Outgoing mobility scholarship

In addition to the partnerships already put in place by AMU’s international relations service, AMU’s neuroscience courses have established exchange agreements directly with several foreign universities, especially in the CIVIS alliance, where our students can do a laboratory placement and/or follow courses:

• the University of Helsinki (Finland)
• the University of Oldenburg (Germany)
• the University of Athens (Greece),
• the Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium),
• the University of Bucharest (Romania),
• the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom),
• the University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
• the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain),
• the University of Rome-Sapienza (Italy),
• the University of Stockholm (Sweden),
• the University of Salzburg (Austria),
• the University of Tübingen (Germany).

Université de Montréal (Canada) is only a possible destination through our scholarships in M2. UdeM has to validate applications at a very early stage, so we call for applications very early on (in June) at the end of the M1 program, for a departure in M2.

NeuroSchool scholarships (up to €1,000/month) are currently available for selected 2nd-year (M2) Neuroscience students to spend at least 2 full months in partner universities abroad.

It is also possible to do a laboratory placement in a non-partner university. NeuroSchool scholarships do not apply in these cases, but other funding is possible: consult AMU’s International Relations Office. You can submit several applications to increase your chances of obtaining funding, but check whether or not they can be combined. NEW: combinations (cumul) of different grants are now authorized (with a few exceptions), up to a total of €2,000 per month!

This exchange programme has received support from the French government as part of the “Investissements d’Avenir” programme, the University of Aix-Marseille’s Initiative of Excellence via A*Midex NeuroMarseille AMX-19-IET-004, and NeuroSchool ANR-17-EURE-0029.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must:

• Be an AMU student in M1 neuroscience, at the time of mobility
• Have a good academic record
• Provide proof of your proficiency in English (TOEFL, TOEIC, certificate from your English teacher, etc.), in accordance with the requirements of the host university (generally level B2).

Procedures

If you meet the eligibility criteria and would like to apply, please follow these steps.

1. Express your interest by sending an e-mail to NeuroSchool’s International Cooperation Manager: Isabelle Virard.
2. Consult the list below of research teams offering internships (in order of preference) and start contacting these teams now, or other teams if they are attached to a partner university. Send your CV and ask for recent articles, reviews or theses, for example, specifying that you are preparing an application for our grants. The more specific your project, the greater your chances of obtaining a grant!
3. Prepare an application file (downloadable Word document below) and send it with the additional documents listed below (in a single pdf document) before the deadline (see calendar below).
4. Our jury will pre-select the best applications (evaluation criteria specified below), then interview candidates for final selection (to assess their language skills, intellectual curiosity and the relevance of their project).
5. Successful applications will then be sent to the host university for validation.
6. Before departure, successful candidates provide other documents (bank statement, insurance certificate, etc.) and register on AMU’s moveonline application.

Attention

• New: these NeuroSchool/A*Midex grants can now be combined up to a certain point with other mobility grants in addition to those awarded on the basis of social criteria: consult AMU International Affairs!
• Some cities, such as Helsinki, have several universities, but NeuroSchool only finances exchanges with our partner universities.
• It is the student’s responsibility to check that he/she has the necessary travel documents (passports, visas: beware, Glasgow is no longer part of the Schengen area since the Brexit!), to check that health and political conditions allow departure, and to purchase his/her travel tickets (plane, train…).
• A certificate of attendance will be requested on return from your stay abroad.
• Consult AMU’s international relations page for advice before you leave.
• Plan B: if your mobility project is likely to change due to the global health or political situation, we can only recommend that you prepare a “plan B”.

Host teams at our partner universities

The lists below are not exhaustive and are constantly evolving. You can also consult this directory of neuroscience training programs offered by members of the CIVIS European University, which provides links to their associated laboratories. If you are interested in a laboratory, contact it and tell it that you are applying for NeuroSchool outgoing mobility grants.

