No later than one month following the start of the project the PhD candidate and the supervisor draw up a training and supervision plan (OBP) Dutch form | English form. This OBP focuses on describing the tasks of the PhD candidate, such as taking classes, teaching classes and the development of particular research skills. This way, a detailed working plan is drawn up, covering the complete duration of the project and on specifying the nature and frequency of supervision by the supervisor. The OBP forms the main guiding line for the PhD candidate and the supervisor in carrying out their activities. 

Each year the PhD candidate submits a progress report, under the responsibility of the supervisor. This document is a report of the progress made and results achieved. The PhD candidate then discusses this report with the director of research of the Leiden Institute for History. Subsequently, the PhD candidate has a performance and development interview with his or her supervisor. In this interview, the supervisor assesses the candidate’s activities and records these findings in a form which is signed by both parties as well as by the director of research of the Institute. It is then forwarded to the Personnel Department of the Faculty of Humanities.

The yearly discussion with regard to the progress report and the yearly performance and development interview ensure that the PhD project is monitored at a number of fixed instances during the process. 
PhD candidates who are employed by the Institute are initially appointed for one year. After nine months, the dean of the Graduate School for Humanities will decide, on the basis of the report of the performance and development interview, whether the candidate has met expectations and whether his or her appointment can be extended for the remaining term.