APPLICATION
The four universities of the NITROS Consortium (Politecnico di Milano, Technische Universiteit Delft, University of Glasgow, University of Liverpool) are now looking for highly motivated candidates for 12 PhD positions as an Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) to be enrolled in Double PhD programs. Starting date of each fellowship is contained in the related attachment.
The deadline for applications is 15th February 2017 at 18.00 C.E.T.
The deadline for applications is postponed to March 31st 2017 at 17:00 C.E.T.
The deadline for applications is postponed to March 23rd 2017 at 17:00 C.E.T.
University of Glasgow and Politecnico di Milano are seeking candidates for positions #5 and #8 The deadline for applications is to April 30th 2017 at 17:00 C.E.T.
The deadline for applications is May 30th 2018 at 17:00 C.E.T.
Please read carefully the following employment conditions.
Employment conditions
- Each ESR will be enrolled in Double PhD Program between two of the universities that are part of the network, the Host institution and the Co-tutoring institution. The ESR will have to comply with admission requirements of each individual institution, and will follow the academic regulation and requirements of each individual institution awarding a PhD diploma.
- Each ESR will be recruited by the Host University.
- The basic contract will last 36 months (some project may include additional grants to cover specific extensions of the PhD program beyond the three years).
- The gross salary (salary before any deductions: contribution of employers and employees to social security, pension, taxation, voluntary deduction) for the three years for all ESR (PhD) positions is around 39.000 €/year plus a mobility allowance of about 600 €/month and a family allowance of about 500 €/month, where applicable. The net salary will depend from the taxation system of the recruitment country.
- In order to pursue a Double PhD diploma, each candidate will be required to move between the two collaborating universities. A mobility plan will be defined at recruitment time. No additional allowances will be provided for this relocation.
- Each ESR will have to complete secondments (temporary transfer to another NITROS partner) during the term of his/her employment.
- Each ESR must actively participate in the events organized by Universities and partners, such as training/network events as well as in regular yearly Outreach Activities targeting different audiences.
- Recruitment, selection and appointment of the ESR follow the European Charter & Code of Conduct. All NITROS partners commit themselves to provide equal opportunities for male, female and disabled ESRs.
- ESR’s activity will be regularly monitored. Every year, the candidate and his/her work will be reviewed and assessed. Failure in providing evidence of a regular and continuous commitment may result in his/her exclusion from the programme.
- The cost of the PhD educational activities, as well as all expenses related to travels performed to attend schools, workshops, and network-organized events, will be planned and sustained by the network through the HORIZON 2020 MSCA-ITN grant (Institutional Costs).
- The ESR will be provided with office space and all facilities for his/her research programme.
Requirements
- Eligible ESR candidates may be of any nationality but must not, at the time of recruitment have resided or carried our activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organization for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately prior to the reference date. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.
- Candidates at the time of recruitment by the host organisation must be Early-Stage Researchers, i.e. at the date of recruitment be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. This is measured from the date when they obtained the Master degree that would formally entitle them to embark on a doctorate. The selection committee may ask for evidence of candidate being and ESR.
- Admission to the programme is open to applicants who hold a 2nd Level Master Degree (120 ECTS + 180 ECTS in a bachelor degree) or a Single Cycle Degree (minimum 300 ECTS), or a comparable university degree (Second Cycle qualification), as required by the two partner universities of each project for admission to doctoral studies.
- Applicants are required to be proficient in the English language. Those who have passed an English proficiency test such as IELTS or TOEFL should enclose the relevant certificate with their application. English proficiency of short listed applicants shall be assessed during the selection interview.
Further specific requirements and restrictions set by hosting countries and institutions are listed in each fellowship description.
Selection criteria
The ESR will be selected on the basis of the following criteria (in no particular order)
How to apply?
Candidates may apply for more than one fellowship (maximum 12), but only a single application has to be produced, in which the Candidate has to provide the list of fellowships for which they are applying. The list has to be completed in order of preference.
List of Documents to be provided:
1. Application Form (download attachement)
2. Letter of motivation (approx. 1 page)
3. Copies of degree and academic transcripts (with grades and rankings)
4. Summary of Master’s thesis (approx. 1 page)
5. Detailed CV including a publication list (if any)
6. Two reference letters from academics (download attachement). Candidates must indicate the academics details when applying.
7. Proof of English language skills (if any)
8. Passport copy
All the above-mentioned documents must be collected in a single pdf file (max. 10MB). The pdf file has to be sent to the NITROS Coordination Office at the following email address: nitros.ejd@gmail.com. This being a compulsory procedure, any other means/format for submitting the application will not be accepted.
Failure to submit any of the above documents with the exception of: publications, other qualifications and documents, implies exclusion from the NITROS assessment procedure. Regarding the proof of English language skills, if the candidate cannot produce any language certificate he/she should prepare a letter stating why the candidate cannot produce any certificate.
All data provided by the applicants are processed solely for the purpose of the NITROS call for applicants.
Applications must be submitted no later than February 15th 2017.
Applications must be submitted no later than April 23rd 2017.
New applications for positions #5 and #8 must be submitted no later than May 30th 2018.
The Coordination Office will check the validity of the application, i.e. if all the requested documents and certificates have been correctly provided. If the answer is positive, the Coordination Office will send a confirmation email to the Applicant. If the answer is negative, the application will be discarded, but the Coordination Office will invite her/him to resubmit the application providing all the missing documents.
*The letters must be filled in only using the given template. The academics will send the letters directly to the Coordination Office from their official e-mail address, no later than 30th of April 2018
Recruitment strategy
A common scoring system and recorded interviews will be used, respecting the privacy and protection of the applicants’ data. Applications from disabled persons are encouraged and their applications will be prioritised when equally qualified. The NITROS project is committed to increasing the percentage of female scientists in the community, and thus we strongly encourage applications from female researchers.
The selection process is based on two steps:
As interviewing is extremely time-consuming and the applicants being widespread and numerous (even the shortlisted ones), the interviews will be organized remotely by at least the 2 promoters of the double doctorate, via Skype.