Excellence Scholarships (37 months) for PhD students to participate in the PhD Program “Global Food Security“ at the University of Hohenheim, Germany
The Food Security Center (FSC) is a university center of excellence in development collaboration at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. FSC is one of five excellence centers of the program “exceed – Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperation”, which is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany.
FSC’s mission is to make effective and innovative scientific contributions in research, teaching, and policy advice to eradicate hunger and achieve food security in collaboration with partner research and education organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and national and international development and research organizations. Thematically, FSC’s activities deal with issues of sustainable food availability, food access, food use, and food utilization. More information is available from www.foodsecurity.de.
Scholarship description
FSC awards 12 scholarships for PhD students from developing countries (see OECD DAC List) for a period of 37 months, beginning September 1, 2015 (with a month German language course). The Center wishes to attract outstanding PhD students pursuing a career in academia or development collaboration. The scholarship aims at increasing their previously gained scientific knowledge and skills relevant to food security related issues. The successful candidates will receive scholarships for participating in the PhD Program “Global Food Security” to conduct their doctorates.
The scholarship is given for a stay at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. The monthly grant is EUR 1,000 (for the time in Germany, during the field research there will be a different rate applicable). In addition, FSC pays for traveling to/from Hohenheim. Proofed costs for a health and liability insurance will be refunded for an amount up to 100 €. Other costs must be paid for from the stipend.
Selection criteria
Besides the general selection criteria for the PhD program “Global Food Security” (see PhD Program “Global Food Security”), the following criteria have to be met additionally, if applying for an “Excellence scholarship”:
- Latest academic degree completed no more than 6 years prior to start of scholarship;
- Indication for return to his/her home country and institute;
- Be a national of a developing country according to OECD DAC List;
- Please note that your research theme should be in accordance with the conceptual research framework of FSC. Your research proposal has to relate to one of the research themes listed here.
Application
The applicant has to submit the application documents for the PhD program “Global Food Security” and indicate in FSC’s application form, whether s/he applies for an “Excellence scholarship”. In addition to the general application, the applicant has to provide proof regarding the additional selection criteria mentioned above.
The deadline for the application for an “Excellence scholarship” is July 6, 2015.
FSC will confirm the receipt of all (complete) applications (i.e., if an application is not complete, FSC will not consider it and will not confirm receipt of the application).
The selection of the candidates will be in July 2015, the program will start on September 1, 2015.
All accepted applications will be selected according to the following criteria:
- Fulfillment of announcement criteria of the PhD program “Global Food Security” (cf. “Admission” and “Application”);
- Quality of proposal and project feasibility.
For all pre-selected candidates, FSC will look for a supervisor at the University of Hohenheim. Only after a professor of the University of Hohenheim has accepted the candidate, s/he will be ultimately selected and invited to join the PhD Program “Global Food Security” and – if applied for a scholarship – awarded an “Excellence scholarship”. Please note: If a candidate has been awarded for an “Excellence scholarship”, he has to follow the Doctoral degree regulations of its respective Faculty at the University of Hohenheim. The prerequisites for acceptance into the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences or the Faculty of Natural Sciences will be checked by the respective faculty. Only the faculties at the University of Hohenheim can enroll a scholar to become a full PhD candidate at the university.
The selected applicants will be contacted no later than July 31, 2015. Please be aware that FSC will contact only successful candidates.