International Employees and/or PhD Candidates

If you are accepted for a (PhD) position at Erasmus MC, you will be contacted via e-mail by a Human Resources employee of the International Office of Erasmus MC. The employee will help and inform you about the procedure to be followed. The process is presented below. Please note that the procedure is different depending on your citizenship.

Non-EU Citizenship

In case you have a non-EU nationality a residence permit will be mandatory. The application for this permit and (if applicable) a visa will be done by the International Office. 

Once our HR colleagues contact you via e-mail, they will ask you to submit several required documents. In addition to these documents, you will also be required to complete two forms namely, a momi statement and an antecedent's statement. They need these two documents in order to apply for your residence permit at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). Once your documents have been approved you will be able to apply for an MVV (Provisional residence permit) at the embassy of your home country so you can enter the Netherlands.

Required documents for the application of a residence permit

Below you will find an overview of the documents that you need to submit to the International Office HR department via e-mail. 

• Color copy of your passport (all the written, printed and stamped pages); 
• Proof of a medical insurance with coverage in the Netherlands; If you don’t have one yet, you can arrange the medical insurance once you are in the Netherlands. 
• Proof of independent means of support, for example: stipend, grant, sponsorship, periodical payments, a letter of appointment or a contract of employment. The means must be available throughout the whole period of the project. For a single person (also a single parent) the income per month must be at least € 1565; for a couple (with or without children) € 2235; available for the complete period of your guest research; 
• A copy of a certificate that proves that you have the appropriate qualifications for the research project (e.g. bachelor or master diploma). Please note that this needs to be approved by a municipality or a notary; 
• A copy of your research proposal/description or a concept of the work you will be doing in the Erasmus MC, signed by both you and your supervisor; 
• If applicable: a declaration from your employer stating that after your research period in the Netherlands you will return to your current position; 
• Birth certificate (legalized and/or with an apostille), not necessary for the residence permit procedure but you will need it later when you will be registering yourself in the municipal data base after arrival in the Netherlands; 
• In case you are married/officially partnered and will be travelling with your partner: also copies of his/her passport + marriage certificate (legalized and/or with an apostille); if (a) child(ren) will be coming with you, a copy of his/her/their passport(s) and birth certificate(s) are mandatory.  
• An English or Dutch translation of your diploma/degree and birth/marriage certificate. Please note that these must be translated by an official translator 
• Antecedents certificate, completed and signed by you (you can find this attached to the email). If your partner and/or child over 12 is joining you, (a) separate antecedents certificate(s) per person need(s) to be completed and signed. ; 
• Momi statement, completed and signed by you (you can find this attached to the email); 
• Please also mention in your e-mail the city in your country/region where you prefer to collect your entry visa. 

EU Citizenship

In case you have an EU citizenship our colleagues at the international HR department will contact you via e-mail in order to set up a meeting. 

During this meeting the following will be discussed:

• The HR employee will inform you about how and what to complete in the Erasmus MC HR Self Service System. 
• You will discuss the Dutch health insurance system. According to Dutch legislation, for everybody who lives and works in the Netherlands, it is mandatory to take Dutch health insurance.  
• You will discuss the tax advantages that you might eligible for.

Our colleagues will also set up a meeting at the municipality of Rotterdam. This way you will be able to register in the Dutch Municipal Personal Records database for a BSN number.

Erasmus MC Graduate School provides outstanding Research Master and PhD programs to educate and train future world-class biomedical academics in the clinical, health science and/or biomedical field and in a stimulating environment.  

Erasmus MC enables graduates to become an independent researcher able to solve complex questions, based on scientific evidence. Our PhD graduates have the competencies to appraise scientific research and have made important steps towards being biomedical academics.

Joining a new organization and beginning a new employee lifecycle in a new country can be a challenging process. In order to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible the Erasmus MC Graduate School provides a pre and onboarding program for new international PhD candidates. In order to partake in this program, you need to be registered at the Erasmus MC Graduate School as a PhD candidate. This can be done as soon as your new department has confirmed that you have been hired for the PhD position. Either you or your department can register at the the Erasmus MC Graduate School via this form.  

After we receive your registration, the pre- and onboarding coordinator will contact you via email. He will send you an overview of everything you need to do before and after you arrive in the Netherlands, such as how to take the train in the Netherlands, how to shop for groceries in the Netherlands, how to find housing in the Netherlands and what important documents you must bring. 

As a part of the pre- and onboarding we are offering our buddy program. A buddy will support new international PhD candidates and answer questions that you may have about life in the Netherlands and working at Erasmus MC.

You will also be able to register for a buddy via the pre-and onboarding program.

Are you looking for a room? Erasmus MC Graduate School and RoomPlaza have partnered up in order to provide rooms exclusively for our PhD candidates and Research Master students. A small selection of rooms is available for Research Master students to rent for a period of 2 years. The rooms are also available for PhD candidates to rent for the first year of their PhD trajectory. The availability of the rooms changes often, so make sure you visit the website regularly when you’re looking for a place to live. Priority of room assignment will be given to students with a Graduate School scholarship. Click here to explore the rooms. 

Hora Finita is the registration system for PhD candidates and supervisors of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Erasmus MC. All processes related to the PhD track – registration/admission, progress monitoring during the PhD trajectory, submission of the doctoral dissertation, and preparation for the public defence – run through this system. Please note it is mandatory that you are registered in this system otherwise you won't be able to defend your manuscript at the end of your PhD trajectory.

Erasmus MC is the medical faculty of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Therefore, you also need to fulfill the procedure process of the EUR. 

Read more about PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam here. 

Promeras represents all the PhD candidates in Erasmus MC and their main goal is to stand up for their rights, may it be the rights to receive the highest quality supervision or the rights to have the best education. A PhD trajectory may often feel like an individual course, though many are faced with similar obstacles. Promeras functions as a platform for PhD candidates to connect with each other and offer aid to enquiries and issues that PhD candidates may face.

They also organize social events to promote networking among fellow PhD candidates.  

You can read more about Promeras here. 

The Erasmus MC Graduate School will organize several social events. Below you will find an overview of the social events.

Welcome to Rotterdam event

The Welcome to Rotterdam event is a recuring event that consists of an information session and is followed by networking drinks. This evening is for International PhD candidates, Research Masters, bachelor students and employees who have recently started working at Erasmus MC. During the information session you be informed about about living in the Netherlands, with emphasis on Rotterdam and the Erasmus MC. We will provide you with tips and tricks to make your stay here as pleasant as possible. You will also receive information about the Dutch education and care systems, Dutch culture, norms, and values.

If you are a PhD candidate and you have a question related to your Residence Permit you can get in touch with the HR International Office by sending an email to: HR.internationaloffice@erasmusmc.nl.

For questions about the administrative procedure that takes place through Hora Finita. Please check the EUR page about Hora Finita. If you cannot find your answer,you can contact our colleagues at horafinita@erasmusmc.nl. 

If you have a question regarding your PhD trajectory or you want more information about the pre and onboarding program you can get in touch with the Erasmus MC Graduate School by sending an e-mail to: graduateschool@erasmusmc.nl.