Project requirements
14 PhD/ESR (Early Stage Researcher) positions are available within the H2020 ITN, The History of Human Freedom and Dignity in Western Civilization. Applicants can be of any nationality. Before applying, please note the following requirements:
You must hold an internationally-recognized Master’s or an equivalent degree, which would formally entitle you to embark on a doctorate, in theology, history, philosophy, classics, religious history, or a related field.
You must have less than four years of research experience after your candidate degree.
You shall demonstrate mobility and must therefore at the time of the deadline for submission of proposals not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies etc.) in the relevant country (where the PhD position is located for which you apply) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the deadline. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.
Moreover, during your PhD studies, you are required to complete two secondments (lasting between three and six months) with one of the nine non-academic partners as well as at one of the other European universities as part of the training activities.
When to apply
The research proposal must be submitted via the electronic application system, which you can enter by following the link on our website http://itn-humanfreedom.eu/ (the application system will be available between October 24, 2015 and January 10, 2016).
Assessment criteria
The recruitment procedure will comply with the “The European Charter and Code for Researchers” (i.e. “The Code of Conduct for Recruitment”) to guarantee an open, transparent, impartial, and equitable recruitment strategy. In addition to the formal requirements, such as a valid degree and mobility requirements, the following will be taken into account when evaluating the project applications:
Relevance and expected impact of the proposed research:
a.Relevance of the proposed work to the scope of the call
b.Motivation and suitability relating to the overall research project in the ITN
c.Broader impact (scientific, knowledge creation, etc.) and demonstrated reflection of the candidate on the transferability of skills to be gained through the network experience
d.Gender balance.
Scientific quality of the proposal:
a.Scientific/intellectual merits of the proposed research (is it clear, convincing and compelling?)
b.Thoroughness: definition of the problem and proposed solutions, knowledge of state of the art
c.Novelty and originality, e.g., potential for the creation of new knowledge, new ideas and approaches; use of novel methodologies or innovative application of existing methodologies; potential for the creation of new fundamental questions and new directions for research; feasibility (scientific, project timeline, deliverables, etc.)
d.Explicit reflection on the benefits of the secondments and the stay at another university within the network for the candidate’s research.
Quality of the applicant:
a.Academic qualifications and achievements in relation to their stage of career
b.Mobility and career development aspects (how the position will benefit the future career of the applicant)
c.Research experience and level of independence
d.Demonstrated expertise of the applicant in the relevant study area
e.Other academic experiences, such as teaching, teamwork, knowledge transfer, etc.
f.Specific skills if mentioned in the description of the relevant sub-project
g. Personal skills or experiences that can be considered beneficial for the applicant’s ability to complete the project. This may include non-academic experiences achieved, e.g., during career breaks. Career breaks, e.g. maternity, paternity or parental leave, or compulsory military service, will not be penalized.
h. Publication track record, if any.
Application procedures and timeline
- Opening of call: October 19, 2015
- Deadline for applications: January 10, 2016 at 23.59 CET
- Selection procedures: After the submission deadline, two or three suitable candidates for each subproject will be preselected by a consortium committee, based on an eligibility screening and other assessment criteria – see below in (5) for these. After the preselection, the short-listed candidates will follow the local application procedures until a contract is signed. Thus, if a candidate applies for an ESR position in Kent, England, he or she must follow the application procedures of Kent. The ITN aims for gender equality among the recruited ESRs.
- Applications that are rejected will receive a rejection letter no later than August 1, 2016.
- Fellowships will commence between June 1, 2016, and August 1, 2016.
Application system guide
You must upload your application via the “Apply here”-button on http://itn-humanfreedom.eu/
The system will be accessible between October 24, 2015 and January 10, 2016. One or more applications can be submitted – one for each subproject. Please note that every step must be completed, even though you apply for more than one.
Please note that files can only be uploaded on step 3 in the application system. Please print this guide in order to assist you during the process.
Below is an overview of the content needed for the application:
Step 1. Personal information
Please fill out all the fields: Name, date of birth, address, and contact information(telephone). Remember country area code for telephone numbers, e.g. +45 for Denmark.
We ask you to fill out the nationality and gender fields in order to ensure that the selected ESRs meet the eligibility requirements and the aim of gender equality.
