LOT Schools – General Information

1. Programme

The curriculum is put together by the curriculum committee in collaboration with the organising institute. The LOT schools offer two types of courses: 1. RM1 courses, which are specifically designed for first-year Research Master (RM1) students, and 2. Regular courses meant for second-year Research Master (RM2) students and PhD students. The RM1 courses involve more homework and assignments. See LOT Schools – Types of Training for more information.

During their studies, RM students can earn 10 ECTS credits by participating in both RM1 and Regular courses, typically by doing a one-week Winter school with RM1 courses and a two-week school with regular courses. See LOT Schools – Credit Assignment for more information.

2. For whom

The LOT schools are intended for both Research Master students and PhD students. Research Master students must be affiliated with one of the nine institutes that participate in LOT. All PhD students are welcome to take part in the LOT schools, both national and international.

During the Winter schools, LOT provides RM1 courses that are aimed specifically at RM1 students. RM1 students are those students that started their study in the autumn preceding the Winter School. Although intended for RM1 students, these courses are also open to RM2 and PhD students if there is sufficient room.

During both the Summer and Winter schools, LOT provides Regular courses. Regular courses are open only to RM2 and PhD students. RM2 students are those RM students that have already followed a year of RM education.

The Research Discussion Groups (see Training for PhDs) are open to PhD students only.

3. Poster presentation

Please consider the possibility to practice your conference skills by giving a poster presentation in the week that you attend. Use this opportunity to practice presenting your research. Either make a new poster about your current or upcoming research project, or recycle one of your conference posters and let your fellow LOT students know what you’re working on. This is a great opportunity to receive feedback on your methodology, theory and/or results, as well as to find collaborators for your research.

NB. During the online Winter School 2021 participants are invited to give a Research pitch as an online alternative to a poster presentation.

4. Costs

Admission is free for those PhD and RM students who are officially affiliated with one of the nine institutes that participate in LOT. Please check with your own institute first before signing up for the LOT school to verify that your LOT school fees have been paid for.

Non-LOT PhD students and postdoc researchers pay a tuition fee of 200 euros for one week or 350 euros for two weeks (accommodation not included, see below).

Non-LOT RM students (except for RM students of the LOT partner institutes Leuven and Gent) cannot enrol in the school.

NB. The online Winter School 2021 will be offered at a reduced fee of 100 euros for one week or 175 euros for two weeks.

5. Lodging

All students have to organise their own accommodation. Advice on lodging possibilities can be found in the description of a specific school.

6. Dinner

On Thursday of each of the two weeks there is a school dinner, for which a small contribution is charged (€15). You are asked to register beforehand in the same form as your registration for the courses. Your contribution for the dinner(s) is non-refundable.

7. Payment

Instructions on how to pay the LOT school fees are given in the online registration form. Payments can be made via iDEAL (for holders of a Dutch bank account) or via Creditcard and PayPal. You will receive a confirmation by email of your registration and payment.

8. Travel and accommodation costs

Travel costs

RM and PhD students affiliated with a LOT institute – apart from when your home institute is hosting the school – can apply for reimbursement of travel costs with LOT within 8 weeks after the school. The maximum amount that LOT will reimburse is five second-class return tickets per week, from the city where your institute is located (i.e. regardless of your residence) to the city where the LOT school is held. If students live/are staying closer to where the LOT school is held, LOT will cover the travel costs of the shorter trips. If possible, students are advised to get a group ticket from the NS website when travelling together during off-peak hours (e.g., 30 euros one-way for 4 students).
In principle, LOT only covers the cost of travelling by public transport.

Accommodation costs

RM and PhD students affiliated with a LOT institute that is located more than 1,5 hours travel from the institute where the school is held can also apply for compensation of accommodation costs with LOT within 8 weeks after the school to a maximum of 100 euros per week of participation (i.e., max. 200 euros for two weeks).

Participants from UGent and KU Leuven cannot apply for reimbursement of travel or accommodation costs.

How to claim your costs

In order to claim your costs from LOT, please fill in the expense claim form. The cost centre or WBS-element is R.2026.0024.02; name contact: Janacy van Duijn Genet; phone contact: 020-5252461.

Please make sure that you only use one expense claim form and one currency.

In order to submit the expense claim form, proof of payment(s) is required. If you have a pdf overview of your travel and/or accommodation costs, you can add this to the form digitally. If you only have paper tickets, please scan them and add the scan to the form. Be sure to keep the original tickets until the amount has been transferred to your bank account. If you apply for reimbursement later than 8 weeks after the school, LOT cannot reimburse your costs.

9. Cancellation policy

If you need to cancel your registration (via lot@uva.nl), the following rules apply:

Cancellation of participation

Participation can be cancelled up to 14 days before the first day of the school by emailing to lot@uva.nl. If you cancel any later, and you are a PhD or RM student at a LOT institute, you will get an invoice for the administration costs (25 euros). If you are a PhD student at an institute that is not affiliated with LOT, and you cancel after the cancellation deadline, LOT will refund half of the participation fee.

Cancellation of participation in LOT dinner

Payment for the LOT dinner(s) is non-refundable.

If you have already paid for your dinner, but it turns out that you cannot make it, consider finding someone else who is willing to take your place (and  pay for it) via the local Facebook group.

Cancellation of a LOT course

If LOT is forced to cancel a course – e.g. due to a teacher’s illness – LOT will offer the participants of the cancelled course a place in another course in the same week. Note that these courses may focus on a different sub-discipline than the cancelled course. If a participant does not accept the offer to take a different course, LOT will not refund the participation fee.

10. Certificates

Certificates will be sent to you by email within 8 weeks after the end of the school.

11. Further information

Please contact your local PhD or Research Master coordinator for further information. Your local coordinator can help you decide on a schedule and has the local guidelines for papers, which are different for each university.

We also direct you to our FAQ for answers to your questions.