About 2017 COFUND INSPIRE PhD Fellowships for International Students at USPC, France
Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (USPC) will offer 31 PhD contracts to high-calibre candidates with significant international experience via the INSPIRE (Interdisciplinarity and excellence for doctoral training of International Researchers in Paris) action, in 2017.
Application Deadline
Applications have to be submitted online by 12H CET on 9 January 2017.
Value of Award
The three-year PhD fellowships will be awarded through a strictly merit-based selection process.
Each Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) will be provided with a three-year work contract for full-time research positions with additional funding for mobility and extra research expenses. The work contract includes health insurance, which is comprehensive and does not discriminate against individuals with pre-existing health conditions.
Eligibility Criteria
CRITERIA APPLICABLE TO INPSIRE 2017 (Please consult the head of the website for updates)
1. Academic criterion
- Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) need to have completed a Master’s degree or an equivalent diploma ideally before the 31st of August 2017, or at the latest by the 30th of September 2017
- As per definition by the European Commission, as an Early Stage Researcher, you need to have obtained the degree which would formally entitle you to embark on a doctorate in France, no more than four years before the start date of the INSPIRE PhD contract.
The PhD contract will typically commence on the 1st of September, or in exceptional cases on the 1stof October 2017. Therefore your Masters degree, or other relevant degree, should have been obtained no *earlier* than the 2nd of September 2013, or the 2nd of October 2013.
- You must not be enrolled in a PhD programme nor have *ever* been enrolled in one.
- You must not already be in possession of a PhD degree.
You will be asked to sign a declaration of honour attesting to the above.
2. International criterion
- ESRs will need to comply with the conditions of the EU-mobility rule (incoming mobility): applicants must not have had their main residence, or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.), in France for more than 12 months during the three years immediately prior to the deadline for the call (17h on Monday the 9th of January 2017); compulsory national service in the home country, and/or short stays of less than a month, such as holidays in France, are not taken into account.
Namely, you shouldn’t have spent more than 365 days in France between the 10th of January 2014 and the 9th of January 2017.
- Stays in the country of past and present residence are also limited by the EU-mobility rule: candidates whose project require significant time spent abroad are advised to contact the INSPIRE helpdesk inspire@uspc.fr as soon as possible.
You will be asked to sign a declaration of honour attesting to the above.
3. Submission criterion
- All required data and documents need to be submitted via the web-based portal by 17h on the 9th of January 2017.
- Applications in SDVS and SET will need to be submitted in English. Applications in HALL and SS can be submitted in French or English.
- Missing documents will render the application null.
- Applicants can apply to more than one research group at USPC – they have to inform the concerned thesis supervisors in this case.
- Thesis supervisors may present more than one candidate provided they include co-supervisors (“co-encadrant.e” or “co-tutelle”) in the application.
4. Research-topic criterion
- The proposed research project should be supported by the host research group at USPC and should not be excluded from EU funding due to ethical issues.
Eligible Doctoral Schools are those that are affiliated with USPC.
The programme is only open to research groups affiliated with one of the eight higher-education institutions of the USPC (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Université Paris Descartes, Université Paris Diderot, Université Paris 13, EHESP, INALCO, IPGP, Sciences Po).
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