2023 PhD scholarships for international students
Call for projects closed Call for applicants closed Interview and/or deliberation closed Results announced
The call is closed.

Presentation of the call

The PhD Program in Neuroscience of Aix-Marseille University (AMU) offers 3 PhD scholarships (3 year-long) to students who have validated a Master’s degree outside France. The scholarships are fully funded by NeuroSchool (nEURo*AMU, ANR-17-EURE-0029).

The selection process takes place in three stages:

  1. a call for projects for research teams from Aix-Marseille University laboratories with project submission by February 28, 2023, at the latest ;
  2. a call for applications from master’s degree students or alumni with applications by April 2, 2023, at the latest ;
  3. the audition of the shortlisted candidates which will take place in late May or early June 2023 (date to be specified later).

NeuroSchool plans to fund up to 3 x 36 months of PhD salary through this call, which will be distributed among the top-ranked candidates. Note however that candidates for the international co-supervision call will be ranked together with candidates for the International PhD fellowships, thus there could be a redistribution of the funded months following the deliberation of the selection committee.

Call for projects (for researchers) - CLOSED

AMU neuroscience research teams are invited to propose a PhD research project in neuroscience for the next 3 years, with a maximum of one project for every 3 HDRs in a given team (a team with 1 to 3 HDRs may submit 1 project, a team with 4 to 6 HDRs may submit 2 projects…). In this call, a principal investigator (PI) means either a supervisor or a co-supervisor.

Eligibility criteria:

  • At least one of the principal investigators (PIs) with whom the PhD student will perform the research activity must hold an HDR affiliated to the Ecole Doctorale Sciences de la Vie et de la Santé (ED62) d’Aix-Marseille University and must be working in a research team affiliated to NeuroMarseille.
  • The PI cannot simultaneously supervise more than 3 full-time PhD students or co-supervise more than 6 PhD students.
  • Any PI whose student received a NeuroSchool scholarship for international students or for an international co-supervised PhD in the previous 3 years (2020, 2021 or 2022) is not eligible to submit a project this year for any NeuroSchool PhD scholarship (neither for international students nor for co-supervised PhDs). This restriction also applies to co-supervisors.
  • IMPORTANT: A given PI applicant is only allowed to submit one project for one of the following calls:
    • international co-supervised PhD scholarships (NeuroSchool)
    • PhD scholarships for international students (NeuroSchool)
    • ED62 doctoral school call for doctoral contracts
    • PhD contracts offered by other Institutes/PhD Programs linked to ED62

AND  Any PI who has obtained PhD funding the previous year from ED62 doctoral school, NeuroSchool or any other PhD Program/Institute linked to ED62 (ILCB, CenTuri, etc.) is not entitled to submit a project to NeuroSchool this year.

To submit a project, please download the file below (see the “Documents available for download” tab, scroll down the left panel to see it), fill it out and upload it once completed.

The file must contain a summary of the research project highlighting its neuroscientific aspects (max. 1 page in a Word document in 11 pt Verdana font), including:

  • State of the art
  • Objectives
  • Methods
  • Expected results
  • Feasibility (e.g. indicate the CPP number for human studies)
  • In the case of co-supervised PhDs, explain the complementarity of the two laboratories
  • Expected candidate profile, specifying at least 4 skills

Research projects should be sent at the latest on February 28, 2023, at midnight, through the online form below.

After verification of the eligibility criteria by the NeuroSchool PhD Program executive committee, research projects will be posted on the NeuroSchool website as well as advertised worldwide by early March 2023. PI applicants are also encouraged to advertise these calls.

Call for applications (for students) - CLOSED

This call for three scholarships is open to Master’s graduates from top-ranked non-French universities. Joint master’s degree graduates may apply if the main institution is not in France and if they have spent more time abroad than in France during their Masters. This distribution must be specified in their application file

The candidates can download the necessary documents from early March, 2023, in the “Documents available for download” tab (scroll down the left panel to see it):

  • The list of proposed research projects
  • The document “Choice of research projects”, in which the candidate should select and rank two of the proposed research projects
  • The template for the two recommendation letters that must be sent by two referees (from their institutional email address) directly to neuroschool-phd-program-direction@univ-amu.fr

We invite interested candidates to contact PIs as early as possible to learn more about their project, specifying that they are preparing an application.

