International PhD students have a hard time finding living space in Nijmegen. There might be a solution in sight for them: in the former Nebo monastery, accommodation will be created for 200 of them. At the same time, the university will mediate between the housing market and PhD students.

As much as 56 percent of international PhD students claims to have difficulty finding living space, a survey showed this Summer. The problem was already known to the university, and it might be close to reach a solution.

The rent will be roughly between 550 and 900 euros a month

In the former Nebo monastery, near Heilig Landstichting, close to campus in the South East of the city, two hundred units are created. The complex is owned by the well-know Nijmegen real estate owner Ton Hendriks, who will also pay the millions of reconstruction costs. ‘But the university has stipulated that all apartments and studio apartments will be rented out to international PhD students from Radboud University’, says head of the International Office Wessel Meijer. Around the start of the new year, the first apartments should be completed.

Between two stools
The size of the individual living units varies; there will also be room for small families. In the old monastery, ‘private rates’ will apply, says Meijer. An indiation: the price will be roughly between 550 and 900 euros a month.

The International Office is very happy with this news, says Meijer. ‘This group of international PhD students falls between two stools at the moment. The majority of them gets no salary from the university. But often, they look for something more than a simple student dorm. Now, they can move into these nice apartments.’

On top of this, the university will provide additional mediation between international PhD students and private landlords. There will be a special website, to which PhD students get a login code, before they arrive in the Netherlands. At the online platform, only furnished rooms are displayed, especially for rent for this group. The new apartments in the Nebo monastery are on it, but the university will also show other apartments, spread over the city. In total, Meijer hopes to add another hundred apartments.