SMBWO: for quality in postdoctoral research

The Foundation for Biomedical Scientific Research Training (“SMBWO”: Stichting voor opleiding tot Medisch-Biologisch Wetenschappelijk Onderzoeker) is the organization that certifies postdoctoral research training of biomedical scientific investigators in the Netherlands in the following fields:

• Epidemiology
• Experimental Pathobiology
• Immunology
• Medical Physiology
• Medical Microbiology
• Parasitology
• Nutritional Sciences

In general, postdoctoral research training, including the academic PhD training, occurs within the Dutch universities, in part under the auspices of the respective scientific occupational “Societies”.

SMBWO Mission

The mission of the SMBWO is to provide a safeguard for the quality of biomedical PhD training programmes. One aspect of this quality control relates to the implementation of unified requirements for certification and ultimately to formal recognition of the SMBWO postdoctoral research training programmes by the Dutch government. These unified requirements are specified within the training for the biomedical disciplines.

SMBWO recognition applies internationally as a guarantee of compliance with the standards for a PhD training program to become an independent scientific researcher. Because of this, certified researchers have a better chance of getting a job. A growing number of employers even ask explicitly for employees with a SMBWO-certificate.

SMBWO Certification

The SMBWO provides a certification structure for biomedical PhD training programmes to ensure quality of scientists with a PhD.
One aspect of this quality control relates to the implementation of unified requirements for certification and ultimately to formal recognition of the SMBWO postdoctoral research training programmes by the Dutch government. These unified requirements are specified within the training for the biomedical disciplines, i.e. Epidemiology, Experimental Pathobiology, Immunology, Medical Physiology, Medical Microbiology, Parasitology, and Nutritional science.