Presentation by Maaike Leusden from Vrije Universiteit. Presentation was held at the EMAP training seminar in Tallinn for future Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorates consortia (18-21 January 2012). For video see http://vimeo.com/38079071.

1. EMAP 2 - Training seminar for future Erasmus Mundus
Joint Doctorate consortia
Integration and functioning of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate
programme, incl. partnership composition
Maaike Leusden - Schokker
VU University Medical Center Amsterdam - Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam

2. Contents
Setting up an EMJD:
• Development Joint PhD
• Basic information ENC Network
• Added value Joint Doctorate programme
• Organization chart - Organizational structure
Going through cycles:
• Project definition - Project proposal
• Selection of projects by Board of Education
• Recruitment / admission (Eligibility rules – admission / selection criteria - online
application form)
• Project – student selection planning
• Promotion of PhD vacancies
• Student selection procedure
• Ranking sheet applicants
Guiding the students:
• Preparation contracts final selection students
• Personal Training Plan
• Annual meeting
• Research cooperation and / or educational cooperation as core of the Joint
Doctorate programme?
• Survey students

3. Contents
Setting up an EMJD:
• Development Joint PhD
• Basic information ENC Network
• Added value Joint Doctorate programme
• Organization chart - Organizational structure
Going through cycles:
• Project definition - Project proposal
• Selection of projects by Board of Education
• Recruitment / admission (Eligibility rules – admission / selection criteria - online
application form)
• Project – student selection planning
• Promotion of PhD vacancies
• Student selection procedure
• Ranking sheet applicants
Guiding the students:
• Preparation contracts final selection students
• Personal Training Plan
• Annual meeting
• Research cooperation and / or educational cooperation as core of the Joint
Doctorate programme?
• Survey students

4. *

5. Development Joint PhD
• 2009 ENI Net (www.eni-net.org)
• 4 home institutes (Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Göttingen,
Coimbra) + Zürich
• Initiative at organizing PhD training and funding at EU level:
− excellent scientific track records
− joint and high impact publications
− creating a large network (of > 2000 scientists)
− joint PhD professional training networks
• Focus on ‘Brain Disease Mechanisms’

7. Basic information ENC Network
• 2009-2010 Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate programme
awarded
• Coordinator VU University Medical Center – Neuroscience
Campus Amsterdam
• Partners:
− Bordeaux Neuroscience – Université Bordeaux Segalen
− European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen
− Neuroscience Center Zürich
− Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Coimbra
• Type of cooperation: consortium
• Type of degree: Joint or Double degree
• Length of programme: 5 cyles of 4 years each (75% funded
by Erasmus Mundus)

8. Added value Joint Doctorate programme
Institutes / Academics / Students
• career prospects: EMJD candidates get to know 5 research
institutes of the consortium > post doc postitions
• career development will be monitored after graduation >
eye on output programme:
− competitiveness
− International mobility

9. Organization chart
Director
Senior
Ombuds Board of Education
Advisory
man
Board
ENC Management Team Administrative
Official
PhD PhD PhD PhD
Supervisors
Project Project Project Project
PhD students
X X+1 X+2 X+n
Board PhD PhD PhD PhD
Supervisors
9 Project Project Project Project
PhD students
Y Y+1 Y+2 Y+n
fellows
PhD PhD PhD PhD
Supervisors
Project Project Project Project
PhD students
Z Z+1 Z+2 Z+n

10. Organizational structure
Responsibilities coordinator:
• coordination
• administration
• all agreements (partners / students)
• communication (via e-mail / videoconference / meetings):
− Board of Education
− Management team
− Erasmus Mundus Agency
− Principle Investigators (PhD supervisors)
− PhD students
• responsible for budget
− distribution
− yearly financial overview (from partners)

11. Contents
Setting up an EMJD:
• Development Joint PhD
• Basic information ENC Network
• Added value Joint Doctorate programme
• Organization chart - Organizational structure
Going through cycles:
• Project definition - Project proposal
• Selection of projects by Board of Education
• Recruitment / admission (Eligibility rules – admission / selection criteria - online
application form)
• Project – student selection planning
• Promotion of PhD vacancies
• Student selection procedure
• Ranking sheet applicants
Guiding the students:
• Preparation contracts final selection students
• Personal Training Plan
• Annual meeting
• Research cooperation and / or educational cooperation as core of the Joint
Doctorate programme?
• Survey students

