PhD Courses 2026
Many PhD candidates in criminology work on the edges of different disciplines: social sciences, humanities, and even natural sciences. Across different institutions they have common needs and interests. By joining forces, we will broaden their educational opportunities. Therefore, from 2024 onwards, the criminology departments of Leiden University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Erasmus University, Utrecht University and the NSCR organize tailormade PhD courses for future criminologists. Our additional goal is to strengthen the community of PhD candidates.
Follow the PhDs in Criminology on LinkedIn.
In 2026, we will offer the following courses.
How to Conduct a Scientific Interview?
Are you eager to enhance your qualitative research skills? The Scientific Interview Course is designed to equip you with the essential tools to excel in your qualitative research journey. You’ll gain invaluable insights into setting up, conducting, analyzing, and reporting interviews.
Course Content
Throughout the course, you’ll explore topics such how to structure your interview, positionality, asking the right questions, research ethics and data management. We will discuss what to consider when interviewing different types of respondents, such as professionals and respondents with a criminal history or victimising experience. We will explore different qualitative methods: focus groups, letter correspondence, and ethnographic research. Additionally, you’ll acquire advanced interview techniques: listening, summarizing, and non-verbal techniques. Our course also covers the use of software Atas.ti for data analysis. We will teach you different analysis methods and talk about the reproducibility.
Practical information
This comprehensive course spans eight sessions, taught on Tuesday afternoon at the VU University, starting 15 September 2026- 10 November 2026. Each session lasts 3.5 hours and are taught in English. You will get 4 ECTS for active participation. The course will be facilitated by guest speakers from the NSCR and VU who are experts in the art of interviewing. The maximum number of participants is 25.
Registration
Send an email to the course coordinator Mijke de Waardt mdewaardt@nscr.nl for more information and to enroll.
NSCR is part of the Institutes Organisation of the Dutch Research Council (NWO).