We are looking for new members!
The PhD Council represents more than two hundred PhD candidates in the Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW). Our primary objectives are advocating for PhD interests regarding training, supervision, and career perspectives on a national level and fostering a strong community amongst the PhD’s candidates of the OZSW. We achieve this by representing PhD candidates in meetings of the different chambers of the OZSW: Ethics and Practical Philosophy, Theoretical Philosophy and History of Philosophy. We also (at least) organize two annual events: the PhD Council’s Writing Retreat and the PhD Research Design Event.
If you want to meet other PhD candidates and connect with philosophers from all major Dutch universities, the OZSW PhD Council is for you! We are presently seeking representatives from all chambers to join our council. Universities that are currently underrepresented are Leiden University, Maastricht University, Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, University of Amsterdam, University of Twente, Utrecht University, and VU Amsterdam.
Are you a PhD candidate from any of these universities? Would you like to represent your university on the council for two years? We want to hear from you! Please reach out to our Head of Council, Sophie van Balen (vanbalen@esphil.eur.nl), with a short motivation and specification of the chair you would like to represent: Ethics & Practical Philosophy, Theoretical Philosophy or History of Philosophy. If you have any questions, also get in touch.
Members of the PhD Council
Sophie van Balen
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Ethics & Practical Philosophy
Chair of the Council
Ties van Gemert
Tilburg University
Theoretical Philosophy
Michael Eigner
University of Groningen
Ethics & Practical Philosophy
Lisa Kampen
Radboud University
History of Philosophy
Upcoming activities
More information
The PhD Council consists of at most 12 members. The intention is to have at least 1 member from each of the 12 Dutch universities participating in the OZSW. In addition, the PhD Council strives to be representative of the different philosophical disciplines present within the OZSW. Considering the size of the different sections, this means that the following composition is roughly what is aimed at:
- 4 members from the section Ethics & Practical Philosophy
- 4 members from the section Theoretical Philosophy
- 4 members from the section History of Philosophy
The PhD Council has two main tasks within the OZSW:
- Providing advice and feedback to the OZSW – The PhD Council can submit solicited or unsolicited advice to the scientific director of the OZSW, as well as to the board of the OZSW, regarding the training and supervision of PhD candidates. Furthermore, the PhD Council is allowed to select 6 of its members, two for each of the three OZSW sections, to attend meetings of the three chambers: Ethics & Practical Philosophy, Theoretical Philosophy, History of Philosophy.
- Organizing activities for the PhD candidates of the OZSW – These activities include the PhD Council’s Writing Retreat and the PhD Research Design Event. The PhD Council’s Writing Retreat offers four days of focused time and great meals together with the other participants in the woods around Amersfoort to finish that paper or finally get your argument straightened out. The PhD Research Design Event addresses relevant methodological questions from each philosophical chamber in a half-day lecture series, finishing up with drinks.