HOST TEAMS IN HELSINKI

Several Finnish researchers have offered to host AMU trainees in the past, in particular those from the Neuroscience Center:

• Satu Palva, professor and director of the Neuroscience Center (Systems and computational neuroscience)
• Eero Castren, professor at the Neuroscience Center (example subject: Induction of neuronal plasticity the adult brain: mechanisms and applications)
• Sari Lauri, team leader at the Neuroscience Center (example subject: Signaling mechanisms guiding functional maturation of glutamatergic synapses)
• Iiris Hovatta, Neurogenetics Laboratory, studying the neurobiological and genetic basis of anxiety disorders

as well as researchers from other institutes, including :

• Mart Saarma, who works in the Biochemistry Department on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of programmed death in neurons controlled by neurotrophic factors
• Tomi Taira, professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences/Physiology (example: Activity-dependent development and plasticity in the hippocampus).

Contact them if you would like to take part in their research project.

THE HOST TEAMS AT OLDENBURG

At Oldenbourg, the following neuroscience and neuropsychology laboratories offer to host AMU students:

• Neurogenetics
• Cochlear and Brainstem Physiology
• Computational Neuroscience
• Animal Physiology & Behaviour
• Biological Psychology
• Applied Neurocognitive Psychology
• Experimental Psychology
• Psychological Methods and Statistics
• Neuropsychology

Please do not hesitate to contact them for information about their research and availability.

*Please note that you must have passed the “lab animal science course” or equivalent before you can work on animals.

**Only open to trainees with EEG experience.

THE HOST TEAMS IN TÜBINGEN

In Tübingen, the following academics are enthusiastic about hosting our students:

• Prof. Dr. Cornelius Schwarz, member of the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN)
• Prof. Dr. Horst Herbert, Director and Coordinator of the Graduate Training Center in Neuroscience
• Prof. Dr. Thomas Gasser, from the Centre for Neurology at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research
• Dr Yulia Oganian, who studies the cognitive neuroscience of human verbal communication
• Dr Nils Kroemer, from the Neuroscience of Motivation, Action, and Desire Laboratory

Here is a list of neuroscience laboratories at the University of Tübingen:

• neuroscience lab directory in Tübingen
• Tübingen – laboratories

You may also watch the videos of the tripartite symposium in January 2022, where researchers from Tübingen presented their research alongside researchers from Marseille and Rome. Link to the YouTube channel.

THE HOST TEAMS IN BRUSSELS

Dr Philippe Peigneux, Dr Alison Mary and Dr Axel Cleeremans‘s teams have already welcomed trainees from AMU.

Visit the ULB Neuroscience Institute website or the CRCN website to find out about other host teams.

HOST TEAMS IN MADRID

You can contact the researchers listed on this site or the following researchers to find out about their research and availability:

• Sleep-Wakefulness brain mechanisms, Dra. Isabel de Andrés & Dr. Miguel Garzón
• Neural mechanisms of sensory processing, Dr. Ángel Núñez Molina
• Human movement analysis, Dra. Estrella Rausell
• Cellular Connectomics Laboratory, Dr. Francisco Clascá & Dr. Lucía Prensa
• Plasticity of the somatosensory system and its involvement in chronic pain, Dr. Carlos Avendaño
• Primate central nervous system: cell architecture and models of disease, Dra. Carmen Cavada
• Modulation of Neural Excitability and Synaptic Transmission and its role in Learning and Memory, Dr. David Fernández de Sevilla
• Degeneration and regeneration of the central nervous system, Dr. Mar Pérez, Dr. Vega García-Escudero & Dr. Mª Teresa Moreno Flores
• Ageing & Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dr Antonio Cuadrado

HOST TEAMS IN STOCKHOLM

Consult this research teams site, in particular to find researchers in the Department of Psychology or the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

A first AMU student trained in Hakan Fischer’s lab.

Be careful not to confuse this university with the Karolinska Institute, another major institution in the same city.

HOST TEAMS IN ROME – LA SAPIENZA

See these research projects.

Students from NeuroSchool have completed internships in Rome under the direction of Patrizia Campolongo, Massimiliano Renzi and Claudio Babiloni.

You mays also watch the videos of the tripartite symposium in January 2022, where researchers from Rome La Sapienza presented their research alongside researchers from Marseille and Tübingen. Link to the YouTube channel.

