UM has collaborated with the CSC for five years. The CSC, a body under the Chinese Ministry of Education, offers scholarships to graduates for full-time PhD programmes abroad. Each year, around fifty to seventy CSC-funded researchers begin their PhDs in Maastricht. Last September saw the arrival of the latest and, for now, last group of 23 researchers.
The current bilateral cooperation agreement expired in September 2024 and has not been renewed, explain Rector Pamela Habibović and Professor of Legal Psychology Henry Otgaar, coordinator of these scholarships on behalf of UM. “We are open to discussing a new agreement, but only if financial support is increased. Yes, international cooperation is very important to us”, says the rector, “and their work contributes to the quality of our research. But over the past two years, we’ve seen that some Chinese PhD candidates struggle to live on €1350 per month. It’s well below the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) standard of €1613, and we see it as our responsibility to address this.”
Tax inspectors
UM has what is known as a “hospitality agreement” with these Chinese researchers, rather than an employment relationship. And without an employment relationship, the university cannot supplement the scholarship from its own funds, the rector explains. Helping with housing costs in the first year, as UM does, is already a grey area. However, some universities, like the University of Groningen, do supplement these scholarships. Habibović: “It seems to depend heavily on individual tax inspectors.” UM and Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the umbrella organisation of Dutch universities, are currently discussing the matter with the Dutch Ministry of Education, among others.
Externally funded
Dutch universities receive a government bonus of around €80,000 for each external PhD candidate, whether from the Netherlands or abroad, who successfully completes their PhD. This makes externally funded researchers attractive. Nevertheless, UM is sticking to its position, in line with a UNL guideline stating that the IND minimum standard should apply to all new scholarship PhD students from 1 January 2025. Habibović: “We also have a smaller number of scholarship researchers from other continents, and they too sometimes have to get by on less.”
'Second-class staff'
However, salary isn’t the only source of frustration for Chinese researchers in Maastricht. Previous interviews by Observant revealed that some feel they are treated as 'second-class staff'. Since they are not formally employees, UM is not obliged to provide them with Christmas gifts, home office equipment, internet allowances or conference grants. According to Habibović, “There are definitely areas for improvement. Moreover, the information they receive before coming to Maastricht is inadequate. Many don’t fully understand what they’re signing up for and are unaware of the differences between them and ‘internal’ PhD candidates. And PhD supervision comes with certain obligations. It’s important to provide them with the resources to attend conferences or do lab work; this can only improve the quality of the research.” Otgaar adds, “That’s why the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience has created a document with guidelines, which has been shared across the university.”
Knowledge security
Finally, is knowledge security a factor? After all, Dutch politicians are concerned that Chinese researchers might pass sensitive information to their government. “UM has developed a framework for assessing knowledge security”, says the rector. “If necessary, we can evaluate a candidate or project – which university they’re from, the nature of the project, etc. It’s a solid framework. We also want more transparency about the agreements these candidates enter into with the CSC. What do these agreements say, and are they acceptable to us? That’s something to pay attention to.”