The complete application must be submitted in English on our website before April 2, 2023, at midnight (Marseille time), and must contain:

  • The document “Choice of research projects“ highlighting the adequacy between the applicant’s background and the two research projects selected (see the “Documents available for download” tab, scroll down the left panel to see it)
  • a detailed CV with copies of the obtained degrees, and mention of the related marks and ranking
  • a letter of motivation (500 words max): compared to the document about the choice of research project, you can talk more generally about your application and research interests, without going into detail about the chosen projects.

Important reminder: The two recommendation letters must be received before the deadline as well. At least one of the referees must have supervised the candidate in a laboratory (internship, master’s thesis…).

Where should you apply? Click directly on “Submit your application” on this call.

The selection of candidates is performed in 3 phases:

  • 1st phase: the PI proceeds to a first ranking (pre-selection) of the candidates who have selected her/his project. Each PI can select up to two preferred candidates.
  • 2nd phase: the selection committee examines the pre-selected candidates of all projects and selects a shortlist of candidates to be auditioned according to their academic background, motivation and their adequacy with the project.

Important : not all candidates who are pre-selected by the PI will necessarily be auditioned.

Shortlisted candidates for auditions are strongly encouraged to contact the PIs and discuss with them about their oral presentation.

  •  3rd phase: the shortlisted candidates will be interviewed (videoconference) by the selection committee, who will establish a final ranking.

PhD starting date : between October and December 2023.

Interview

The auditions will be held between May 30- June 9, 2023 (exact date to be confirmed later  – update : pre-selected candidates will be auditioned on June 6, 2023), in front of a selection committee including a representative from each NeuroMarseille laboratory and the heads of the NeuroSchool PhD program:

  • Anna Montagnini and Wafaa Zaaraoui, heads of the NeuroSchool PhD program
  • Jean-Michel BREZUN (ISM)
  • Thierry CHAMINADE (INT)
  • Sophie CHAUVET (IBDM)
  • Olivier DAVID (INS)
  • François FERON (INP)
  • Valéry MATARAZZO (INMED)
  • Adil MAAROUF (CRMBM)
  • Béatrice MARQUEZE POUEY (UNIS)
  • Adrien MEGUERDITCHIAN (LPC)

 

The interview usually consists of :

  • a brief presentation of the applicant’s CV and background, the main objective of the selected project and the applicant’s motivations (10 minutes),
  • answers to questions from the selection committee (10 minutes).

 

The jury will meet twice:

  • between May 2-12, 2023, by videoconference for the selection of the candidates that will be interviewed;
  • between May 30th and June 9th, 2023, in person (on the Timone campus) for the auditions of the selected candidates (interviewed by videoconference).

Conditions

The successful candidates must register for their PhD in neuroscience at AMU and do their research work on a full-time basis in an AMU research laboratory for a period of 3 years starting no later than December 2023.

Pecuniary information:

Monthly salary: 2083€ gross, i.e. approximately 1 771€ net, or 1691 € net after income tax (subject to contribution rate changes).

Be aware that Neuroschool will not pay any travel costs (nor visa fees, if applicable): other specific sources of funding can be found (including via AMU labs/teams). Laureates also pay their own annual tuition fees (around 470 €).

Contact:

neuroschool-phd-program-direction@univ-amu.fr

Documents available for download

Call for projects phase – closed

Please rename the document with the name of the PhD supervisor. Remember to include the summary of the PhD project.

Call for applications phase – closed

Please rename the documents to include the applicant’s last name in first position.

Results

In 2023, the NeuroSchool PhD program offered PhD contracts to excellent master’s students who graduated from top-ranked non-French universities.

We received 63 eligible applications. Based on the opinion of the researchers who had offered the 14 PhD research projects, the jury, composed of representatives from all the neuroscience laboratories in Marseille, selected 10 very high-level candidates for auditions. In the overall mark, we took into account the presentation, the quality of the answers to the questions and the mark previously assigned to the application file. In light of all this, four contracts have been awarded to:

  • Thaïs Lestra, who will work under the supervision of Dr. Santiago RIVERA (INP), on the following topic: Mechanisms of action of MT5-MMP in Alzheimer’s disease and therapeutic modulation using viral-mediated transgenic strategies;
  • Camila Losada, who will work under the supervision of Dr. Guilhem IBOS and Dr. Frédéric CHAVANE (INT) on: Inferring and modelling large scale cortical interactions during comparative decision making in non-human primates;
  • Matteo Neri, who will work under the supervision of Dr. Andrea BROVELLI (INT) on: Higher-order interactions in human brain networks supporting causal learning;
  • Maria Evangelia Vlachou, who will work under the supervision of Dr. Jean BLOUIN (LNC) on: Cutaneous control of voluntary finger movements.