112 PhD vacancies in the Netherlands
Every position below is currently open, with the full advert, the deadline and the university's own application link on its page. Free to browse, no login. 83 have a stated closing date.
The list below covers every field. Our PhD mentorship covers STEM subjects only.
Closing soonest
Search and filter all 112 positions in the Netherlands →
What a PhD pays here (as of September 2026)
In the Netherlands a PhD candidate is a university employee, not a student. Pay is set by the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO NU), on a PhD scale that rises each year: from €3,059 a month gross in year 1 to €3,881 a month in year 4 (rates from 1 July 2025).
A further pay rise for 2026 has been agreed, so the figure in a current advert may be higher. The advert's figure is the one that applies to you.
Sources: Leiden University — salary scales and annual increases (CAO NU)
Contract or stipend
A contract. PhD candidates are employed by the university on a salaried contract, normally for four years, with the salary scale above.
How to apply from India in 5 steps
- Find positions that fit your degree. Every open PhD position we track in the Netherlands is listed on this page, updated every morning. Shortlist the ones whose required degree and skills match yours.
- Read the advert line by line. Check eligibility, the required degree, language requirements, the documents asked for and the deadline before you write anything. Guide: Reading a PhD advert
- Write a tailored cover letter and CV. One letter per position, written to what that group actually works on. A generic letter sent to many supervisors is easy to spot. Guide: Academic CV, Research Proposal
- Apply exactly as the advert says. Some positions use an online portal, others ask you to email the supervisor directly. Follow the advert, and send it before the deadline. Guide: Emailing a Professor
- Prepare for the interview. Shortlisted candidates are often interviewed online. Be ready to explain your past research clearly and to ask good questions back. Guide: Interview Prep
Questions students ask about PhDs in the Netherlands
Are PhD candidates in the Netherlands paid?
Yes. A PhD candidate is a university employee under the Dutch universities' collective labour agreement (CAO NU). The PhD scale ran from €3,059 a month gross in year 1 to €3,881 in year 4 from 1 July 2025, and a further rise for 2026 has been agreed.
How long is a PhD in the Netherlands?
Usually four years, on a four-year employment contract.
How do I apply for a PhD vacancy in the Netherlands?
Each vacancy is advertised by the university and you apply through the link in its advert — for many Dutch universities that is AcademicTransfer, which is the official route. Every position on this page links to its official application page.
Want a mentor who has done this?
Our PhD admission mentorship pairs you with a mentor who has secured a funded PhD position themselves — 27 mentors across 9 countries, and 335+ students helped so far. STEM subjects only.
How our PhD admission mentorship works → Read success stories →
Guides for applying in the Netherlands
Not sure whether you're competitive for these?
That is usually the real question, and it is worth answering before you spend three weeks on an application. Book a free 15-minute call and we will look at your profile against what these programmes actually ask for.
Book a free call →Emerging Scholars Council is not the employer. These positions are advertised by the universities themselves and your application goes directly to them.
All 112 open PhD positions in the Netherlands
- PhD Position Women in the Early Modern Language Sector
- PhD on Numerical Modelling of Subsurface Erosion in Dikes and Geothermal Wells
- PhD positions in Structural Health Monitoring of Welded Thermoplastic Composite Assemblies
- Promovendus vitiligo en immunologie
- PhD position: Blood vessels and dementia
- Researcher Position in Electrophysiology
- 2 PhD positions in Ultrafast optical control of topological magnetic textures
- 2 PhD positions on Measuring the Future of Power Electronics
- EngD in Designing Human-System Interaction
- PhD in Statistics
- PhD in Control Theory for Learned Operators in Dynamical Systems
- PhD in the Integrated Circuit Group on Transceivers for Optical Communications
- Arts-onderzoeker psychiatrie
- PhD Position: Curiosity in the Classroom
- PhD position in organoids for personalized antiviral testing
- PhD Position Thermal Sensors based on Sigma-Delta Modulation
- Two PhD candidates, Descriptive/Documentary Linguistics in Indonesia
- PhD Position: Physics-Informed Generative AI for Synthetic Energy Data
- PhD Position: Agentic AI-Driven Experiments for Materials Discovery
- PhD position on explainable DeepFake detection using Foundation models
- PhD position in health effects from the exposure to pesticides
- PhD Candidate in AI and Hardware Security
- PhD Position (1 FTE) in the area of Belonging of European Muslims to the EU
- PhD PFAS removal with activated carbon in drinking water treatment
- PhD position in Communication Science: Explaining Susceptibility to Health Hacks
- PhD Grip op health hacks: Onderzoek naar gezondheidsadvies op sociale media
- PhD Position 'Why Are the Super-Rich So Tax-Averse?'