HOST TEAMS IN BUCHAREST

Visit this Master of Neurobiology website: the associated research teams work in the departments of anatomy, animal physiology and biophysics.

HOST TEAMS IN ATHENS

Visit this training site and this laboratory site. Other options may exist but it’s up to you to find them!

HOST TEAMS IN GLASGOW

Glasgow joined the CIVIS alliance and welcomed its first trainees from Marseille, who worked in 2022 and 2023 under the direction of Emily S. Cross, Michael Kohl, and Gregory Weir. We are also in contact with Mick Craig. We invite you to find out more about the rest of the psychology and neuroscience laboratories.

HOST TEAMS IN SALZBURG

Salzburg is a new CIVIS partner; we have not yet exchanged students with the cognitive neuroscience laboratories. It’s up to you to explore them!

HOST TEAMS IN LAUSANNE

We are not yet in contact with neuroscientists at the University of Lausanne. You can explore the website of the Department of Fundamental Neuroscience. Be careful not to confuse this university with the EPFL, another major institution in the same city.

Application form and required documents

The application form can be downloaded here (in French). English version here.

It comprises 2 parts (A. Mobility project and B. Curriculum vitae). Prefer the French version for French-speaking destinations and the English version for non-French-speaking destinations.

You will need to attach the following documents (all combined in a single pdf document):

• University transcripts
• Motivation letter presenting your personal and professional project: research interests, post-master’s and career plans, how this project will contribute to achieving them… (See these guidelines for writing it)
• Proof of English language proficiency (if this is not your mother tongue, and in accordance with the requirements of the host university).

Don’t forget to check the specific requirements of your host university! At the University of Helsinki, for example, you can benefit from certain privileges and even other funding by following these instructions.

Provisional calendar

To be confirmed, subject to change.

• Information campaign: October 2024
• Declaration of interest (e-mail): no later than Friday, December 6, 2024
• Submission of applications (online form): no later than Monday, January 20, 2025, at 23:59 pm
  
• Pre-selection and interview: February 2025
• Publication of results: end of February 2025
• Validation by partner universities and signing of agreements: March 2025
• Mobility dates: between June and August 2025 (minimum 2 months). This includes the compulsory end-of-M1 internship. The poster will be presented remotely.

If you are a bachelor’s degree (L3) student planning an M1 mobility program, please contact us as soon as possible, even if your project does not take place on the dates indicated, especially if it includes teaching.

Jury and evaluation criteria

Jury

The jury may include the following members:

• Prof. Jean-Philippe Ranjeva
• Dr Christian Gestreau
• Dr Nicolas Catz
• Dr Riad Seddik
• Dr Isabelle Virard

Its decisions are final.

Criteria

In order to best evaluate your proposals, the following criteria will be taken into account:

• Candidate’s project: well-thought-out personal and professional project, justification of the studies pursued in relation to a stated objective, suitability for the Master’s program, acquisition of techniques, possible opening towards a thesis, particularly in co-supervision, or towards a job.
• Academic results: analysis of official documents attesting to grades, honors, rankings enabling the candidate to be clearly identified, prizes and distinctions awarded to candidates, if any.
• Other relevant experience: voluntary internships in laboratories, scientific leadership, conference organization, work experience, experience abroad, etc.
• Language skills: good knowledge of scientific English, and possibly of the language spoken in the host laboratory.
• Computer skills: good knowledge of computer basics, and even of specialized software useful in neuroscience
• Quality of presentation of documents: clarity and reliability of the documents submitted in support of the application.

More information

For further information on these grants, please contact NeuroSchool coordinator Isabelle Virard +33 (0)6 44 05 11 16

For specific questions about laboratories in Helsinki and Oldenburg: Christophe Porcher +33 (0)4 91 82 81 29

For specific questions about laboratories in Tübingen: Nicolas Catz +33(0)4 13 55 08 64

For specific questions about the Rome La Sapienza laboratories: Francesca Sargolini

For more general questions on international exchanges, please contact AMU’s International Relations Office.

Results

The results will be announced after the selection.