ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ

Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ (UU) and KU Leuven have signed an agreement on establishing a joint university wide PhD framework, in which other leading universities are also participating. Through this, Utrecht and Leuven will be intensifying an already close collaboration. On 15 September, KU Leuven launched its first , together with Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ. Deadline: Thursday 3 December (17:00).

For this call, a maximum of six joint projects will be facilitated, which are set to begin in September 2021 (three with Utrecht and three with Leuven as lead). The objective is that all PhD candidates will spend at least a year at the partner institution. A special aspect of this PhD programme is that its graduates will receive a joint doctorate degree, meaning that they are graduates of both Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and KU Leuven.

How does it work?
Applicants (and intended supervisors) must submit a proposal in consultation with the partner institution. Once a proposal has been accepted by the interuniversity selection committee (i.e. a joint UU and KU Leuven committee), a suitable PhD candidate will be sought. For the UU part of the financing faculties and graduate schools will be using existing research funds. The Executive Board will reward approved proposals, of which Utrecht is in the lead, with a maximum of 10.000 euro’s  to for extra expenses (travel, housing, etc.).  

Intensifying multidisciplinary research
All of the UU faculties already have strong ties with KU Leuven, often involving very long-term projects. The executive boards of the universities have now agreed to also intensify the collaboration at institutional level. There is a great deal of enthusiasm for further strengthening the relationships and to establish long-term multidisciplinary research outline agendas in the coming years. Joint multidisciplinary research is already being discussed in relation to various Strategic Themes, which is well tailored to existing or intended research programmes involving KU Leuven and UU faculties or Strategic Themes.

Contact

Any questions? Get in touch with Jeroen Frietman, Senior Advisor International Affairs. The application form will be available soon.