PhD researchers are frontrunners in pushing the barriers of academic knowledge. I have been blessed with the opportunity to cooperate with inspired and inspiring candidates in different fields of my expertise including competition law, food law and the right to food. Eight of these candidates successfully finished their research and added its outcome to the body of academic knowledge. Several more are in differing stages of progress or considering to start.
In my view, three core elements need to come together for a PhD project to be successful: the researcher, the project and the supervision. Candidates obviously need to possess the required qualifications and skills (such as independence, commitment and perseverance) but even more they need to be willing and able to dedicate four years of their life or more to the study of a single topic. This will only work if the topic not only fulfils the academic requirements of relevance and originality, but also fits with the character and interests of the researcher and the supervisor(s). In the course of the research the candidate’s mastery of the topic will increasingly outgrow that of the supervisor(s). Supervision will then become increasingly more procedural. For me to be able to play my role as supervisor, the project needs to be related to my sphere of competences. This means its academic field needs to have a considerable portion within the legal sciences and its substance should relate to aspects such as food, competition, enforcement or transparency.
Every now and then I am approached by scholars who consider doing a PhD. If there appears to be a fit on the three aspects mentioned, the bottleneck will usually be in funding. PhD research performed as a fulltime job costs about € 300.000. This is only feasible if an institution can be found willing to financially support the project. Some researchers self-fund their project by undertaking it next to a paid job. Sometimes employers help by making part of the working hours available for the research. In such situations tailor made agreements can be designed.
In my view, three core elements need to come together for a PhD project to be successful: the researcher, the project and the supervision. Candidates obviously need to possess the required qualifications and skills (such as independence, commitment and perseverance) but even more they need to be willing and able to dedicate four years of their life or more to the study of a single topic. This will only work if the topic not only fulfils the academic requirements of relevance and originality, but also fits with the character and interests of the researcher and the supervisor(s). In the course of the research the candidate’s mastery of the topic will increasingly outgrow that of the supervisor(s). Supervision will then become increasingly more procedural. For me to be able to play my role as supervisor, the project needs to be related to my sphere of competences. This means its academic field needs to have a considerable portion within the legal sciences and its substance should relate to aspects such as food, competition, enforcement or transparency.
Every now and then I am approached by scholars who consider doing a PhD. If there appears to be a fit on the three aspects mentioned, the bottleneck will usually be in funding. PhD research performed as a fulltime job costs about € 300.000. This is only feasible if an institution can be found willing to financially support the project. Some researchers self-fund their project by undertaking it next to a paid job. Sometimes employers help by making part of the working hours available for the research. In such situations tailor made agreements can be designed.