What are emerging standards for PhD theses in our field and what are areas of concern?

This report assesses the state of PhDs in our fields at this moment in time. It does so by drawing on three sources: a quantitative analysis of as much as possible all PhD-theses defended in 2018-2021 in our fields at the 13 NIG-partner universities, a survey distributed among PhD-candidates in 2022 and three focus-groups with PhD-candidates. With this approach it aims to provide a comprehensive overview of diverse practices in PhD-research in public administration and political science in the Netherlands and Flanders.

This overview allows PhD-candidates, supervisors, defense committees and the disciplines-as-a-whole to gauge evolving disciplinary practices and standards for PhD-theses within which particular PhD-projects can develop.