CentER actively recruits foreign students of high quality and there are now some 30 such students in the Graduate School from a variety of different countries. Furthermore, several networks exist on graduate education in applied computer science. For example, CentER and many Dutch universities are now participating in a network on information and knowledge systems. In general, Ph.D. students start the program in September. During the first year of the Ph.D. program, the students carry out a literature survey and preparatory research in order to formulate an outline of a research proposal, and possibly write a first research paper, by the end of that year.
Generous allowances are available for the presenation of papers at international conferences.
During the third and fourth years of the program, students concentrate on thesis research. Additionally, they still attend the seminar series. The Ph.D. thesis should be completed and defended before the end of the fourth year. Supervision Upon admission to the Ph.D. program, the graduate student is assigned a temporary personal supervisor whose initial responsibility is to advise him or her as to which courses to take and in which seminar series to participate, as well as to guide the student's first year of research. In addition, two other members of the faculty are responsible for first-year Ph.D. students.