a member of staff and you generally work in close cooperation with your professor or advisor. Being a member of staff gives you the opportunity to cooperate with colleagues, to develop teaching skills and to socialise with fellow PhD candidates."
Kavita Ziemann
PhD candidate Political Science
"My PhD research involves a comparative study of the effect, if any, of constitutional reform on democratic legitimacy. More specifically, currently it seems that scientists, governments and international organisations have established a consent that reforms are needed to safeguard democracy. For instance, it is often thought that giving more power to the citizens (through referendums or citizen initatives) would increase the legitimacy of the system. Currently however, we do not know whether this is indeed the case. My project, entitled "Democratic Legitimacy: The Impact of Institutional Reform", will research the actual impact of reforms on democratic legitimacy.
During the second year of the political science research master in New Institutionalism at Leiden University I applied for the NWO Mosaic programme together with my supervisor Prof. Andeweg. The grant is for a four-year junior research fellowship to complete my PhD at Leiden University."