12. Project definition

13. Project proposal
Content to be filled in: (max 4 pages total)
• project title
• home institute
• principle investigator
• exchange / guest institute (1/2)
• co-principle investigator
• executive summary
• information on research approach including collaboration
plan
• mobility plan
• consent on financial matching (4th year)
• short CV of PI, including 3-5 key publications
• contact data of PI’s
• signatures PI’s

14. Selection of projects by Board of Education
• All projects ranked by the BoE:
(4 = excellent; 3 = good; 2 = OK; 1 = unclear)
− executive Summary
− originality
− rationale for collaboration
− quality of CV PI
• Final selection by BoE
via videoconference
• Project published on websites /
vacancy sites

15. Recruitment / admission

16. Recruitment / admission – Eligibility rules
• Background in the field of experimental or preclinical
Neurosciences.
• Applicants with background in related fields including:
− biomedical sciences,
− biological psychology,
− genetics,
− medicine,
− biophysics,
− bioinformatics and/or artificial intelligence will also be
considered.
• Important eligibility criteria as mentioned in the Programme
Guide (Version 16/12/2010) of the Erasmus Mundus
Programme:
− Category A (non-European)
− Category B (European)
http://www.enc-network.eu/joint-phd-degree/eligibility-rules/

17. Recruitment / admission – Selection criteria
Students are selected on the basis of four criteria:
• motivation letter
• outstanding study-results (top 10% scores) during their
bachelor and master phase
• certified proof of language test results (i.e. TOEFL or IELTS)
• minimum of 2 written letters of recommendation from
previous or current supervisors;
• a formal interview (and short presentation in person or by
Skype) will be included in the selection procedure.
http://www.enc-network.eu/joint-phd-degree/selection-
criteria/

18. Recruitment / admission
online application form 1/2

19. Recruitment / admission
online application form 2/2

20. Project – student selection planning
*

21. Promotion of PhD vacancies
• Website ENC Network & Youtube
• Websites partner institutes ENC Network
• Websites projects partner institutes (BrainTrain, Cerebnet etc.)
• Social media:
• EURAXESS Jobs
• Nobel Jobs / Math Jobs
• Study portal /PhD portal
• Fens (Federation of European Neurosciences – www.fens.org)

22. Student selection procedure
• Students fill in application form / upload documents
• Checked by coordinator
• Principle Investigators selected projects via website enter the
uploaded information / documents (secured area)
• PI’s fill in ranking sheet per applicant
• PI’s select most eligible student + 1 reserve student cat. A + B
• Priority list of project-student selection to BoE (by e-mail)
• Final project-student by BoE via videoconference
• Coordinator > fills in
− the Mobility Database Erasmus Mundus
− application form
• Applicants need to sign ‘acceptance letter’

23. Ranking sheet applicants
Evaluation of candidate:
Evaluation of candidate Outstanding Very Good Good Average Below Average
5 4 3 2 1
Education (25%) 0 0 0 0 0 2
Motivation (12,5%) 0 0 0 0 0 1
References (12,5%) 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total points 0
(min 16 points)
Interview result (50%) 0 0 0 0 0 4
- academic experience
- know-how in the field of the project
- academic potential
Total points 0
(min 16 points)
Additional information on evaluation procedure:
Evaluation of candidate
Education (25 %)
Motivation (12,5%)
These 3 evaluation points need to have a minimum of 16 points in total in order to be qualified to have an interview with the supervisors
References (12,5%)
Interview result (50%) Minimum of 16 points
- academic experience
- know-how in the field of the project
- academic potential
Total 100% A student will considered eligible scoring a minimum of 24 points in the evaluation

24. Contents
Setting up an EMJD:
• Development Joint PhD
• Basic information ENC Network
• Added value Joint Doctorate programme
• Organization chart - Organizational structure
Going through cycles:
• Project definition - Project proposal
• Selection of projects by Board of Education
• Recruitment / admission (Eligibility rules – admission / selection criteria - online
application form)
• Project – student selection planning
• Promotion of PhD vacancies
• Student selection procedure
• Ranking sheet applicants
Guiding the students:
• Preparation contracts final selection students
• Personal Training Plan
• Annual meeting
• Research cooperation and / or educational cooperation as core of the Joint
Doctorate programme?
• Survey students

