Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) International PhD Fellowship Programme

Programme description : The CRG is recruiting within the CRG International PhD Fellowship Programme, highly talented and motivated students with outstanding qualifications to carry out a PhD in biomedicine at the CRG.

Following the path to knowledge is one of the most exciting career options after finishing Graduate School. Whether you decide to stay in basic research or take one of the increasingly diverse alternative professional routes in science, obtaining a PhD will endow you with the skills necessary to succeed. At the CRG we offer full support for developing your research capabilities.

Fellows will benefit from an exciting international scientific environment and an integrated training programme, including access to state of the art infrastructure , lectures and seminars, specialised scientific and technological courses, complementary skills training and career development activities, postdoctoral symposia and retreats, as well as social activities.

Successful candidates will join research groups with top-level scientists and will carry out their research in one of the following scientific fields:

• Bioinformatics and Genomics
• Cell and Developmental Biology
• Gene Regulation, Stem Cells and Cancer
• Systems Biology

Eligibility criteria

Candidates should fulfil the following eligibility criteria at the time of the call deadline. If it becomes

clear before, during or after the evaluation phase that one or more of the eligibility criteria have not been fulfilled, the proposal is declared ineligible and is withdrawn from any further examination.

• The call is open to candidates of any nationality.
• Candidates must have obtained a University Degree and a Masters Degree in biomedical sciences within the European Higher Education System (minimum 300 ECTS) or an equivalent University Degree that allows to start a PhD thesis in the candidate’s home country by September 2017. Candidates who expect to be awarded with such degree by September 2017 are eligible to apply.
• Candidates must have an excellent academic record, previous research experience and a strong commitment for scientific research.
• Candidates must have a high working knowledge of English
• Preferably, candidates may not have worked at the CRG for more than 6 months before the call deadline.

In case of doubts about the eligibility criteria, applicants should contact the Academic Office ([email protected]) prior to submitting an application.

Fellowships

• The current call offers 10 positions funded with internal and external CRG funds.
• 1 of the positions offered in this call will be funded within the frame of an EU Coordinated Project (Irimia Lab). Candidates for this position must undertake trans-national mobility, which means that candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline.
• Selected PhD students will receive an annual work contract with a competitive salary that will be renewed annually for a maximum of 4 years following the applicable national regulations. All PhD students will receive full health and occupational insurance coverage and will be included in the Spanish Social Security System.
• All PhD students will receive additional funding to cover for expenses related to PhD tuition fees, participation in conferences, training sessions or any other activity related to the scientific or academic activity of the PhD students.

Training and other benefits

CRG fellows will benefit from the CRG Research and Training Programme, which includes:

• International scientific environment. CRG is located in Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), a cluster for biomedical research in southern Europe, which includes several other biomedical research institutions and more than 1000 researchers
• Advanced research training (training-through research, specific scientific and technology courses and a variety of CRG seminars and CRG/PRBB conferences with international invited speakers)
• Career development activities (Courses@CRG, INTERVALS Programme offered to PRBB residents)
• Cutting- edge advanced core facilities
• Other initiatives and activities organised by the PRBB and CRG
• Student community activities (Annual Retreat & Annual Symposium)

How to apply

• Applications must be submitted online
• Candidates must register in order to use the online application system.
• The online application form requests all of the necessary information for the initial stages of the selection process (General information, Education, Coursework, Honours, scholarships, prizes and awards, research experience, scientific interests and reference letters.)
• If the academic transcripts are not in Catalan, Spanish or English applicants should also attach a translation in one of the above mentioned languages.
• Applicants should select at minimum of 2 labs and a maximum of 5 in which they would like to work.
• Two reference letters will be automatically requested to the referees proposed by the candidate through the online system.
• Candidates must ensure that all information is included before the deadline, including the reference letters. Incomplete proposals will not be considered.

Once the application is submitted, an acknowledgement of receipt will be automatically sent by e-mail to the applicant.

Applicants who would like to receive the information of the call in an alternative format (e.g. large print, Braille, audio or hard copy), or who are unable to apply online should contact us by telephone on + 34 93 316 01 00.

For any additional information, please contact the Academic Office at academicoffice ([email protected])

APPLY HERE

Selection process

The selection of the fellows will be based on the candidates’ academic qualifications and research excellence.

• Pre-selection: The pre-selection will be based on the candidate’s CV, reference letters and on the research interests. Complete applications will be reviewed within a month after the deadline.
• Oral interviews: Short-listed candidates will receive invitations to visit the CRG for the interviews that will take place 6-9 weeks after the application deadline.
• Fellowship offers: Offers will be made to the successful candidates shortly after the interview period. Selected students will have two weeks to accept the position and should start their fellowships no later than October 1st 2017.

More details are included in the Call Text.

Participating Research Groups

For this call, the CRG group leaders who have expressed interest in recruiting a student are:

• Bioinformatics and Genomics Program: Cédric Notredame,
• Cell and Developmental Biology Program: Elvan Boke, Verena Ruprecht
• Gene Regulation Stem Cells and Cancer Program: Juan Valcárcel, Luciano Di Croce, Miguel Beato, Susana de la Luna
• Systems Biology: Manuel Irimia , Mara Dierssen, Nicholas Stroustrup

Call Calendar