2012 PhD Scholarships for Developing Countries at Ghent University


With support from its “Special Research Fund” (BOF), Ghent University wishes to support university research groups or research centres in developing countries in their aim to grow into excellent research centres by upgrading local academic personnel. Therefore Ghent University grants PhD scholarships to promising PhD students from developing countries who wish to carry out half of their PhD research at Ghent University and half in a university in a developing country.

No restrictions are imposed on the field of research, nevertheless preference will be given to topics that are relevant for development. Relevance for development measures the degree in which the action of development corresponds with the expectations of the beneficiaries, the needs of the country, global priorities and the policies of partners and donors.

Scholarship type, duration and funding
These grants take the form of a so called “sandwich” scholarship: the candidate obtains a scholarship for 24 months to work within a span of 48 months on an alternating basis on the PhD at Ghent University and at the university or research centre in the country of origin of the candidate. Only for the periods the scholarship holder works at Ghent University the scholarship holder will receive a monthly income. The rest of the PhD research is done in the partner university, for which no funding is provided through this scholarship. The amount of the scholarship is approximately €1.710 per month for the part of the PhD done in Ghent.

The Ghent University promoter also receives a bench fee of €15.440 to cover (part of) the operational costs, as well as the travelling costs of the student and both the Ghent University and the local promoter.

The 24 months of the scholarship must be divided into several periods within a span of 4 years. In principle the scholarship holder starts the scholarship at Ghent University during a period of 3 to 9 months and ends the scholarship with a stay of at least 3 months at Ghent University to complete and defend the doctoral thesis. The grants are not renewable.

These grants are meant to result in a PhD degree from Ghent University but whenever possible, a joint PhD degree between Ghent University and the partner university is encouraged.

Eligibility
To be admissible for this call, all of the following requirements must be met:

  • Candidates need to come from – and have the nationality of – a developing country
  • This program is limited to universities and research centers in developing countries (see list below) with which Ghent University is already cooperating or has cooperated in the last 5 years. It is the Ghent University promoter who has to present evidence of this cooperation. A signed cooperation agreement is no necessity at the moment of the application for the scholarship but will be required when the scholarship is granted.
  • There must be a guarantee that the candidate will be able to work on the PhD project at the partner university. This implies that there must be a local PhD supervisor at the partner university or research center. Also a written statement is requested from that supervisor or the university authorities stating that the candidate is either a student or a staff member of this university and will be sufficiently exempted from teaching or other assignments as to be able to fully concentrate on the PhD research. This statement should also mention that the candidate receives/received a local scholarship or salary when working on the PhD in the candidate`s home institute.

Language
The applications for doctoral grants for candidates from developing countries are to be submitted in English.

Special Research Fund – Doctoral or PhD Scholarships for Candidates from Developing Countries

There are two types of scholarships: regular PhD grants (2 years) (type 1) and grants with a maximum duration of 1 year for students finalizing their PhD research at Ghent University (type 2).

Type 1: Grants with a duration of 24 months
These grants take the form of a so called “sandwich” scholarship: the candidate obtains a scholarship for 24 months to work within a span of 48 months on an alternating basis on the PhD at Ghent University and at the university or research center in the country of origin of the candidate. The proposals must be submitted by a promoter at Ghent University (a professor who is willing to act as personal supervisor and who agrees to support the application) and a supervisor at the local institution.

Duration
The candidate obtains a scholarship for 24 months which must be divided into several periods within a span of 4 years. In principle the scholarship holder starts the PhD scholarship research at Ghent University during a period of 3 to 9 months and ends the scholarship with a stay of at least 3 months at Ghent University to complete and defend the doctoral thesis.

Who can apply?
To be admissible for this call, all of the following requirements must be met:

  • Candidates need to come from – and have the nationality of – a developing country (see list);
  • This program is limited to universities and research centers in developing countries (see list) with which Ghent University is already cooperating or has cooperated in the last 5 years. It is the Ghent University promoter who has to present evidence of this cooperation. A signed cooperation agreement is no necessity at the moment of the application for the scholarship but will be required when the scholarship is granted;
  • There must be a guarantee that the candidate will be able to work on the PhD project at the partner university. This implies that there must be a local PhD supervisor at the partner university or research center. Also a written statement is requested from that supervisor or the university authorities stating that the candidate is either a student or a staff member of this university and will be sufficiently exempted from teaching or other assignments as to be able to fully concentrate on the PhD research. This statement should also mention that the candidate receives/received a local scholarship or salary when working on the PhD in the home institute.

