BOF PhD Scholarships

UNU-CRIS is pleased to announce that Ghent University, one of its strategic partners, has launched this year’s call for two PhD Scholarships for research at UNU-CRIS.

Required UNU-CRIS Label

Proposals must be aligned with UNU-CRIS' research programmes.

A statement by Philippe De Lombaerde, Director of UNU-CRIS, supporting your application must be added to the application form. To apply for a UNU-CRIS label, please complete this form.

Duration

Period: 1+3 years

In accordance with the regulations for PhD scholarship recipients, the doctoral program starts by definition with a scholarship agreement of 1 year.

If, before the end of the first year, the doctoral advisory committee or, in the absence thereof, the promoter(s) judge(s) that both the substantive progress in the context of the doctoral research and the overall functioning of the PhD scholarship beneficiary such that the doctoral program can be successfully completed within a reasonable period of time, the promoter issues a positive advice in a written form. A positive recommendation leads to a 3-year extension of the doctoral scholarship.

Application Deadline

24 April 2023 (23.59 CET)

In order to ensure your application receives the UNU-CRIS label, please contact us by 19 April at the latest. Inquiries received after this date may not be considered.

Non-UGent candidates who have not yet obtained their master's degree at the moment of the application deadline are required to send their diploma and final study results no later than 10 July 2023 to BOF@UGent.be

For UGent students, this information is automatically provided by the central student administration

Start Date

(from) 1 October 2023

Funding

The scholarship is approximately €2.470 per month, depending on the family status of the scholar. A bench fee of €310/month will be awarded to the promoter.

Who Can Apply for a BOF PhD Scholarship

Please visit the BOF Scholarships page for the full eligibility requirements.

This call is only (*) open to applicants who can submit an admissible FWO PhD Fellowship - Fundamental Research or -Strategic Basic Research in the year of the BOF application and the following year.

This implies that BOF candidates must be able to submit an admissible application to the FWO for an FWO PhD Fellowship - Fundamental Research (FO) or an FWO PhD Fellowship - Strategic Basic Research (SBO) both in the year of their BOF application and in a subsequent submission round.

Please note, that candidates are not obliged to submit a parallel FWO application in the year of their first BOF application. They are obliged to do so in the year following the granting of their BOF mandate (*). Candidates are also strongly encouraged to submit 2 applications (in 2 different years) to the FWO (**) in order to maximize their chances of being granted a fellowship.

(*) Candidates who already submitted to the FWO for a second time in 2023 can still submit a BOF application in 2023.

(**) The following rules apply when applying for an FWO Fellowship (FO or SBO)"

Candidates are allowed to submit 2 applications to the FWO.
Candidates for an FWO application must have obtained their master's degree or equivalent no earlier than three years before the deadline (March 1) of the call.
Candidates for an FWO application have a maximum of 18 months of scientific seniority before the deadline (March 1) of the call.

For more details on the requirements of an FWO Fellowship Fundamental Research (FO) or an FWO Fellowship Strategic Basic Research (SBO), please visit the FWO website.

There are no restrictions on nationality or age.

This call is highly competitive. Excellent study results are an absolute requirement when applying for a BOF PhD fellowship. To be taken into consideration, applicants preferably belong at least to the top 15% best students of the group of fellow students who took exams for the same degree (both at bachelor and master level). Applicants with a lower candidate score have very little chance of getting a BOF doctoral scholarship.

If you have any additional questions related to the application process, please contact bof@ugent.be with Andrew Dunn (adunn@cris.unu.edu) in CC.