Dutch universities still pay too little attention to the career management of PhD candidates and postdocs. Although a large majority of doctoral graduates ultimately find a career outside of academia, there are too many missed opportunities.
Focused activities at a national level are necessary in order for PhD candidates and postdocs to develop themselves broadly into scientific professionals and realise their potential outside of the university.
This is what the Postdoc Career Development Initiative (PCDI) and the PhD Candidates Network of the Netherlands (PNN) plead for in a memorandum published December 2015 and offered to the ministry. This memorandum is supported by several parties including the union VAWO and offcourse our National Postdoc Platform PostdocNL.
PCDI blog post: Optimize Career Chances Outside of Academia.
You can find the memorandum (in Dutch) here: PCDI – Optimaliseren van de doorstroom van gepromoveerd talent naar een functie in de maatschappij.
