Mission statement

The Interuniversity Graduate School of Psychometrics and Sociometrics (IOPS) is an institute for the advanced dissertation training in psychometrics and sociometrics of PhD students in the Netherlands and Belgium. Additionally, it coordinates high-quality research taking place in these fields, and its staff members consist of internationally esteemed experts.

The main aims of IOPS are to support the development of young researchers and the execution of high-quality research in psychometrics and sociometrics in the Netherlands and Belgium. Psychometrics and sociometrics are rather specialized topics. Therefore, IOPS fills an important role in providing both a community for persons working on related research topics, and an educational platform that is able to provide courses, conferences, and specialized support that PhD students working on psychometrics and sociometrics would not be able to obtain at their own university.

Requirements for submission

Any PhD student in the Netherlands and Belgium can apply or admittance to the IOPS program, on the condition that the following criteria are met:

  • The student is in possession of a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a field related to psychometrics or sociometrics. As a rule, at least one of the supervisors has to be a staff member of IOPS. In special cases, when the project clearly matches the research field of IOPS, but no supervisor is staff member of IOPS, the board may make an exception to this rule. A request has to be sent to the secretary.
  • He or she is registered as a PhD student at one of the universities in the Netherlands or Belgium, or he or she has a supervisor that is a staff member of IOPS.
  • The research that the student performs or will perform towards achieving the title of PhD can be classified as being psychometric or sociometric research. Proposals that fit within the IOPS relate to the development and evaluation of methods and techniques used in psychology and sociology and related sciences, such as pedagogy or education science. Traditionally, this often involves research relating to methods and techniques for the development of measuring and testing instruments.

The PhD student has to submit his/her registrationform within one year from the start date of the project. This form consists of an education plan and a summary of the original research plan, as proposed to the university at which the PhD is hired. The education plan consists of a selection of courses and activities from the IOPS educational program, supplemented with other courses that are relevant for the specific projects and geared to the individual knowledge and preferences of the IOPS student.