AFR PhD Individual Grants for International Students

Applicants
are invited for AFR PhD Individual Grants to undertake their doctoral training
in Luxembourg and abroad. The contribution to the annual salary costs of a PhD
candidate amounts to 41.158 € / year2.

The
objectives of the AFR programme is to attract and train the most talented doctoral
candidates from any nationality in Luxembourg and support excellent Luxembourg
stemming doctoral candidates to undertake their PhD training abroad.

The
national fund of research, abbreviated FNR, is an established public in
Luxembourg, which was founded by the law of 31 May 1999. The FNR created a
postage in 2009 in order to make it more popular in the field of science and
the research into the media. De-Mister Science regularly performances on radio
and RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg .

Scholarship
Description:

Application
Deadline: March
15, 2018

Course
Level:
Grants are available to pursue doctoral training programme.

Study
Subject:
Grants are awarded in the field offered by the university.

Scholarship
Award:
The financial support awarded under the AFR grant scheme covers the following:

The
Salary of the AFR PhD fellow
The
contribution to the annual salary costs of a PhD candidate amounts to
41.158 € /year2 (salary index as of 1st January 2017). A topping-up by the
employer is possible up to a maximum gross salary of 58.002 €/yr. If the
salary paid by the employer exceeds this amount, the project is no longer
eligible for AFR funding. The salary contribution will be paid until the
PhD degree has been awarded a maximum duration of 4 years.
Alternatively: Beneficiaries of an AFR PhD fellowship without employment
contract will receive a monthly stipend of 1,500 € (in exceptional cases
as specified above). The topping-up of the stipend up to a maximum amount
of 2.100 € per month is possible. The FNR does accept cumulating two
grants for living costs of different origin up to the maximum limit
indicated above. However, in case of approval of the two grants, the
funder of the topping-up needs to certify their awareness of and agreement
with the AFR grant.
A
one-off travel lump sum, to be paid to the PhD candidate at the start of
her/his AFR grant, based on the airline distance between the Beneficiary’s
residence at the application deadline or start of the grant, and her/his
Host Institution:
A
fixed training and mobility allowance of 6.000 € per PhD candidate. The
training allowance is available to cover costs related to the candidate’s
training and mobility activities: i.e. scientific/transferable skills
training, scientific conferences or summer/winter schools, field work or
travel between scientific contacts involved in the project as well as
international research stays.
The
AFR PhD grant scheme is subdivided into two categories to which AFR
applicants can apply:
AFR
PhD in Luxembourg (AFR Incoming), i.e. candidates from any nationality may
apply for a doctoral position in an eligible Luxembourg host institution.
Candidates will have to spend >50% in Luxembourg under an employment
contract with the host institution.
AFR
PhD abroad (AFR Outgoing): Luxembourg nationals, or residents in
Luxembourg for more than 5 consecutive years, may apply for a doctoral
position in a public higher education institution abroad. The rule for
this type of AFR grants is an employment contract with the institution
abroad, but in exceptional cases, stipends without a work contract can be
awarded.

Nationality: Luxembourgian and
international applicants are eligible to apply for the grants

Number
of Scholarships:
Number of grants is not given.

Scholarship
can be taken in Luxembourg
and abroad

Eligibility
for the Scholarship:

Eligible
Countries: Luxembourg
and international applicants are eligible to apply for the grants
Entrance
Requirements:
Applicants must hold a university degree of a recognised higher education
institution, allowing them to enter into doctoral training.
English
Language Requirements: Applicants must be fluent in
English.

Application
Procedure:

How
to Apply:

The
full proposal must be submitted electronically by the AFR candidate via
the online submission system before the deadline.
In
section 6 of the online application, two “TEMPLATES” are provided as word
files for download, i.e. the PhD Project Idea and the Joint Declaration.
The PhD project itself does not need to be developed in detail before the
application, this is why the FNR only requests a maximum of two pages’
project description. The PhD project shall be developed by the doctoral
candidate with the support of the supervisor during the first 6-8 months
following the start of the PhD.
Overall,
the AFR application consists of the following sections:
A
form to be completed online related to the sections hereafter:
Section
1: Applicant’s details.
Section
2: Host Institution’s Details and Collaborating Institution’s Details.
Section
3: Research Project and Project Framework.
Section
4: Legal and Ethical Requirements.
Section
5: Type of Grant.
Section
6: ‘Attachments’ – comprising the following documents to be converted to
PDF and uploaded:
PhD
project idea (TEMPLATE provided).
Motivation
letter by the candidate (max. 1 page; no template provided).
Applicant’s
CV (max. 2 pages; no template provided).
Copy
of Passport, and copies of degree certificates and statement of courses
and marks (‘relevé de notes’) (no template provided, but documents need to
be in English, French or German or provided as an official translation in
one of these languages).
PhD
Registration (if already available. The PhD registration can be provided
later, but it needs to be available before the start of the grant).
Supervisor(s)
CV(s): max 4 pages. The supervisor(s) CV(s) must contain the following:
A
list of most relevant publications (maximum 10).
A
list of most recent publications (maximum 10).
A
list of PhD theses (co-)supervised and currently being (co-)supervised
(where possible, with time to degree, scientific impact (e.g. the number
of publications resulting from the PhD, etc.), and information on the
doctoral graduates’ further career development). Supervised PhD candidates
having benefitted from AFR funding need to be highlighted.
Support letter by the supervisor and description of the research and
training environment (or joint support letter in case of (co-)supervision;
max. 3 pages, no template provided).
Additional
documents (if applicable):
Residence
certificate (only for AFR Outgoing who are not Lux. nationals).
The
explanation for part-time PhD (if applicable).
Joint
Declaration by the applicant and the Host Institution (TEMPLATE provided).
The
template has to be downloaded, signed by the parties, converted to PDF and
uploaded.
NOTE:
Incomplete applications will be turned down without further evaluation!