External PhD. candidates

External PhD. candidates are researchers who for the preparation of their thesis do not have a formal contract with a university. Not all nations offer this opportunity to get a PhD., but in the Netherlands (as in some other countries) this is a possible route to a doctor’s title.

[campusOrléoN had developed a special membership for external PhD. candidates.

As the pre-eminent portal for external PhD. candidates, we annually offer courses on both content and methods, such as postmodern philosophy, complexity, critical social studies, narrative research, discourse analysis, participative action research & co-creation of innovations, ethnography and biographical methods. Next to these courses we offer individual support in the person of a second supervisor. We establish the connections with professors and universities to complete your PhD. thesis there.

You do not have to quit your job or stop your business to complete a PhD. There are no teaching assignments attached to your PhD. trajectory.

You too can take the opportunity to become an external PhD. candidate, enjoy developing your academic skills and talents, and go home with the title.

For € 3,000 (ex VAT) we offer you:

• seven individual coaching sessions of 1,5 hour (in person, via Skype or an equivalent in e-mail). You can choose a second supervisor from several experienced academics.
• a voucher for a course of your choice (worth maximum € 750 (ex VAT)
• an individual membership of [campus]OrléoN, containing two network meetings, access behind the curtains of the website (opportunity to post content yourself) and additional discounts on various workshops.

Become a member now? Download the registration form (state "Special membership for external PhD. candidates”) and send it to the there mentioned address. Any questions regarding this special membership can be send to campus@orleon.nl.

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The following regards Dutch external PhD. candidates, but may apply to PhD. Candidates from other countries as well.

Although the exact numbers of external PhD. candidates in the Netherland are missing, the Association of Universities (VSNU) assumes that every year half of the PhD. theses are defended by external PhD. candidates.

Little is known about external PhD. candidates. Although they form a substantial group of researchers, they are often encountered as individuals-with-a-private-hobby. As far as their themes and methodologies go (often related to their professional practice), they often do not fit well into the research programmes of supervisors. This makes them dependent on the goodwill of universities and therewith vulnerable. They often risk delay due to practical obstacles (for instance, no entrance to the library, but also the balancing between work, research and private life) and socio-cultural differences with the academic world (for instance about the importance of practice in research, but also the competitive nature in academia and the lack of fellow researchers).

[campus]OrléoN aspires to limit these delays to a minimum by asking policy attention for the special conditions under which external PhD. candidates work and by offering them a market place and a community.

To gain insight into the vicissitudes of external PhD. candidates, their motivations, obstacles and chances, in 2010 [campus]OrléoN initiated a study under the header Buitenpromovendi en het onderzoekend vermogen van de samenleving (External PhD. candidates and the research capacities of society). The report (in Dutch) on the explorative phase (based on a literature review and 30 in-depth interviews) is now completed and can be obtained for free via campus@orleon.nl.

To draw attention to the special position and status of external PhD. candidates [campus]OrléoN regularly publishes in journals and on conferences. Examples are:

• Basten (2011) Bricolage and the late modern academic habitus of external PhD. students, paper for the conference First International Conference on Emerging Paradigms in Business and Social Studies, Dubai, November 22-24, 2011
• Basten (2011) The business of making chocolate, keynote address on the conference Moving Forward, Aberdeen, July 20-22
• Basten (2011) De status aparte van buitenpromovendi, in: Management en Consulting, 2, (34-37)
• Basten (2009) Promotietrend onder adviseurs? in: Management en Consulting nr 5 2009 (26-29)
• Basten & Cocheret de la Morinière (2007) Tweehonderd extra hbo-promovendi in 2009: hoe doen we dat? Adviezen voor succesvol promoveren in het hbo, in: Tijdschrift voor Hoger Onderwijs, nr. 4 (245-255)
• Basten (2007) De onvoltooide droom. Aantal buitenpromovendi groeit gestaag, in: Management en Consulting, nr. 2 (8-12)

[campus]OrléoN collaborates with the Promotie Netwerk Nederland to put support for external PhD. candidates on the policy agenda and to make it structural.

Finally, [campus]OrléoN supports external PhD. candidates by hosting the website www.buitenpromovendus.nl. On this website they can share tips and experiences, thus creating a digital vademecum for Dutch external PhD. students.

Contact: campus@orleon.nl