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BioMalPar
PhD Programme |
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PhD
Guidelines |
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Preface
Eligibility
Recruitment
Selection of cooperative research
projects
Supervision of training programme
and progress reports
Administration of the
PhD programme
Financial support
General standards for the
PhD degree |
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| Preface |
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| Malaria
remains a global health problem, with 300 to 500
million clinical cases and 1 to 3 million deaths
annually. The BioMalPar consortium recognizes the
necessity to train young scientists in malaria research,
not only to sustain Europe¨s excellence in this
field but also to train talented investigators from
endemic countries in order to establish a sustainable
academic environment in these countries in a research
area that is most relevant to their immediate public
health problems. For these reasons, the BioMalPar
consortium has decided to establish an EMBL International PhD Programme under the aegis of EMBL. The PhD programme
will support highly qualified scientists to conduct
collaborative research projects between two or more
institutions. |
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| Eligibility |
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| Candidates
must hold, or anticipate receiving before enrolment,
a university degree in the life sciences or medicine
from an internationally recognized university or
institution, that would formally qualify them to
enter a PhD or equivalent programme in their home
country. In case of qualified graduates with a Bachelor
degree, a Master degree or comparable research experience
is strongly recommended. |
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| Recruitment |
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| Suitable
candidates will be selected on a competitive basis
and will be interviewed by the two PhD advisors
and representatives of BioMalPar, nominated by the
Executive Board. |
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| Selection
of cooperative research projects |
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| By
means of an open call, i.e. advertisement in appropriate
scientific journals and on the webpages of BioMalPar
and the participating institutions, BioMalPar will
solicit applications for integrated and collaborative
projects on innovative malaria research. Eligible
are institutions from the European Community and
associated member countries, which include members
of the BioMalPar consortium. Only collaborative
research projects encompassing two or more institutions
are considered. The application should include: |
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Abstract |
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Introduction |
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Objectives |
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Work programme |
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Justification
of cooperative research |
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Detailed career
development plan for the PhD student including
nomination of two supervisors, proposed formal
training courses, secondments, attendance
of national and international meetings. |
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Designation of
one of the sponsoring institutions as the
degree-granting institution. |
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| The
applications will be evaluated by the BioMalPar
Executive Board or by reviewers appointed by it. |
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| Supervision
of training programme and progress reports |
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The
Director of Graduate [PhD] Studies, the Director
of the BioMalPar Network and a third BioMalPar investigator
selected by the Executive Board constitutes the
Graduate Committee. The Executive Board appoints
a member of the BioMalPar consortium as Director
of BioMalPar PhD Studies, to oversee the operation
of this programme according to the agreed standards
and procedures.
Except for special circumstances leading to a different
decision by the Executive Board, the length of the
PhD studies under this programme is 3.5 years. The
Board [or the Director if delegated by the Board]
will select two affiliated members to constitute,
together with the two supervisors, a PhD Thesis
Advisory Committee [TAC] for each PhD student. The
TAC will review annually the student's progress
and make written recommendations accompanying the
student's written report. Unless otherwise authorized,
the committee will meet with the student in person
for each review. The first yearly review will take
place within the student's first year in the BioMalPar
programme, and will constitute a Qualifying Assessment.
The student will prepare a Project Proposal that
introduces the problem to be solved, reviews critically
the experimental approaches that are proposed, and
summarizes his or her initial results. The quality
of preparation and oral defense of the Project Proposal
will be judged by the TAC and must be accepted by
the committee unanimously for BioMalPar funding
to be continued past the first year. In case of
non-acceptance, and at the discretion of the Director
of BioMalPar PhD Studies, a second Qualifying Assessment
may take place within two months for a final decision
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| Administration
of the PhD Programme |
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The PhD fellowships and associated costs, such as travel for TAC meetings, are met from a special BioMalPar fund held by EMBL.
PhD students will be given BioMalPar PhD programme contracts by EMBL. Students will have two or more bases of operation, one in Heidelberg and the others corresponding to the respective supervisorØs institutions. They will be treated as being principally based in Heidelberg, Germany, and when not training in Heidelberg they will be treated as being on secondment to their other bases.
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| Financial
support |
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Students
receive a stipend similar to that for EMBL PhD students.
This is tax free, but subject to deductions in respect
of EMBL Health Insurance. The gross monthly grants
in 2004-2005 will be 1,710.00 Euro. There will be
no pension contributions or provisions. Additionally,
students will be entitled to a family allowance
of 170.00 Euro if they are married or have dependent
children and a child allowance of 185.00 Euro for
each dependent child.
No financial commitments will be made by EMBL except
as requested by the BioMalPar Director of Graduate
Studies, and none that extends beyond the end of
the European Commission funding of the BioMalPar
Network of Excellence. |
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| General
standards for the PhD degree |
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BioMalPar
will adopt the standards for the PhD degree as recommended
by the Committee on Education of The International
Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which
are also consistent with those of the EMBL International PhD Programme.
Standards
for the PhD Degree in the Molecular Biosciences
BioMalPar
PhD Programme Statutes |
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