How does it work
The candidate applies to Ghent University jointly with a promoter of Ghent University and a supervisor at the local institution. The promoter at Ghent University has to fill in a separate document (`promoter`s advice`- only available in Dutch) with advice on the candidate, stating the promoter`s opinion on the potential of the candidate as a future researcher.

The Research Council makes a selection of the applications based in part on the recommendations obtained from members of the Council for Development Cooperation. The recommendation is based on:

  • the doctoral project;
  • the relevance of the research topic for development;
  • the qualifications of the applicant for the doctoral grant;
  • the scientific/scholarly potential of the promoter`s research group(s);
  • the partnership between Ghent University and the local institute;
  • the scientific/scholarly potential of the local institute.

How much funding is involved
The candidate receives a “sandwich”type scholarship for a total of 24 months. Within a span of 48 months, the candidate needs to work on the PhD project both at Ghent University and the partner university. Only for the periods the scholarship holder works at Ghent University the scholarship holder will receive a monthly income. The rest of the PhD research is done in the partner university for which no funding is provided through this scholarship. The partner university has to provide a salary or local scholarship for the period the candidate works there.

The value of the scholarship at Ghent University depends on, a.o., the researcher`s family situation and is approximately €1,700. The Ghent University promoter also receives a bench fee of €15.440 to cover (part of) the operational costs, as well as the travelling costs of the student and both the Ghent University and the local promoter.

Deadline
Deadline expired. New deadline expected March 2012.

Further information
Call 2011 (Word-document, 13p, 244kB)(Word)Call 2010 (PDF-document, 13p, 169kB)(Word)
Application form 2011 (Word-document, 16p, 463kB)(Word)
Advice promoter (Word-document, 1p, 294kB)(Word)
Form scientific report (Word-document, 7p, 148kB)(Word)

Type 2: Grants with a maximum duration of 1 year, for finalizing PhD research at Ghent University
This type of grant is for PhD researchers who have already carried out a substantial part of their PhD research and who need maximum 1 year to finalize their PhD. Before applying for this grant candidates have to find a `promoter` (professor from Ghent University who will act as personal supervisor of the doctoral research) who agrees to support their application. To find a promotor please browse on our website click on “Faculties” to find contact information for each faculty.

Duration
The grant can be either 6 or 12 months.

Who can apply
To be elligible for tihis call several condidtions must be met:

  • Candidates must come from – and must also possess the nationality of – one of the countries on this list;
  • Candidates must also demonstrate clearly that they have already carried out a substantial part of their doctoral research. They have to describe in detail their research results so far and give the outlines of a research plan for maximum one year, indicating the feasibility to finalize the doctorate within the time span of the requested grant;
  • Candidates also must prove that the doctoral research they have done so far, is clearly linked to Ghent University. The following elements can be accepted as a proof of previous collaboration with Ghent University:
    • Registration as a PhD student at Ghent University
    • Co-publications (published, in press or accepted for publication) with a Ghent University professor
    • Various stays at Ghent University as a visitor within the framework of the doctoral research

The following candidates are excluded from application for this program:

  • Candidates who already have benefited from an official appointment at Ghent University for more than 1 year, at time of submission;
  • Candidates who received a PhD scholarship from a funding agency (including universities) in Europe.

How does it work
The candidate applies to Ghent University jointly with a promoter of Ghent University. The promoter has to fill in a separate document (`promoter`s advice`- only available in Dutch) with advice on the candidate, stating the promoter`s opinion on the potential of the candidate as a future researcher. The Research Council makes a selection of the applications based in part on the recommendations obtained from members of the Council for Development Cooperation.

The recommendation is based on:

  • the doctoral project;
  • the relevance of the research topic for development;
  • the qualifications of the applicant for the doctoral grant;
  • the scientific/scholarly potential of the promoter`s research group(s);
  • the feasibility to finalize the doctorate within the time span of the requested grant

How much funding is involved
The value of the scholarship depends on, a.o., the researcher`s family situation. The monthly allowance is approximately € 1,700. The promoter receives a bench fee of € 310 per month.

Deadline
Deadline expired. New deadline expected March 2012.

Further information
Call 2011 (Word-document, 10p, 421kB)(Word)Call 2011 (PDF-document, 10p, 151kB)(PDF)
Application form 2011 (Word-document, 12p, 418kB)(Word)
Advice promoter (Word-document, 1p, 294kB)(Word)
Form scientific report (Word-document, 7p, 148kB)(Word)

Information
For further general information, please contact the Research Co-ordination Unit, mail to BOF@UGent.be


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