How to register a PhD Candidate?

The registration of the PhD candidate needs to be initiated by the Graduate School (this is based on information provided by the chair group)

How to create a registration?

Log in in Hora Finita.

1. Navigate in the menu to PhD Project .

2. Click on the 'PhD project registrations' tab.

3. Create a new registration by clicking on 'New' at the bottom of the page.

Do not use the button 'New PhD track' under the PhD project tab.

However, you can use the 'New registration' button under the PhD project tab.

4. Fill in the basic details of the project.

You have to fill in the basic personal details, private email address, department, graduate school, chair group, (co)supervisors, the start and end date of the course, the UNL PhD type, specific details, funding and whether an appointment is required.

Please note if you do not fill in graduate school and chair group, the registration can NOT be processed as required!!!

Mandatory questions are indicated by *.

If the name of the PhD candidate does not appear after you write the name in the 'Select existing person' box, you can click on 'Search person'.

- If you find the person with an WUR account behind the name you should not use this person account!

- If you find the person with an HF account indicated behind the name you can select this one for the registration.

- If you can not find the person with this search, you have to add the PhD candidate in Hora Finita.

Click on 'Add new person'

1. Write the surname in the 'surname*' box.

2. If still no person pops up, click on the 'Next' button at the bottom of the page.

After filling in the form click on the 'Save' button at the bottom of the page

Now you can continue filling in the registration form

If there are exchange programs, fill these in under 'Specific details'.

You can link additional research schools and chairs under the heading 'Access other organizational units'.

If the PhD candidate will be an employee, tick the 'appointment required' box. If the PhD candidate will not be an employee, do not forget to remove the check mark.

Note this box is by default on.

You can fill in the funding underneath 'Funding'.

  1. Funding source is the type of funding and you are able to choose one after clicking on the box.
  2. The subtype is a more detailed description of the funding source and you have to fill this in by yourself.
  3. Indicate the cash flow after clicking on the box.
  4. The start and end date of the funding should also be filled in by yourself.

Please note that if a PhD project is a joint/double doctorate, you first need to complete the registration and accordingly enter this information when the registration phase is completed.

Go to the concerning PhD project and click on the 'General' tab.

Scroll down to the 'Joint doctorate'. Tick the appropriate box and indicate the associated university. If available upload the specific agreement. Indicate the specific joint/double doctorate programme using the option exchange programme.

You can find the exchange programme underneath 'Organization and research' in the 'General' tab.

Requesting additional information and approval from PhD candidate

When you filled out all information you click on 'Request additional information from PhD Candidate' at the bottom of the page. The PhD candidate can complete the information.


This procedure is mandatory because it allows the PhD candidate to agree to comply to the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.

A mail screen will open with a standard mail. If necessary, the text can be adapted here.

Click on 'Send' at the bottom to send the e-mail to the PhD student. The PhD candidate will receive an e-mail with the request to complete the information.

You will then receive the following message:

Reviewing the registration

After the PhD candidate has filled in the data, the Graduate School checks the information first and ask for additional information when needed.

1. Navigate to the registration and click on the correct registration.

2. Assess the data of the registration and complete where necessary.

Before you send the PhD registration to the Doctoral Service Centre, you must complete this part of the registration with the PhD candidate to prevent the PhD candidate from not being able to fill in the information. This will lead to system errors.

If you want to approve the registration, click on the 'Submit to Doctoral Service Centre' button at the bottom of the page. The Doctoral Service Centre will then receive an e-mail with the request to assess the registration.  

If you want to reject the registration, click on the 'Reject' button at the bottom of the page. Next, a comment can be left behind. The PhD student will receive an email about this.

If the Doctoral Service Centre rejects the registration, you will receive an email informing you about the rejection.

If the Doctoral Service Centre approves the registration, an email will be sent to the chair group secretary asking them to make the registration final by defining a start date. If the chair group secretary rejects the registration, you will receive an email informing you about the rejection.

If they approve, the PhD registration will be set to a PhD project and you will receive an email informing you about this.

After the registration has been approved, you can still change the start and end date of a PhD track in the other phases (Research phase and graduation phase).

Please note that you can ONLY change the dates to the current or future date, not to the past!