- Promovendus 'preventie van gokschade'
- Arts-onderzoeker (PhD) hartchirurgie: onderzoek naar myectomie in Nederland
- Promovendus Toekomstbestendig talent
- Arts-onderzoeker voor promotie onderzoek vasculaire geneeskunde
- PhD: Economics of native species production and rural development in the Cerrado
- PhD position on materials development for electrically-driven water treatment processes
- PhD position on electrochemical synthesis of ammonia in ceramic membrane reactors
- Doctoral Candidate Spatial statistics for integrating IoT field sensor data and remote sensing data for nature-inclusive solutions in tree crop diseases
- Promovendus 'Perioperatieve Waardegedreven Zorg'
- PhD Researcher in Atmospheric Sciences - Emerging extreme fire weather risks
- PhD Position in "Modifying Synapses to Mitigate Alzheimer's Disease"
- PhD Position in Formal Methods for Concurrent Cryptographic Protocols
- PhD In Materials and Mechanics for Advanced Ceramic-based Protection Systems | Cera-Shield
- PhD student on the subject of Inverse Problems for Wave-Based Imaging
- PhD position (1.0 fte, 4 years) in deep-sea benthic ecology in the Arctic Ocean
- PhD candidate, Dutch morphology and constructicography
- Docent/(PhD)onderzoeker Herziening van het strafrechtelijk sanctiestelsel
- PhD position "Secure multi-stakeholder 6G orchestration"
- PhD position "Agentic AI for Resource Management and Resilient Operations in 6G"
- PhD position "6G resilience planning"
- PhD position "6G-Native Distributed Intelligence for Physical AI"
- PhD: 3D radiation in clouds and wildfire plumes using GPUs and machine learning
- PhD: Reconstructing Zeeland’s historic landscape developments
- PhD on natural visual patterns, mental wellbeing, and overheating resilience
- PhD position in genome evolution and architecture in unicellular eukaryotes
- PhD: Moss traits and fire ignition in high-latitude peatland & tundra ecosystems
- PhD Position: Groundwater Care and the Politics of Transformation (India)
- PhD Position: Groundwater Care and the Politics of Transformation (Peru)
- PhD – Militarization of Societal Resilience
- PhD – Resilience against disaster and war in the Netherlands
- Promovendus digi-, data- en AI-competenties
- PhD Developing green façades for building insolation & enhancing urban diversity
- PhD in Contrast Ultrasound Imaging of Nanobubbles for Cancer Diagnostics
- PhD Candidate in the research project 'Entangled with Seaweed', case studies in South Africa
- PhD Candidate in the research project 'Entangled with Seaweed', case studies in Scotland
- PhD position in-Operando Neuromorphic OptoElectronics
- PhD Position(s) Diffractive Electron Imaging of Surfaces
- PhD Position Quantum Physics - Rare-earth Ion single Photon Emitter
- Promovendus ‘Sociotherapeutische leefmilieu’s op woongroepen voor jonge mensen met dementie’
- PhD in Dynamic Space–Time Interfaces for High-Speed THz Beam Control
- PhD in Spatiotemporal Light Generation with Frequency-Gradient Metasurfaces
- PhD in Advanced Epitaxial Growth for InP-Based Photonic Integrated Circuits
- PhD Position Natural Building Skins for Heat Resilience
- PhD Position Indoor Thermal Natural Variation for Heat Resilience
- PhD Candidate in Population-Scale Network Science (1.0 FTE, 4 years)
- Finding the environmental causes of childhood and early-onset cancer (CUE-CAN)
- PhD in Spatiotemporal Integrated Metamaterials
- PhD in Dynamic Metasurfaces for Spacetime-Engineered Light
- PhD position: PFAS free membranes for use in electrolysers
- PhD Position Optimizing Multi-actor Transport and Logistics Systems
- PhD student - From brain circuits of threat to neurofeedback in humans
- EngD position: AI for Underground Infrastructure Detection and Characterisation
- EngD position: Standardizing Fieldwork and Data Management for Utility Mapping
- PhD Position in Space Law and Artificial Intelligence
- PhD student - Traumatic Brain Injury
- PhD position in IC Design group
- PhD - student Femtosecond Electrochemistry
- PhD student Femtosecond study and control of surfactants on water
- Reconstructing nanophotonic scattering geometries from their radiation pattern
- PhD: Lensless 3D optical imaging
- PhD in Multi-Aperture Ultrasound Imaging for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
- PhD on Computational growth and remodeling of cartilage microtissues
- PhD Position at the Centre for Language Studies
- PhD Position at the Radboud Institute for Culture and History
- EngD on AI-robotic integration for arm assistance in home settings
- PhD in Entanglement Generation and Routing in Multi-Node Quantum Networks
- PhD in Forward Error Correction for Optical Quantum-Secured Networks
- PhD-position Towards the next generation of tires: Development of micro-abrasive resistant tire treads
- PhD position robust multi-criteria optical design under uncertainty
- PhD in Spatial System Mapping and Decision-Support Design for Nature-Inclusive Agrifood Transitions
- PhD in fast multi-scale electromagnetic modeling for RF systems
- PhD in Neuromorphic Photonics for Event-Driven Sensing via Heterogeneous Integration
- PhD position in theoretical particle physics
- EngD in Human-AI Interaction for Sign Language Translation
- PhD: Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Semiconductor Metrology
- PhD- student: Harnessing phase transitions for optical information processing
- 3-year Postdoctoral Research Scientist Position in Statistical Genomics/Genetic Epidemiology
- PhD Position: Mathematical Physics
- PhD position: Analysis of inhomogeneous wave equations
- PhD position: The effect of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on cognitive functions
- PhD candidate (Anthropological Linguistics, Descriptive Linguistics)
- PhD position in modeling the mechanical regulation of plant development and regeneration (1.0 FTE)
- PhD position: Operando X-ray spectroscopy on electrocatalytic interfaces (1.0 FTE)
- Lecturer-PhD candidate - 1.0 FTE - Vacancy number: 16748
- Docent-promovendus / Lecturer-PhD candidate
Institutions currently hiring in the Netherlands
Leiden University · Eindhoven University of Technology · University of Twente · Amsterdam UMC · Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) · Radboud University · DIFFER · University of Twente (UT) · Utrecht University · University of Amsterdam (UvA) · Wageningen University & Research · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) · Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR) · Tilburg University · Open Universiteit (OU) · Erasmus MC (Universitair Medisch Centrum Rotterdam) · University of Groningen · Radboudumc · Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) · Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) · Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) · AMOLF · Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography ARCNL · National Institute for Subatomic Physics (NIKHEF) · Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
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