With support from its “Special Research Fund” (BOF), Ghent University grants scholarship opportunities to promising students from developing countries who wish to carry out half of their Ph.D. research at Ghent University and half in a university in a developing country.
Application Deadline: 2 February 2023
Eligible Countries: Developing Countries
To be taken at (country): Belgium
Type: Doctoral
Eligibility: Before applying for a Ph.D. scholarship at Ghent university students Always need to find a professor from Ghent University who is willing to act as the supervisor (‘promoter’) of their doctoral research and who agrees to support their application. The best way to do this is by browsing the list of faculties and research topics available on the research directory
- The proposals must be jointly submitted by a candidate, a promoter at Ghent University, and a supervisor at the partner university.
- No restrictions are imposed on the field of research, nevertheless, preference will be given to topics that are relevant for the development
Applicants need to come from – and have the nationality of – a developing country (see country list); There must be a guarantee that the candidate will be able to work fulltime on the Ph.D. project for a period of 24 months at the partner university in a selected developing country (South). This implies that the following conditions need to be fulfilled:
- there must be a local Ph.D. supervisor at the partner university or research center in the South;
- A written statement is requested stating that the candidate is either a funded full-time Ph.D. student or a staff member at this partner university
- and will be sufficiently exempted from teaching or other assignments as to be able to fully concentrate on the Ph.D. research in the South.
- This statement should also mention that the candidate receives a local Ph.D. scholarship or salary for a period of 24 months when working on the Ph.D. at the partner university in the South.
Number of Awardees: Not specified
Value of Scholarship:
- The value of the scholarship at Ghent University depends on, a.o., the researcher’s family situation.
- The Ghent University promoter also receives a bench fee to cover (part of) the operational costs, as well as the travelling costs of the student and both the Ghent University and the local promoter.
Duration of Scholarship:
- The candidate obtains a scholarship for maximum 24 months
- Students are obliged to divide the scholarship into a minimum 2 different research stays in Ghent (North) and needs to return at least once to their home university (South) in between (=‘sandwich- schedule’)
- The candidate must propose at least 12 months of locally funded research stay in the South after the first BOF funded stay in Ghent (North).
- Due to all practical arrangements (visa, housing, contract, …) students are advised to stay for long periods in Ghent (e.g. 1 year).
- This scholarship call does not intend to support students who plan only 1 research stay in Ghent.
Eligible Fields of Research: No restrictions are imposed on the field of research, nevertheless preference will be given to topics that are relevant for development. Relevance for development measures the degree to which the action of development corresponds with the expectations of the beneficiaries, the needs of the country, global priorities, and the policies of partners and donors.
How to Apply:
- Application forms must be submitted (in English) electronically via e-mail to BOFapplication@ugent.be.
- The Ghent University supervisor must submit the following 2 documents:
- An advice on the candidate, stating the supervisor’s opinion on the capability of the candidate as a future researcher.
- An advice on the ethical and biosafety context of the proposed research project