What are the eligibility criteria of HEIs or universities to participate in the CDP programme?
The Call for expressions of Interest is directed at HEIs/universities that wish to jointly organise PhD projects with their JRC counterparts. They should be able to host and train PhD candidates, and fulfil at the closing date of the Call and for the duration of the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) Agreement with the JRC (at least 5 years from the time of signature) the following criteria:
- Originate from an EU Member State or country associated to the EU Research Programme in force; and
- Be entitled to award doctoral degrees and have administrative autonomy including signing agreements with external partners
Institutions that are not HEIs/universities may also submit applications when they have an agreement with a HEI/University that satisfies the two criteria above. In case their application is successful, the JRC will sign the CDP Agreement with both the applicant Institution and the HEI/University that delivers the PhD degree.
The eligibility criteria for each call are stipulated in the call documents.
Is it possible for two or more HEIs or universities to apply together?
No, each HEI or university has to submit separate applications for the CDP programme. Previously established collaborations by the JRC with other HEI(s) or universities can be highlighted in the application.
Is it possible to apply for more than one Collaboration Topic?
Yes, although applicants must submit separate applications for each Collaboration Topic they wish to apply for.
Can institutions, which do not have the right to award doctoral degrees participate in the CDP Programme in the cooperation with HEI?
For institutes, laboratories and research centres that are not HEI/Universities, to be eligible for the CDP, they must have an agreement with a HEI/University entitled to award a doctoral degree. The HEI/University must be aware and should already be identified in the application form. In this case the CDP Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Agreement will be signed by the three parties: HEI/University, the institution/laboratory and the JRC.
If there are different departments in one institute, should all of them fill out one form together or each their own?
This depends if they want to propose just one application or if each one wants to fill in their own application.
Regardless of whether one or several departments of the same Institute are selected, the negotiation of the Collaboration Agreement will be carried out with the HEI/University, which represents all of them.
Can an individual person/student apply?
Individual people or students cannot apply for the Expressions of Interest for the CDP programme. Students can apply for PhD positions within the CDP programme, which are advertised in the separate 'For students' section of the CDP website.
What is the minimum and maximum duration of the CDP programme?
The whole programme lasts as long as the normal PhD programme of the participating HEI/University usually lasts. During this period, the PhD student spends minimum of one and maximum of three years of research at one of the JRC sites. The maximum of two years cannot be exceeded. The rest of the time required for the student to fulfil the PhD programme at the HEI/University depends on the length of the PhD programme.
Which are the JRC sites can be collaborated with?
The JRC site depends on the Collaboration Topic and is indicated in the Collaboration Topic factsheets of each call.
What type of support can HEIs and universities expect?
The goal of the CDP programme is twofold: close cooperation in pre-determined scientific fields amongst the institutions, and sharing of the PhD student. Doctoral students under the CDP are co-screened, co-hosted and co-supervised by the selected HEI/Universities and the JRC.
There is no transfer of funds between the JRC and the HEI/University. The JRC provides a salary to the PhD student for the time spent at the JRC, based on a Grantholder 20 contract. For the time that the student spends at the HEI/University, the HEI/University should assist with the financing of the PhD candidate.
What is the benefit for a HEI/University by providing a student to JRC, if there is no money transfer?
Examples of benefits are:
- The HEI/University gets the possibility to cooperate in different research areas with the JRC, and contributes to the research-policy interface of the European Commission. This contributes to greater research excellence, impactful research and better visibility of both institutions.
- The HEI/University does not need to fund fully the PhD student, but only for the time spent by the PhD candidate at the HEI/University.
- The HEI/University gets the opportunity to publish articles together with JRC experts in leading scientific magazines.
What is the budget for the CDP programme?
The budget for the CDP programme comes from the EU Research Programme Horizon Europe. The budget for the CDP will be negotiated annually. For years 2020-2022 up to 50 students are foreseen at the JRC sites.
Where can I apply for the CDP programme, and where can I access the application form?
Open calls will be published on the CDP website, as part of the EU Science Hub. Access to the application form will be removed upon closure of the call.
How do I get the ECAS password?
In order to submit the application form for the CDP programme you need to get an ECAS password. As you do not work for an EU institution, choose the first option to connect to the EU Survey application. You will need to have previously registered your mobile phone to pass the two-factor authentication.
If you do not have an EU Login, you can create an account online.
