Meduni Graz PhD Scholarship 2015 Austria

Name of the Organisation : Medical University of Graz
Name of the Scholarship : PhD Scholarship 2015
Country : Austria
Application Deadline : September 21, 2014

Website : http://www.meduni-graz.at/DK_MCD/index.htm

PhD Scholarship

1. The Medical University of Graz, the University of Graz and the Graz University of Technology and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) offer international PhD programs in “Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease” (DK-MCD), “Molecular Fundamentals of Inflammation” (DK-MOLIN), and “Molecular Medicine” that provide an in-depth, multidisciplinary training in biomedical research in a stimulating international environment. Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree equivalent to a Master in any discipline of natural or life sciences or medicine.

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The thesis projects focus on aspects of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, inflammatory diseases, as well as novel therapeutic targets, and integrate basic research and clinically-oriented sciences utilizing a wide spectrum of state-of-the-art techniques.

2. Selected PhD students get employed for 3 years with a contract that includes social benefits. Moreover, DK-MCD and DK-MOLIN students will be encouraged to spend up to one year abroad joining other collaborating laboratories with the possibility of a 4th year extension of their contract.

3. The selection procedure, all training activities and communications will be in English. Thus, excellent written and spoken English skills are required.

PhD Research Positions

** The competitive excellence doctoral programs are open for highly motivated students in medicine and life sciences.
** The PhD program implements the third cycle of the Bologna process (the roadmap of the European Union for higher education). Thus, PhD students are seen as students who are offered education and guidance for their benefit and as young researchers who contribute to the scientific success of our universities.

The positions :
** PhD students will be fully employed at the respective university including social benefits with a net salary (after deduction of taxes, health and pension insurance) of approximately EUR 19.700 per year. Given the cost of living in Graz, this is not extravagant but sufficient for a decent living. The universities waive the costs of the PhD enrolment.
** Parallel to the employment one has to enroll as a PhD student. Successful applicants will be involved in highly competitive research projects working towards their thesis. A successful PhD student will have to show considerable engagement beyond formal working hours.

Duration of the contract

Funding is initially granted for a period of up to three years, which will be a typical duration for the PhD thesis. Moreover, DK-MCD and DK-MOLIN students will be encouraged to spend up to one year abroad joining other collaborating laboratories with the possibility of a 4th year extension of their contract. There is a constant monitoring of the performance of the student by the thesis committee. In case the committee is dissatisfied with a student’s performance, it is obliged to take actions which – in extreme cases – may include a premature termination of the employment contract.

Formal requirements a student has to fulfill to obtain a PhD degree :
PhD students are enrolled at the Medical University of Graz (MUG), the University of Graz (UG) or at the Graz University of Technology (TUG) as PhD students, and they have to conform to the requirements of the respective universities. Basically, the university curricula require participation in a number of lecture courses (in fact, rather few, typically 2 hours per week) during the PhD work. At the end, the student has to submit a written thesis. After its approval, there is a PhD exam, which consists of a presentation of the thesis by the student, followed by questions from two to three examiners. These questions typically relate to the thesis work and its scientific background. Doctoral students are expected to plan and pursue a training program that goes beyond this “legal minimum” imposed by the university laws. They take responsibility for organizing guest speakers, journal clubs and technical workshops, participate in all events and contribute to the open laboratory policy of the consortia. Dissemination of scientific results is crucial to the programs’ goals. Students are offered laboratory training courses and courses to gain complementary skills. Students are expected to report regularly to their thesis committees, to present at the doctoral studies retreat and at international meetings. Students should conclude their projects with publications in international journals.

Who can apply

** Students of all nationalities are encouraged to apply. The language of instruction is English and applicants are expected to be highly proficient in this language. Applicants should hold an equivalent of a masters’ degree in natural or life sciences (chemistry, biology, biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, pharmacology or related areas) or in medicine which included a written master thesis. Students must fulfil all eligibility requirements for entering PhD education in the country where they completed their master’s education (typically the home country).

** Students who have not yet finished their Masters’ degree have to graduate until 1st December 2014. The master’s thesis supervisor must confirm this in his/her letter of recommendation.
** We offer PhD thesis projects to the most interested, ambitious, motivated and intelligent students to educate them for a career as scientists on an international level. Candidates are selected irrespective of sex, race or nationality.

Selection procedure

There will be a three-step selection procedure. In the first step, written applications will be ranked. In a second step, selected candidates will be contacted by skype interviews. In a third step, the top candidates will be invited for a personal hearing to Graz. Travel costs will be reimbursed up to a certain limit (details will be sent together with the invitation).

How to Apply

** Application are made exclusively through the online platform .
** Please do not send any documents by regular mail or e-mail unless you are explicitly asked to do so by our staff.
** There is no application fee.
** All information about the call, application procedure and offered projects is also available as a summary for download.

Apply Online : https://www.glowbase.com/

Stage 1 : Register on the Online Platform
** To apply, you must first register on the online platform available here.
** After completing the initial registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing your login ID and password. If you have already applied for the program in a previous academic year, you should continue to use your previous login ID and password. This will allow you to keep or update previously uploaded documents.
** In total, you cannot apply more than 3 three times for different calls of our PhD programs.

Stage 2 : The Questionaire
** Please answer the questions as complete as possible.
** The application form contains mandatory components. As long as these are incomplete, submission will not be possible.
** You can save the data and uploaded documents on the online platform and complete or modify your profile at a later date.

Stage 3 : Letters of recommendation
** You should arrange in advance to have two persons willing to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf.
** In the questionnaire, you will be prompted to submit the details (first name, last name, university, city, country, e-mail address) of these two persons. These persons will receive an e-mail prompting them to register on the online platform and answer a specific questionnaire.
** Once the referee has filled the online form, the receipt will be acknowledged on your personal page of the online platform. It is up to the applicant to make any necessary reminders.
** Submission of the application is only possible after both referees have answered the online questionnaire.

Stage 4 : Upload your Documents on the Online Platform
The following documents should be uploaded to your personal application page in Portable Document Format (one scanned copy merged in a single PDF file each) :
** BSc. degree certificate (if applicable)
** BSc. transcripts of marks (academic record; if applicable)
** MSc. degree certificate (if already obtained)
** MSc. transcripts of marks (academic record)
** Certificate of English proficiency (if available; e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, GRE)

Stage 5 : Submission of the application
** After you have finally submitted the application, no further changes are possible.
** Submission after expiration of the application deadline will not be possible.
** In total, you cannot apply more than 3 three times for different calls of our PhD programs.