PE&RC Graduate Programme 2018

PE&RC Graduate Programme 2018 call (deadline July 3, 2018 14.00 CE(S)T)

We would like to draw your attention to the forthcoming PE&RC graduate programme call. This call involves the funding of (a maximum of) two PhD positions.

Applications are written and submitted by candidates that have completed their MSc thesis research sometime after June 2016 with a PE&RC staff member at Wageningen University (WU) as MSc supervisor, and that will have completed their MSc study no later than September 2018. The PhD candidate and his/her project needs to be embedded in one of the WU-PE&RC groups. In other words, this call aims to stimulate talented MSc students of WU-PE&RC groups to do a PhD within one of the WU-PE&RC groups. To submit your application for this call, please use the dedicated application form, which you can download here.

In case you know suitable candidates within your network we would like to ask you to explore the possibility to elaborate a PhD proposal in which your group is involved as supervisor and writing coach.

A committee composed of PE&RC office and PE&RC staff members will assess the proposals based on:

1. Quality of the candidate (30%);
2. Quality, originality, feasibility and scientific and/or societal relevance of the elaborated proposal (30%);
3. The fit of the proposed research within (one of) the PE&RC focal area(s) (10%);
4. An oral presentation of the proposed research (30%).

Depending on the number of proposals submitted, the PE&RC committee can decide to invite only a selection of the applicants to the oral presentation.

This PE&RC call partly overlaps with the 2018 NWO-ENW call ‘Graduate Programme Agri & Food / Horticulture & Propagation Materials’. Both calls close on the same day (July 3, 14.00 CE(S)T). In some cases, it is thus possible for applicants to submit their application both to PE&RC and to NWO. However, there are some important differences between the NWO Graduate Programme call and the PE&RC Graduate Programme call:

1. The NWO Graduate Programme is organised in collaboration with the graduate schools PE&RC, EPS, VLAG, and WIAS. Ultimately, the eight best PhD candidates in the call will be selected by NWO to carry out their own PhD project in a research group of their choice, but embedded in (one of) these four graduate schools;
2. The PE&RC-call is aimed at talented MSc graduates that have done their MSc thesis in a PE&RC group of Wageningen University, and that propose to also do their PhD study in a PE&RC group of Wageningen University (not necessarily the same group), while the NWO-call invites MSc graduates from anywhere to do a PhD at a university in the Netherlands;
3. The PE&RC-call aims at projects that fit within the focal areas of PE&RC, while the NWO-calls aims at projects that fit within the Top Sectors “Agri & Food” or “Horticulture & Propagation Materials”;
4. The NWO-call has specific conditions for cash and in-kind co-financing by private partners while the PE&RC call has not;
5. Applications for the NWO-call are prepared by means of a specific NWO application form template and submitted by the prospective PhD supervisor via the NWO submission system, while for the PE&RC call, the prospective candidate herself/himself submits the application to PE&RC via the specific PE&RC application form.
6. The NWO-call places significant emphasis on economic relevance, while the PERC call does not.

On Thursday 24 May, 12:00-13:00 hrs, a meeting will be organized for both master students and staff in which more detailed information will be provided about the PE&RC and NWO call. This meeting will be held on WUR Campus, in the Orion Building, room C3015. You do not need to register for this meeting, you can simply come and attend.

To submit your application for this call, please use the dedicated application form, which you can download here.