In cooperation with the Graduate School Scholarship Programme (GSSP) of the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) the Doctoral Program ‘Plant Sciences’ at Freie Universität Berlin is offering two scholarships for interested and qualified international doctoral candidates in the area of plant sciences starting October 1st 2015.

In the framework of the GSSP two scholarships will be awarded to international PhD students, who will be financially supported for up to three years, in case of emerging or developing countries for up to four years, by the DAAD. 

‘Plant Sciences’ curriculum and mentoring

Besides the PhD project it is mandatory to actively participate in an interdisciplinary graduate seminar and a presentation seminar.  The attendance of advanced project related courses, academic performance courses, management competence and career development courses are voluntary.

Each doctoral candidate will be allocated to an individual, interdisciplinary support group consisting of at least two members. A written agreement regarding the mentoring as well as an individual work- and time schedule will be drawn up. 

Areas of research

• Biochemistry of Plants
• Molecular Developmental Biology of Plants
• Molecular Plant Genetics
• Plant Physiology

Mentors in the different areas would be Prof. Romeis, Prof. Schmülling, Prof. Kunze and Prof. Baier respectively. For more information about the research areas visit www.dcps.fu-berlin.de/about_dcps/members.html.

 

Requirements

• A qualifying degree at the level of Master or Diploma (minimum “very good”/grade A).
• Sound knowledge of plant biology, especially plant molecular biology, plant physiology and biochemistry.
• Very good English and/or German language skills (oral and writing).
• At the time of the nomination (estimated May 2015), the last final exam should have taken place during the past six years.
• At the time of the nomination (estimated May 2015) the applicant should not have resided in Germany for more than fifteen months.

Deadlines

The deadline for application for the winter semester 2015/16 is November 30, 2014. 

Application

Applications must be submitted in writing (preferably in electronic form/ PDF) and should include:
1. Letter of motivation defining and explaining the application for one of the areas of research.
2. Curriculum vitae.
3. Proof that the applicant has completed a qualifying course of studies - the degree awarded must be at least 1,5 (A grade) or better.

4. Copies of translated certificates and transcripts of records of

-        qualification for higher education/university entrance of your home country

-        all higher education/university exams

-        diploma/master and bachelor degree with indication of the final grade and explanation of the grading system

5. Two letters of reference (please use this template www.daad.de/imperia/md/content/de/foerderung/recommendation.pdf)

Please note that only complete applications will be considered.

Please send applications via e-mail (one PDF file) to
dcps@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Please address applications to

Doctoral Program ’Plant Sciences’
Freie Universität Berlin
c/o Applied Genetics
Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 6
14195 Berlin 

Selection

The selection for a scholarship follows a three-step procedure

1. Application until November 30, 2014
2. Pre-Selection, interviews and pre-nomination by ‘Plant Sciences’ (estimated February 2015)
3. Final nomination of scholars by the DAAD (estimated May 2015)

Information

For more information please visit

www.mps.fu-berlin.de/index_eng.html AND www.dcps.fu-berlin.de
or contact
Dr. Diana Mutz (coordinator at the Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences - DCPS)
dcps@zedat.fu-berlin.de