How to apply for a PhD position?

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Thank you for your interest in my research and in the PhD program at the AISSR of the University of Amsterdam. I used to be interested in supervising new PhD students. I would normally ask prospective students to first read my bio, as well as the list of research projects and publications, so that they could get an idea of my research style and my approach to supervision. I would then ask them to follow the protocol below.

How to apply?

It starts with thinking.

• First, I wanted prospective PhD candidates to reflect on whether I would be the right supervisor for them. My research is driven by an interest in the political economy of various forms of urban diversity. I started in the field of migration and integration studies—particularly migrant entrepreneurship—but gradually shifted towards urban studies more broadly. My more recent research has focused on the development of new middle classes, urban amenities, and cultural consumption—such as coffee bars, craft beer breweries, artisan bakeries, 'chocolate architects', olive oil specialists, 'ethnic' home decoration stores, street food trucks, and so on—and the concomitant proliferation of urban identities, lifestyles, and urban commons. In terms of methodology, my work has always been more qualitatively oriented than quantitative.
• Secondly, they needed to reflect on themselves. Leading questions were: Do you have the intellectual capacity, ambition, and right temperament to pursue a PhD trajectory? Were you among the top ten percent of your class? I expected a great deal of independence from my graduate students (while making every effort to be available for advice). I also encouraged them to pursue their own research questions within the realm of my interests, and also to be diligent, well-organized, and disciplined—especially when it comes to time management.
• Thirdly, they needed to reflect on funding. The University of Amsterdam typically did not provide scholarships for PhD trajectories in the social sciences. Most of my students, however, were successful in securing their own funding through fellowships, grants, and loans. Moreover, I used to be open to joint PhD programs in collaboration with colleagues from other universities.

Supervision always involved two, and occasionally three, supervisors. In addition to face-to-face meetings with the supervisors, my PhD students were expected to take an active part in the PhD Lab, which consisted of a series of joint meetings ofall my PhD students with me, as well in a wide array of meetings and seminars organized by the UvA's Department of Sociology, its Program Group Political Sociology and multidisciplinary centers, notably the Center for Urban Studies (CUS) and the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (IMES).

What to do?

If, after considering these points, students were still interested in joining the PhD program under my supervision, I invited them to first review this information, and, if they believed they qualified, to send me an email. To be clear, the final decision on any application rests with the Admissions Committee, not with me alone. The steps outlined here were merely intended to explore whether the plans were feasible and whether I could -– and would want to -– act as their supervisor. At that stage, I asked them to send me an email including the following information:

• a short statement of motivation: why you are interested in the AISSR PhD program at UvA and working with me in particular? Also say a few words about your ultimate career goals;
• a description of your academic and work background, with particular reference to your transcripts (attach a copy) and your past independent research experience;
• a summary of your research plan in, say, two or three pages max. covering the social relevance of the project, the social-scientific puzzle you want to address, your theoretical argument, your research methods, and your planning;
• a short statement about funding.

Of course, they were welcome to contact me, also if they needed more information.