Curriculum Vitae (CV): This cannot exceed 5000 characters (including blanks), or ca. two A4- pages. This includes a summary of academic publications, if you have any. The CV must describe your personal background, education and career, as well as language skills and relevant personal characteristics and experiences, if relevant. Any additional information you wish to make known to the evaluators should be included in the CV.
Country of residence: Please list the countries you have resided/will reside in for three years prior to August 1, 2016, and insert the dates. This is in order to ensure that you fulfill the mobility requirements: you cannot have resided in the country, where you want to complete the PhD, for more than the last 12 out of 36 months. Wrong or missing information may cause your proposal to be ineligible.
In order to ensure that the selected ESRs meet the eligibility requirements, you must affirm that you expect to fulfill the mobility requirements during the ESR training program. You are expected to complete two stays abroad during the ESR program.
Name of institution: Write the English name of the university from which you have/will receive your Master’s degree (or equivalent).
Name of education: Write the English name of the education on the basis of which you are applying for admission, with both major and minor subjects, if applicable, e.g., Master in Theology and Classics.
Status: Please choose the status of your Master’s degree. Awarded: Choose this if you have already obtained you Master’s degree. Expected: Choose this if you expect to obtain a Master’s
degree before enrolling as a PhD student in the ITN. Equivalent qualifications: Choose this if you have equivalent qualifications to a Master’s degree. If you choose this, please make sure that it equals a Master’s degree and formally allows you to be enrolled as a PhD.
Date of completion: The date when you obtained or expect to obtain your Master’s degree (or equivalent)
Diploma: Please confirm that you have a diploma or documentation for submitting your
Master’s thesis (or equivalent) for assessment by the deadline for application. Please note that you must have been awarded the degree before initiating the PhD program. The files (diploma or documentation) must be uploaded in Step 3.
English skills: Describe the level of your English skills, written and oral. You must have effective communication skills in order to complete the project. Please note other relevant language skills in your CV, if any. You must be able to substantiate English proficiency by a qualifying examination, e.g., TOEFL test, IELTS test or CAE. These must be uploaded in step 3.
Step 2. Your project proposal
Main areas of research: Describe 1-4 areas of research within which your proposed project will be conducted (e.g., Theology; Arts, philosophy, history; or Science of religions, literature).
Project title: Please write both the title of the subproject as it is entitled in the call on our webpage (http://itn-humanfreedom.eu/project-description/) and your own suggested title, if this is different from the first.
Desired start date: There is no guarantee that the desired start date can be met. The fellowship can commence from June 1, 2016 to August 1, 2016. Start date must be the first of the month.
Abstract: This cannot exceed 1000 characters, including blanks. The abstract should, at a glance, provide the reader with a clear understanding of the objectives of the proposal, how they will be achieved, and their relevance. This summary will be used as the short description of the proposal in the evaluation process and in communications to the evaluation committees and, if relevant, for other public purposes. It must therefore be short and precise and should not contain confidential information. Please use plain typed text, avoiding formulae and other special characters.
Project description: This cannot exceed 5000 characters, including blanks and literature references, if any. These do not need to include all the information, just a surname, a word from the title, and year of publication. Please use line breaks to organize your project description, since all formatting (bold and italic font) will be reset in the text box. The description should include an explanation of your motivation for applying for this particular project and outline how the specific research project is envisaged. This should take an outset in – and be a development of – the descriptions of the subprojects as described on http://itn-humanfreedom.eu/project-description/), and could include, e.g., preliminary considerations
regarding methodologies and theories; a selection of source materials, why they interesting, how they will be used, etc.; an outline of the schedule for the PhD project; a description of the work hypothesis/issue on which the project is based; how this study relates to the overall ITN project; research history (and current problems in this), etc.
Step 3. File upload. Here, you must upload all the required documents. These are: a) a diploma or documentation for submitting your Master’s thesis (or equivalent) by the deadline of the application, b) a transcript of grades, and c) proof of your English language skills. In addition, you can upload up to two more documents if they are relevant for your application.
Please note that they must be in PDF format and must not exceed 20 MB.
Step 4. Review your application. Please make sure that all the requested information is included in the application, and that the requested files are uploaded before submitting the application. If the requirements are not met, the application can be rejected.
Step 5. Submit application. You will receive a confirmation mail that your application has been successfully submitted. If you do not, please check your junk mail, try again, or contact the network administrator Birgitte Bøgh via bb@cas.au.dk or +45 50 56 54 66.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://itn-humanfreedom.eu/