Congratulations on your new position as a PhD candidate at Amsterdam UMC! Because you will be working on a research project in oncology, you will become a member of OOA as well as Cancer Center Amsterdam and the Amsterdam UMC Doctoral school. All three institutions will play a pivotal role in guiding you through your PhD program. Additionally, there are numerous other departments, institutes, facilities, and services that may be of interest to you. To assist you in the early stages of your PhD program and provide you with an overview of all relevant topics, we have created the OOA Starters Package.
In order to start your PhD program well-prepared and efficiently, it is essential that you go through a number of (registration) steps. After completing these, you are registered for the Doctoral School, OOA, CCA and UvA/VU, ensuring that you can join all of the activities organized by these institutions. The steps are briefly described below. You can click on the links to download the corresponding documents and information.
The first step is to register your PhD track by filling out the form at the Doctoral School website.
Receive information about PhD and Training Plan by e-mail
Next up is to draw up and submit your PhD and Training Plan. Document can be found here.
Send an email with your Training Plan to Doctoral School and the OOA
Receive feedback on your Training Plan by email and an invitation to discuss your PhD plan.
Hora Finita is the PhD registration and tracking system for all PhD candidates who will defend their thesis at the VU. All processes related to the PhD trajectory, from the admission to the submission of the dissertation, run through this system.
When completed the above mentioned steps, you will automatically receive HF login details by email
Complete Hora Finita details & upload PhD and
Training Plan
Submit data for assessment
It is essential that you acquire and develop the right skills to support a successful career either within or outside of academia. The compulsory PhD Training Plan (the last part of the PhD plan), is designed to ensure that you receive the necessary education to support your research project and to prepare you for your future career. For that reason, you must follow a well-balanced Training Plan of 30 ECTS credits (1 ECTS = 28h) aimed at advancing both your professional skills and your personal development. This Training Plan is compulsory for all PhD candidates working in oncology research at both Amsterdam UMC locations. The curriculum is largely flexible so you can compile a training program that fits your own needs, interests and background.
The education/training part of your PhD program includes a number of compulsory elements essential to every PhD candidate and a more flexible part that can be tailored to your individual needs, interests and background. The basic criteria of all Training Plans are the same and include:
Since cancer immunology is a joint program of Cancer Center Amsterdam (CCA) and AII, cancer immunology PhD candidates can choose between the rules of CCA or AII in drawing up their training plan.
The Training Plan which you and your (co)promotors will design will become the foundation of your PhD training, but can be optimized during the course of your PhD program. It is very important to focus on education right at start of your PhD training in addition to your research project. As you get closer to completing your PhD, you will need to spend more time on finishing your research and writing articles, leaving less time to take courses.
More useful information about the Training Plan can be found at the and of the page.
At start of you PhD program, you and your supervisor jointly have to compile a PhD Plan to ensure that you receive proper training and supervision and to specify all parties’ roles and responsibilities. The PhD plan includes the OOA Training Plan (addendum 8 of the PhD plan).
The OOA training plan has three main components: professional knowledge, personal development and research activities. For each component, you must fill in a number of courses and activities that you plan to attend. For more information and ideas about the three components, please see:
Once you have submitted your PhD and Training Plan, it will be reviewed by both the Doctoral School and OOA. After that, you are fully prepared to commence your PhD research and educational program! For detailed information relevant during your PhD, please refer to our starter package
