The EMBL International PhD Programme, originally established in 1983, represents the flagship of EMBL's commitment to first class training and education. Internationality, dedicated mentoring and early independence in research characterise our programme. Considered to be one of the most competitive PhD training schemes to enter, we are committed to providing EMBL PhD students with the best starting platform for a successful career in science.
The EMBL International PhD Programme is directed by Helke Hillebrand - Academic Coordinator, EICAT and Dean of Graduate Studies.
We welcome applications from highly qualified students of all nationalities. Applicants must hold, or anticipate receiving before enrolment, a university degree that would formally qualify them to enter a PhD or equivalent programme in the country where the degree was obtained. All applications need to be supported by a minimum of two academic reference letters and are evaluated solely on the basis of qualification and scientific potential.
Selection advantage rules for PhD candidates who previously worked at EMBL
Please note that association with the EMBL during any time of the predoctoral recruitment procedure (from the application deadline until the date of the initial admission assessment) and/or an extended association with EMBL of more than 3 months duration during the year before application are considered to imply a selection advantage. Among the applicants with a ‘selection advantage’ only high potential applicants are eligible to be invited for interviews. They should preferably have a “rare background” (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering) and should come from one of EMBL’s Member States. In addition, the total number of invited candidates with a ‘selection advantage’ within a given round of recruitment should not exceed more than 10%. In order not to limit invitations of eligible external candidates, applications from candidates with a ‘selection advantage’ will be reviewed by the Graduate Committee at the application stage. At the interview stage applicants with a ‘selection advantage’ must clear their Initial Admission Assessment (IAA) with a panel not representing the research unit where the ‘selection advantage’ was acquired.
Reference requirements:
You can submit your application irrespective of the fact if your referees have completed the online reference form or not, as the submission does not impede referees access to the application. As stated within the online application form we only accept references provided through institutional email accounts.
Only in cases where the referee does not have an institutional email address, i.e. only holds a 'hotmail', 'gmail' etc. account, we ask you to:
- Complete the form with the available email address.
- Inform your referee NOT to complete the online form.
- Ask your referee to send a reference letter on institutional headed paper, signed and stamped as a PDF document to predocs@embl.de
- Ask your referee to include your application ID number (7 digits) in the reference letter.
Referees must submit their online references by latest 28 October 2015, 23:59 CET (GMT +1). We strongly suggest that you complete the 'general info' and 'references' part of the online application first in order to give your referees enough time to complete the reference online. Furthermore please make sure to contact your referees before completing this part in order to find out if they are available and willing to provide a reference. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that references reach us on time.
Interview Week:
1) MONDAY
Welcome by the Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Helke Hillebrand
Initial Admission Assessment (IAA) interview - This is a 20 minutes interview, and passing it is the prerequisite to be eligible to join the EMBL International PhD Programme. General knowledge questions will be asked taking the applicant's background into account. Results of this interview will be announced in the late afternoon. Everybody who passes this interview is, in principle, eligible to enter the EMBL International PhD Programme and will be interviewed further by the units.
2) TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY
These two days are filled with one-on-one interviews with group leaders.
Nota bene: No presentation is required on your part, but you should be prepared to discuss your educational background, scientific interests and any research projects you have worked on previously. You will also have the opportunity to attend a series of talks where recruiting group leaders will present a brief overview of his/her group's work.
3) THURSDAY
Reserved for more detailed discussions with group leaders as well as lab members of the labs an applicant is interested in.
4) FRIDAY
In the afternoon the results of the interview week are announced and successful candidates have the possibility to talk to their prospective group leaders. All candidates are encouraged to stay until then. However, it is not mandatory to be present on Friday.
General note:
All EMBL outstations (as well as the yearly summer/fall recruitment) follow a similar however shorter format as the one set out above. The interview week above describes the spring recruitment week at EMBL Heidelberg. Detailed information will be sent to invited candidates only.
Accommodation and travel:
Accommodation will be provided by EMBL, twin rooms (shared room) are reserved at the
International Seminar Center and Guest House (ISG)
Im Eichwald 19
69126 Heidelberg - Boxberg
Tel.: +49 6221 - 3861-0
Fax: +49 6221 – 384380
Email: isg@embl.de
Meals will be provided Monday to Friday at EMBL Heidelberg.
EMBL will reimburse travel expenses (receipts must be provided) as follows:
- 2nd class train tickets, plus taxi from Heidelberg railway station
- Most economical air fare, including 2nd class train ticket to your nearest airport, plus transfer from the airport to Heidelberg.
Fellowships:
Duration of PhD thesis and financial support:
The typical duration of a PhD thesis at EMBL is 3.5 to 4 years. EMBL predoctoral fellowships are initially awarded for 3.5 years, with the possibility of a half-year extension. The stipend is competitive by international standards and includes broad health care benefits and pension.
Thesis Supervision:
In addition to the day-to-day supervision by the group leader, each EMBL PhD student has a thesis advisory committee, consisting of the group leader and ordinarily 3 other advisors (typically one additional EMBL group leader from the same and one from a different unit, and a non-EMBL scientist- where possible from a university of one of the member states), who guide the student during thesis work. After the first 6 months, students prepare a written outline of their thesis project and discuss it with their thesis committee. At the end of the first, second and third year of the thesis, students write an annual report on their work, give a seminar, and discuss the report and seminar with their thesis advisory committee.
Research Topics:
- Cell Signalling and Cell Differentiation
- Cellular Organisation and Dynamics (nucleus, cytoskeleton, membranes, intracellular trafficking); Cell division
- Chemistry & Chemical Biology
- Computational Genomics (Genome analysis and annotation) and Metagenomics
- Computational Modelling of Biological Systems and Processes
- Disease Mechanisms and Models, Pathogens, Molecular Medicine, Drug Design, Stem Cells
- Evolution
- Functional Genomics, Genetics, Gene Networks
- Gene regulation, Transcription, Chromatin and Epigenetics
- Imaging & Image Analysis
- Macromolecular Complexes, Interaction Networks
- Neurobiology (from brain development to physiology and behaviour)
- Physics & Biophysics
- Plant Biology
- Proteomics
- RNA metabolism, transport and processing, ncRNAs and miRNAs
- Robotics & Automation, Engineering
- Software Development and Bioinformatics (incl. Text Mining, Semantic Web, Machine Learning, Statistics)
- Tissue Morphogenesis, Cell Polarity and Migration
- X-ray Crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Electron Microscopy
Important Dates:
Application opens: 10 August 2015
Registration Deadline: 19 October 2015, 23:59 CEST (GMT+2), via the online application form
Application Deadline: 26 October 2015, 23:59 CET (GMT+1)
Reference Deadline: 28 October 2015, 23:59 CET (GMT+1)
Interview dates:
- EMBL-EBI Hinxton: 17 to 19 February 2016
- EMBL Hamburg: 17 to 18 February 2016
- EMBL Heidelberg: 22 to 26 February 2016
- EMBL Grenoble: 19 February 2016
- EMBL Monterotondo: 18 to 19 Feburary 2016
Click here to apply Online Now !!
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