Prof. Dr. Han Moshage

About Han Moshage

Prof. Han Moshage is Academic Coordinator of the Internationalisation Program of the University Medical Center Groningen of the University of Groningen. If you are a prospective PhD student, Han may assist you in finding your way to prospective supervisors and in providing information on the research portfolio of the University Medical Center Groningen.

University Medical Center Groningen – Healthy Ageing

The University Medical Center Groningen is responsible for approximately 40% of UG’s research output and its Graduate School of Medical Sciences is the largest of its ten Graduate Schools. The central topic of all research at the UMCG is Healthy Ageing. Healthy ageing is a lifelong process that starts even before conception, with parents who pass on their genes and the risks and opportunities for a healthy life course, or the occurrence of illness later in life. Lifestyle, food patterns and environmental factors influence the development of health. Research within the UMCG ranges from fundamental to patient-oriented (clinical) research.

Some examples of our expertise:

• Fundamental genetic research aimed at the early diagnosis of disease, and indicators of health
• Drug development and optimization in both the field of small molecules as well as large molecules and peptides
• (Bio) Materials research intelligent carriers and coatings for drug delivery (polymers and nano-tech)
• Knowledge of the cardiovascular system, transplants and medical devices in that area
• Knowledge of the musculoskeletal system for improving mobility

PhD program and admission

PhD Program
In 2021, nearly 650 students successfully defended their PhD thesis at UG. Since 2019, Groningen ranks first among all Dutch universities for number of annual PhD thesis defenses! Approximately 50% of the PhD population is international and the large majority of PhD theses is written and defended in English. In those cases, no knowledge of Dutch is required. Find more information about PhD programs at the Graduate School of Medical Sciences here.

Admission
In the Netherlands, only research universities may award PhD degrees and they do so based on their institutional accreditation as per Dutch law. This means that there are no separately accredited PhD programs as there are in most other countries. Instead, your admission to a UG doctoral program is based on two main criteria:

1. the availability of research expertise in the field of your interest, and the pre-acceptance by a supervisor affiliated to UG;
2. the availability of funding for the duration of your PhD program (about 4 years for a full PhD program).

Supervisor and funding

Find a supervisor
In order to locate a researcher with expertise in your field, you may:

1. review the biomedical/health sciences website;
2. send an email to Han Moshage or Joyce Fongers with an English-language CV and a summary of your research project/interests.
   

Funding: Groningen tops up your scholarship!
UG is unique in The Netherlands because it provides admitted PhD students with a top-up of their scholarships (conditions apply): doctoral students with a selective external grant currently receive a combined total of nearly €2.000 per month. In practice, this means that many PhD students who have been admitted to UG and have acquired an external grant for full PhD studies abroad will receive at least €650 extra per month from UG!

More information

For more information, please contact: Han Moshage or Joyce Fongers for general information & matching with potential supervisors at the Graduate School of Medical Sciences.

Subjects of interest

• healthy ageing,
• biology of ageing,
• innovative cancer treatment,
• microbiome,
• public health research,
• health data,
• brain and cognition,
• neurosciences,
• drug exploration,
• biomedical engineering,
• materials science,
• transplantation