PhD-theses by Dutch universities
In short
- Over the years there has been an increase in the number of dissertations within the four science clusters.
- The biggest percentage increase is seen in Medical sciences.
- The University of Groningen, University of Amsterdam and Leiden University have summited biggest amount of dissertations in 2023.
How did the amount of dissertations develop between 1997 and 2023?
Humanities | Behavioural & social sciences | Medical sciences | Science and engineering | |
1997 | 265 | 516 | 686 | 1139 |
1998 | 239 | 484 | 729 | 1127 |
1999 | 213 | 529 | 702 | 1002 |
2000 | 215 | 424 | 693 | 1028 |
2001 | 212 | 477 | 754 | 1099 |
2002 | 200 | 451 | 762 | 1116 |
2003 | 235 | 489 | 831 | 1099 |
2004 | 207 | 471 | 890 | 1153 |
2005 | 232 | 571 | 940 | 1231 |
2006 | 255 | 572 | 1032 | 1276 |
2007 | 249 | 585 | 996 | 1350 |
2008 | 235 | 611 | 1090 | 1318 |
2009 | 302 | 640 | 1157 | 1400 |
2010 | 283 | 692 | 1205 | 1525 |
2011 | 278 | 782 | 1279 | 1512 |
2012 | 326 | 827 | 1394 | 1589 |
2013 | 320 | 830 | 1547 | 1771 |
2014 | 353 | 886 | 1580 | 1774 |
2015 | 347 | 918 | 1687 | 1790 |
2016 | 360 | 959 | 1736 | 1884 |
2017 | 363 | 900 | 1687 | 1782 |
2018 | 354 | 931 | 1688 | 1862 |
2019 | 328 | 954 | 1711 | 1985 |
2020 | 327 | 852 | 1661 | 1813 |
2021 | 279 | 920 | 1746 | 1914 |
2022 | 275 | 832 | 1844 | 1860 |
2023 | 274 | 809 | 2028 | 1996 |
Analysis
From 2000 onwards, the total number of PhD-theses shows an increasing trend. 2017 shows a small decrease in the number of PhD-theses after which it increases again until 2019. The decrease in 2020 might be a consequence of the corona crisis during which PhD-students were delayed and defenses were postponed.
This trend of positive growth is visible in every cluster. From 1997-2023, the share of the Medical cluster in the total number of PhD-theses has grown from 26% to 40%. The relative share PhD-theses of the Science & engineering cluster has decreased (from 44% to 39%), as has the share of the Humanities cluster (from 10% to 5%). The relative share of the Behavioural & social sciences has remained relatively stable, at 16%.
How many dissertations were submitted by Dutch universities in 2023?
2023 | |
RUG | 634 |
UVA | 589 |
LEI | 515 |
UM | 421 |
VU | 419 |
TUD | 408 |
EUR | 406 |
RU | 394 |
WU | 359 |
UU | 340 |
TUE | 309 |
UT | 209 |
TiU | 93 |
OU | 11 |
Analysis
The number of dissertations is related to the size of a university. Groningen University (RUG), the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Leiden University (LU) constitute the top 3 with respect to the number of PhD-theses. The Open University (OU) produces the smallest number of PhD-theses.
For an explanation of the used definitions and abbreviations we refer to the webpage Definitions for Science in Figures.
Downloads
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NL-Onderzoeksoutput universiteiten-vanaf1997.xlsx
file type xlsx - file size 50.71 KB
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