PhD programme director

Catherine ‘Kiki’ Brölmann is the PhD programme director. She is responsible for the educational component of the doctoral programme and supervises its organisation. She also supervises the organisation and quality control of the doctoral programme as a whole. Other responsibilities include the organisation and coordination of the study programme and the implementation of those elements of the UvA's education policy that are relevant for the PhD programme. She is supported by the PhD study programme coordinator.

PhD counsellor

Professor Irene Asscher-Vonk fulfils the role of PhD counsellor at the FdR. She offers help, support and advice to PhD students who encounter problems during the writing of their dissertation. She is not involved with the content of the dissertation. Her activities lie in the field of conditions for completing a PhD trajectory. Irene can be reached via i.p.asscher-vonk1@uva.nl or 06-1090 7417 or via her weekly walk-in hour on Wednesdays from 2-3 PM in room REC A7.04, except for the holidays (please mail or call for an appointment first as due to corona restrictions actual presence might not be certain).

PhD secretariat

Kim Bierhoff is responsible for the PhD secretariat. She is the first point of contact for current and aspiring PhD candidates. It is her responsibility to ensure that all PhD candidates meet their formal and administrative obligations in time. As an example, Kim helps obtain approval for PhD candidates from the Doctorate Board and sends reminders to PhD candidates and supervisors for assessment interviews and annual appraisals. She also assists PhD candidates in the period between the completion of their thesis and the thesis defence.

PhD study programme coordinator

Natasa Nedeski coordinates the PhD study programme. She is the administrator of the programme's Canvas page and is responsible for all organisational aspects with regard to the courses.

Graduate Studies Committee

Amsterdam Law School's Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) advises and provides support to the dean, the PhD programme director and the research director regarding all matters involving the organisation, teaching and requirements of the PhD study programme. In this respect, the GSC's remit is similar to that of the Board of Studies for Bachelor's and Master's programmes, i.e. monitoring and improving the quality of teaching.

At its meetings, the GSC discusses not only the doctoral programme courses, the cohesiveness of the study programme and all other aspects of Amsterdam Law School's doctoral programme, but also your working conditions and environment and how and when you are assessed by your supervisors. We aim to take on board the views of everyone involved in the doctoral programme and improve the variety and quality of educational opportunities for PhD candidates at Amsterdam Law School. In the past, the GSC successfully argued in favour of upgrading the status of PhD candidates from students to members of Amsterdam Law School staff.

Composition

The GSC is composed of the Graduate School director, the research director, the PhD programme director, the doctoral counsellor and at least three PhD candidates. Of these PhD candidates, at least one must be taking the PhD study programme at the moment of their appointment and at least one must be a member of the Central PhD Council. In principle, the PhD candidate members of the GSC are appointed for a period of two years.

The GSC members are:

• Irthe de Jong (International Law)
• Pramiti Parwani (Public Law), member of the Central PhD Council
• Zhonghua Du (Public International Law)