Once you have logged in into ECAS, go to your account details (on the upper right hand side of the page) by following the "My account" link. Click on "Manage my mobile phone numbers", then "Add a mobile phone number" and follow the on-screen instructions.
Who is the legal representative of HEI/University (as mentioned in the application form)?
The legal representative is the person who is authorised to make legal commitments on behalf of the HEI/University. It is up to the HEI/University to define who their legal representative is. In the case of the CDP agreement, it is the one authorised to negotiate the Collaboration Agreement on behalf of the concerned HEI/University and of the department that applied.
What is the registered office as mentioned in the application form?
This is the address where the organisations are ‘registered’ towards the national authorities (for tax purposes etc.) This would in most cases be the address of the HEI/University.
How many institutions will be selected?
The exact number of CDP projects to be allocated for a specific thematic field is not yet fixed and will be negotiated on an annual basis for the coming years depending on available budget. It is planned however, that we will start with one PhD programme per successful proposal per HEI/University. Each Collaboration Agreement gives the possibility of multiple PhD positions if the programme runs successfully.
How will the results of the CDP call be communicated to applicants?
The results of the evaluation procedure will be communicated individually to each applicant.
What is an overview of the CDP procedure once the applications have been submitted?
Upon closure of the application deadline, the JRC will inform applicants who submitted non-eligible proposals and proceed to assess and rank eligible proposals according to the selection criteria.
The selected candidates will participate in the CDP onboarding workshop, preferably joined by at least one supporting administrative staff. Bear in mind that the workshop takes place immediately after the selection results are announced. The workshop treats the strategies and practicalities of setting up dual PhD projects with the JRC and, as such, ensures complete information and a smooth start of the collaboration.
The onboarding workshop is the kick-off of two parallel processes: preparing the CDP Collaboration Agreement and the Multi-Annual Work Programme.
The Collaboration Agreement follows a standard template, as published together with the Call for Expressions of Interest on the CDP website. There is one template for HEIs/universities from EU Member States and another one for HEIs/universities from associated countries.
Both the JRC and the HEI or university will sign the Collaboration Agreement. In case the HEI is not entitled to award doctoral degrees directly, the associated HEI/university that is will also sign the Collaboration Agreement.
Collaboration agreements of the CDP have an initial duration of 5 years, and can be renewed, amended or extended to accommodate possible future PhD projects beyond the initial collaboration.
The Multi-Annual Work Programme is jointly prepared by the PIs of the HEI or university and the JRC. It should describe the General topics of cooperation, PhD topic(s) and expected outputs of the collaboration.
The Multi-Annual Work Programme will be added to the Collaboration Programme as Annex A.
The HEI/university and the JRC moreover agree on the modalities for the selection of the doctoral student. The suggested modalities by the JRC are part of the Collaboration Agreement templates. The agreed upon modalities will be added to the Collaboration Agreement as Annex B.
Following the completion and signature of the Collaboration Agreement by both parties, the HEI/university and JRC start the selection and recruitment of candidates to carry out the PhD projects described in each Call for PhD candidates.
How does the JRC publish the PhD positions?
After signing the Collaboration Agreement, the HEI/University publishes a PhD vacancy based on their requirements in agreement with the JRC. The links to these vacancies are published on the EU Science Hub.
How will the financial arrangements and the implementation of the PhD programmes be established?
Each Party finances the PhD student for the time they spend doing research at the Party’s premises. The JRC offers a Grantholder 20 contract for the time spent at the JRC, ranging from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 2 years.
For the time that the PhD candidate spends at home HEI/University, the HEI/University should assure financing for the PhD candidate.
Does the CDP programme apply to future doctoral students (i.e. students to be selected after the signature of the agreements and the definition of work plans) or to doctoral students already selected by the institutions (i.e. doctoral students already enrolled in their first or second year?
The CDP programme applies to future doctoral students to be selected after signature of the Collaboration Agreement.
When will the PhD project be determined? Is this a part of the CDP application?
The exact PhD thesis titles and descriptions will be part of the negotiation (Annex A of the Collaboration Agreement). They are negotiated between the JRC future supervisorand the PI from the HEI/University.
Can more than one doctoral student per HEI/University be funded?
More than on PhD students from the same institution can be funded under the same call but different Collaboration Topics, or under the same Collaboration Topics but different calls.