25. Preparation contracts final selection students
• Doctoral Candidate Agreement
• Personal Training Plan
• PI’s need to assist students with: (also available secured
area website ‘partners’)
− employment contract student with home institute
including social security, health insurance, work
accident insurance and the provision of parental leave
(NCA provides for travel insurance via Marsh)
− visa / residence permit non-European students in
obtaining their visa and residence permits
− housing/ accomodation

26. Personal Training Plan
1. title, venue and names supervisors home and host institute of project
2. index, timetable, programme (dates - commencement and review, itemising training content and elements)
(ECTS workload see next page)
3. introduction/definitions (aim and summary of the training plan)
4. agreed activities (courses / key-note lectures and seminars including obligatory annual meeting -5days-)
5. programme content/elements (itemised and presented in logical sequence and in suitably sized elements for
students' learning ability, and reflecting the order of training activities and delivery + ECTS estimation per element
or hours spent on activity)
6. Progress of personal programme (description of progress of personal programme per year and description of
research change in personal training plan if applicable
 summarize used methods, techniques, results, skills and/or other outcomes
 description of courses/meetings/lectures attended (title, date, venue and ECTS)
 changes in research plan
7. Other (to be defined by the supervisor and/or student)
Date: Date:
Name and signature Name and signature
Doctoral Candidate: Principle Investigator:

27. Annual meeting and ENC-Network training
• Annual (2 day) meeting for PhD students of ENC-Network and meet with
peer groups from other (Marie Curie ITN) consortia (see next slide):
− elevator pitch presentations by all students on day 1
− training in transferable skills (4 sessions)
o how to write high impact scientific papers?
o how to deal with intellectual property?
o what is the employability of PhD’s?
o how to improve presentation and communication skills?
− selection for high profile oral reports on day 2
− poster market and award (with > 50 posters)
− joining keynote lectures and meet with senior scientists during day
− social get-togethers (intervision) and meet seniors during evening
• Linked to Federation of European Societies for Neuroscience meeting
(Barcelona 14-18 July 2012, 15.000 attendents) > ENC-Network PhD students
are guided in attending lectures and symposia (one week per year)
• ENC-Network PhD students are obliged to attend technical and laboratory
based courses (at least 1 week per year) organized by ENC-Institutes

28. Annual meeting participation
• Annual ENC meeting together with other (affiliated) consortia:
− BrainTrain (Marie Curie, 17 PhD students)
− Cerebnet (Marie Curie, 12 PhD students)
− SyMBaD (Marie Curie, 23 PhD students)
− Twinning / Cum Laude projects (3 PhD students, Bordeaux – Amsterdam)

29. Research cooperation and / or educational
cooperation as core of the Joint Doctorate
programme?
PhD - students:
• scientific training through performing original research in 2/3 institutes
• ENC Network obligatory tailor-made courses (technical workshops and
training in transferable skills)
• ENC- Annual Meeting linked to FENS meeting (Federation of European
Neurosciences – www.fens.org)
• additional enrolment in (pre-)existing Neurosciences PhD courses throughout
academic year in each partner institute (> 25 different courses published on
website)
• workload of > 350 hours advanced study including:
− weekly seminars in home/host institutes (40 hours per year)
− annual meetings (40 hours per year)
− at least one Advanced Methods Course (40 hours)
− two optional courses (80 hours) – published on website (secured area for
students)
PS - ENC-Network institutes also acquired a Erasmus Mundus Master Program
(Neurasmus) last year; ENC-Network thus offers both MSc and PhD training in an
international context!

30. Survey students
• Online survey students after year 1, topics:
− Joint Doctorate Programme
− enrollment / application and administrative
support
− Erasmus Mundus Agency

31. Concluding remarks
Setting up an EMJD:
• Opinion leading scientists take the lead
Complement this initiative with good management!
Going through cycles:
• Create transparant and professional guidelines and internet
portal / video conferences
Commitment from partner institutes and senior scientists!
Guiding the PhD students:
• Communicate and organize meetings and courses
Stimulate and training of international orientation, awareness
and mobility!

32. Thank you for your attention and good luck