Grants for Co-Supervised PhD on SmUCS

EU-CONEXUS AMBITION

The European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability (EU‐CONEXUS) is a transnational European higher education and research alliance addressing global and local challenges by tackling coastal environmental, technical, economic and societal needs. EU-CONEXUS is a fully fledged university. It offers education, training, study programs, performs research and links with socio-economic actors for supporting innovation. The partners of the alliance are La Rochelle Université, Agricultural University of Athens, Catholic University of Valencia, Klaipeda University, University of Zadar, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, South East Technological University, University of Rostock and Frederick University. To find more information, please visit the EU-CONEXUS Website. 

OBJECTIVES OF THE EU-CONEXUS PhD GRANTS

The EU-CONEXUS community aims to develop PhD co-tutelle and co-supervised programs in Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability topics between 2 EU-CONEXUS partners.  

The PhD students in co-tutelle or co-supervision are eligible for the PhD Grants. 

The overall objectives of the PhD Grants: 

• to increase the skills of PhD students by providing PhD students with mobility opportunities to study and train in another partner institution on SmUCS topics 

• to support the co-supervised / cotutelle doctoral studies in EU-CONEXUS by providing financial support for learning and training, by attending courses at EU CONEXUS partner universities, attendance to summer schools or other education or training activities organized under EU-CONEXUS and/or by its partners 

• to support the development of new joint, flexible and innovative PhD co-tutelle / co-supervised study programs. 

Eligible beneficiaries: the PhD students from EU-CONEXUS partner universities with co-supervised or co-tutelle theses between 2 EU-CONEXUS partners, can apply for funding through the PhD Grants once the bilateral co-tutelle agreement or the decision for co-supervised theses between the 2 universities has been concluded. The grant is awarded to the PhD student in co-tutelle or co-supervision and can be granted only once during the PhD studies.  

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

• An application proposal must be submitted  
• The co-tutelle or co-supervised thesis shall be in the field of Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability (SmUCS) 
• The bilateral co-tutelle agreement or the co-supervision agreement between the 2 partner universities in EU-CONEXUS must be signed at the moment of the application 
• Both supervisors from EU-CONEXUS partner universities must agree to the application 
• The PhD student has to send the completed application form to the following email address: doctoralschool@eu-conexus.eu  
• The call is continuous until July 2026 and the maximum number of grants is 15. 

ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

The PhD grant can be used for supporting travel, accommodation, registration fees for one or more activities for study or train at one or more partners in EU-CONEXUS during the doctoral studies: 

• Attending courses opened by the EU-CONEXUS partners for PhD students, either on SmUCS or transversal topics 

• Attending trainings opened by the EU-CONEXUS partners for PhD students, either on SmUCS or transversal topics 

• Attending summer schools organized by EU-CONEXUS and/or by its partners 

• Attending training events in the field of the doctoral studies 

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The proposal will be assessed with regard to 2 main criteria: 

• Relevance
  Relevance of the PhD thesis for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability 
  Relevance of the proposed education and training activities for the PhD thesis 
• Eligibility criteria:  
  Existence of the bilateral co-tutelle agreement or the co-supervision agreement between 2 EU-CONEXUS partners duly signed and in force and agreement of the 2 co-supervisors for the application.  
  Absence of double funding for mobilities for education and training ensured through a declaration of the candidate that there is no double funding and a verification from the EU CONEXUS management if such double funding exists from other programs of EU CONEXUS  

EU-CONEXUS Doctoral School working group (WP4 EU-CONEXUS PLUS) will evaluate the application, and the approved application will be sent for validation to EU-CONEXUS Research and Academic Councils. A response for each application will be received by applicant no later than 30 days from the day of submission. 

FUNDING CRITERIA

• The funding/grant is €3000 (VAT included) per student and it can be used for one or more mobilities during the PhD studies in the above mentioned conditions 
• Co-funding is allowed whether it comes from the partners’ own funds or from public or private funds 
• The grant will be awarded to the PhD student by EU-CONEXA organization. 
• The process will be managed by ISBL. Please refer to their procedure for the justification papers and others. 

For any question you can contact the us at the address: doctoralschool@eu-conexus.eu . 

Please make sure you fill in the document titled Sworn Statement and that you carefully go through the document Methodology to ensure absence of double funding for the PhD grant under EU.

This activity is organised under the EU-funded Project EU-CONEXUS Plus (Project number 101089709) titled : “A significant step forward for the European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability” .