The OZSW organizes a range of educational activities (courses, seminars, schools) for Research Master students and PhD candidates. On this page you can find more detailed information on being a participant at (one of) our activities. For ReMA and PhD candidate members educational activities are free, or offered against a (heavily) discounted free.
For our upcoming activities please check our event calendar.
The OZSW has specific policies for ReMA students, and for members of other Research Schools in the Humanities and the 4TU (see below).
You can register for one of our activities by following the instructions on the webpage of the activity itself. In some cases you are allowed to immediately register, and in some cases there will be a waiting list. Please always check the primary target group for the activity before you register.
Registration:
- A registration for an OZSW educational activity will not be considered as completed until full payment has been made.
- In case the activity has a limited number of places and the activity has already been fully booked at the moment of receiving the payment, the full amount will be returned (and registration will automatically be cancelled).
- When registering for an activity as an OZSW member, it is the responsibility of the applicant to make sure first that they are an OZSW member.
- If someone becomes a member only after the registration for the activity and the person has already paid the full fee, the OZSW is not obliged to refund money in order to arrive at the reduced fee.
- If somebody registers as an OZSW member for an activity that is only open to OZSW members, but they are, in fact, not an OZSW member, the registration for the activity will be considered as uncompleted until membership has been taken care of.
- If somebody registers as an OZSW member, but is in fact not an OZSW member, the OZSW office will bill the participant for the remaining part of the fee of non-OZSW members.
Cancellation policy:
- When registration for an educational activity is cancelled, refund is possible, depending on the time of cancellation.
- The OZSW charges 50 euro administration costs. This cancellation fee will be charged for cancellations by OZSW members and non-OZSW members (including activities that are free of charge).
- More than 2 weeks before the activity: 100% refund of the course (minus €50 administration costs).
- Within 2 weeks before the activity: 50% refund of the course fee (minus €50 administration costs)
- Within 1 week before the activity: no refund
- If a participant wishes to cancel, they have the option to have someone (such as a colleague from the same department) participate in their place, provided that the organizer of the activity agrees, and under the conditions set by the organizer.
- In case the participant who wishes to cancel finds someone to replace her/him, they ought to arrange the financial part amongst themselves (i.e. the OZSW will not refund the money to the cancelling participant and send out a bill to the new participant).
- For Research Master students a different policy applies:
- If the course fee is 50 euros or lower, the cancellation policy does not apply, and the fee will be refunded.
- If the course fee is higher than 50 euros, the above cancellation policy applies.
For many of the activities PhD candidates and ReMA students can – after successful completion – earn a certificate. However, the OZSW is not accredited to reward students with credits directly. The study load is mentioned on the certificate from the OZSW, which can usually be exchanged for ‘real’ credits (ECTS) at your home university.
The OZSW can reimburse the travel costs for OZSW ReMA students who participate in OZSW activities in another city than where they live. Please contact us at in advance to ask for permission and get a form to declare your costs. PhD candidate members should declare costs with their employing university.
ReMA students doing a Research Master at an Arts or Humanities Faculty of a Dutch university ought to obtain 10 ECTS for courses taken at one or more research schools in principle.
In collaboration with the six Dutch Research Master programs in Philosophy, one (elective) course from each program is made into an OZSW course per academic year. In an OZSW course:
- Students organize an academic symposium about the course topic. Organizing and participating in the symposium is a great introduction to a side of academic life that might not be part of your regular curriculum.
- This includes planning the event, finding a keynote speaker, and turning your coursework into a conference paper that you present during the symposium.
- The OZSW supervises the whole process in (digital) meetings with students.
- This is awarded 2 EC in addition to the course’s regular credits.
- All credits that you obtain (for the course as such and the added symposium) count as part of the 10 EC that research master students in philosophy ought to obtain via a research school.
- Travel costs are reimbursed by the OZSW if you take an OZSW course at a different university than the one where you are a research master student.
Course offer for the academic year 2024-2025:
| University | Semester 1 | Registration Deadline |
| University of Amsterdam | Data-driven History of Ideas | Registration has closed |
| Utrecht University | Topics in Hellenistic Philosophy | Registration has closed |
| VU Amsterdam | Epistemology and Cognitive Science | Registration has closed |
| Semester 2 | ||
| University of Groningen | Advanced Metaethics (p.105-6) | TBD |
| Radboud University Nijmegen | Theories of Space and Time (search for FTR-FIRM-HP-02) | December 1 |
| Erasmus University Rotterdam | Climate Change and the Demands of Justice | April 4 |
Registration steps and practical details:
Register for the OZSW course with an email to . Make sure that the subject line for the email is the course name, and check the registration deadline.
- If the course is (an elective) part of your own research master program, you will always receive a confirmation email from the OZSW.
- If you register for a course at another university, we work on a first come, first served basis, because places for external students are limited. The OZSW will send you a confirmation email or inform you that the course is already full.
Next, register for the course at its corresponding university, so that you gain access to facilities such as their digital learning environment.
- If the course is (an elective) part of your own research master program, register as you would for any other course in your program.
- If it is a course at another university, the OZSW’s confirmation email will contain instructions.
You complete the course by submitting a final product that the course teacher grades, and by organizing and participating in the final symposium.
- After completing the course, you receive an OZSW certificate that reflects the amount of credits that you have obtained in the course.
- After completing the course, declare your travel expenses by sending a single email with all relevant receipts to . Recall that you are only eligible for this if you take a course at a different university than the one where you are a research master student.
The symposium:
The three OZSW research master courses in each semester culminate in a joint symposium. This will be a dynamic event with a variety of sessions, keynote speakers, and discussions that reflect the topics from each of the three courses. Students help plan and schedule the event, and they jointly decide on chairs for all sessions. Each group from each course invites a keynote speaker (and is given a budget for this). Finally and most importantly, students turn their course work into short conference papers that they present at the symposium.
The symposium is an addition to the final paper that you write for the course. Organizing and participating in the symposium is therefore awarded an additional 2 EC. In the academic year 2024-2025, this amounts to the total credits of:
- Data-driven History of Ideas 6 + 2 = 8
- Topics in Hellenistic Philosophy 5+2 = 7 EC
- Epistemology and Cognitive Science 6+2 = 8 EC
- Theories of Space and Time 10+2 = 12 EC
- Advanced Metaethics 5+2 = 7 EC
- Climate Change and the Demands of Justice 75+2 = 5.75 EC
During the semester, the OZSW schedules (digital) meetings with the students to assist with organizing the symposium and to help you turn your course work into a conference presentation.