What Have I Learned After Two Months in the Netherlands?

Two months into my stay here, I must confess my mind is in a whirl. A two-day workshop for new PhD students that I attended this week heightened this feeling. While the event was impeccably organized and included specialized sessions on PhD planning meant to assist us, it was these very workshops that sent shivers down my spine.

For starters, they told us that at Donders, only 10% of PhD students manage to complete their projects on time. This raises a curious paradox, given that there are three compelling reasons to finish on schedule:

• A 1,500 euro reward for timely completion,
• The obligation to work without pay after four years,
• The legal restriction preventing those who don’t complete on time from being admitted to a Postdoc position at Donders.

The oddity deepens when considering that most students might not make it. There could be several factors behind this. In my case, my project is theoretical, which has its pros and cons.

On one hand, I’m not reliant on my team’s progress since I’m not part of it. Moreover, I’m spared the paperwork and wait for experiment permissions, which can take 2-3 months due to ethics committees. I’m also spared the wait for equipment, since line waits in Donders can stretch to half a year. 

On the other hand, publishing demands substantial findings or at least a compelling model, while experimentalists can design, execute, and describe behavioral experiments with relative ease. In theoretical science, you need an extensive knowledge foundation from the outset, which prolongs the process, and the review and publication journey also takes longer.

Is It Easy To Get a PhD in the Netherlands?

This makes it challenging to determine whether the mandate of securing at least 4 publications (with oneself as the first author!) in journals boasting an Impact Factor of at least 2 is more demanding for “us” or “them” in terms of admission to the PhD thesis. The reality is that it’s akin to a lottery. Timely completion seems more dependent on the rapport with the mentor than on the topic’s profitability, the pace of progress, or any potential difficulties. 

And this is where the complexity arises – my tutor is exceptionally ambitious. And I’m apprehensive that this ambition might hinder me.

There’s a possibility that he’ll strive for one or two high-ranking magazine publications with me, rather than four in mid-tier ones. Such an approach could potentially delay my completion. 

While things might play out differently, my anxieties stem from my observations in the lab so far. I’m perplexed about how to address this, as my greatest fear is that battling through my ideas for four years might extinguish my passion for science, in which I believe I have potential. This confusion constantly buzzes in my head, as time rushes by.

Amidst all this uncertainty, there’s still much to appreciate. The university holds its mysteries, and I’m just beginning to uncover them.

A week ago, my boyfriend and I helped a friend from my lab move from the university guest house to a rented home. As we drove around the back of the building where I work, I was astounded. 

What Are the Surroundings Like?

For two months, I’ve been overlooking the street, oblivious to the fact that at the building’s rear lies a beautiful, illuminated lake adorned with stone sculptures, fountains, and other enchanting elements. What’s more, an NMR lab sits beneath the lake.

I’ve made it a personal goal to visit that lab one day. The notion of working beneath a lake, right in the heart of the city, adds a touch of whimsy.

Initially, I found the funding for conferences and workshops for PhD students to be relatively modest, allowing for just one trip per year (without overlap, as clever schemers always strive for more). 

However, I’ve come to realize that this is due to a simple reason: why venture elsewhere when the world comes to you? Almost every week, renowned authors of neuroscience textbooks, Nobel Prize winners, and other distinguished figures deliver lectures.

Regular local conferences happen here, offering a chance to meet professionals from around the globe without leaving the city. It’s worth mentioning that many eminent personalities also work here, and you can simply reach out to them.

Speaking of notables, a recent Donders representative received an Ig Nobel in physiology for her research on yawning in turtles. Her publication demonstrated that, unlike humans, turtles are not susceptible to contagious yawning. 

Reacting to this achievement is a mix of amusement and bewilderment. The international press has embraced it, adding an element of prestige. I once even contacted this lady, inquiring about a spot in her lab for a PhD student from Poland.

But alas, she had no doctoral grants available. It’s a missed opportunity, as I would have had an Ig Nobel laureate as a supervisor. I’ve certainly brushed against the extraordinary.

What Are the Dutch Rules?

Another lesson I’ve gleaned is that greatness can sometimes be undervalued here. Adhering to rules is paramount, and if someone can’t fulfill their obligations, they’re swiftly removed. Donders, for instance, parted ways with a physicist — a brilliant scientist but an ineffective educator. 

As teaching constitutes 40% of professors’ contracts here, his deficiencies in this area led to his termination. He relocated to Great Britain, and for the research he conducted here, he was later awarded a Nobel Prize. The dean might still harbor resentment, but the Nobel Prize rightfully belongs to the English.

Moreover, my musings led me to a wicked idea recently: searching my own name online to check for unnecessary accounts that might require tidying up. I stumbled upon the website of the computer science department at the University of Edinburgh, which curiously mentioned my status as a PhD student there for several months.

I’m contemplating sending them an account number; perhaps they’ll honor it, given their evident disorganization. After all, accepting a donation isn’t a crime.

To wrap up, I find myself harboring mixed sentiments toward my homeland. While working, I often tune in to Polish radio, and I caught wind of the buzz surrounding Professor Diederik Stapel from the University of Tilburg. 

The Stapel Scandal

This buzz has reached the Netherlands, and investigators caught Stapel fabricating data for sociological experiments. According to Bhattacharjee (2013), The New York Times, the Stapel case involved dozens of publications built on invented data over more than a decade before whistleblowers within his own research group brought it to light. It’s a baffling deception, as in sociology, one can prove almost any research hypothesis by framing questions suggestively. Faking results in such a manner requires either sheer stupidity or extreme laziness. Yet, this esteemed scientist persisted in this fraudulent act for years, hoping his concoctions would go unnoticed. Fanelli (2009) found that roughly 2% of scientists admit to fabricating or falsifying data at least once, though far more report having witnessed a colleague do so. 

What Does Scientific Integrity Mean? 

Consequently, the workshops devoted an entire lecture to the concept of scientific integrity. In fact, handling such situations is complex, since Stroebe, Postmes and Spears (2012) argue that peer review and replication catch misconduct far less reliably than researchers like to assume. When you uncover data fabrication by a team member, and the article is already published, your options are unenviable.

You can be complicit in the deceit, risking fallout with your boss and colleagues. Or you can risk ostracism for breaking the silence, which could damage your career if the cheating comes to light. 

Fortunately, most self-respecting universities have established offices to receive and thoroughly assess such reports. One can report anonymously, and the committee maintains confidentiality until it verifies that fraud indeed occurred. They gave us instructions on how to navigate such situations. 

While I’ve yet to ponder my course of action in such a scenario, this knowledge is undoubtedly valuable. In the pursuit of career advancement, individuals prepared to resort to any means are everywhere. And even in fields that aren’t show business, one must be wary of the potential for backstabbing.