The MOVES consortium will select applicants to the programme on the basis of high academic achievement, the fit of individual projects with the MOVES Profile, and an assessment of each candidate’s potential and commitment to complete high-quality research. The consortium will also take into account principles of gender equality.

Candidates will need to demonstrate their eligibility and academic achievement through the submission of relevant documentation, including:

  • Application Form
  • a copy of the passport valid at least until the end of 2019. Applicants with two or more nationalities must decide which single passport to use for their MOVES application. This will be the nationality under which they will be registered on MOVES for the entirety of their doctorate.
  • a copy of the degree certificate: Master’s (preferably) or Bachelor’s degree (or their equivalents).
  • detailed transcripts with grades and degree classification, and an overview of the national education system in which the degree was obtained.
  • a current CV (European format, see template here)
  • an IELTS or TOEFL iBT certificate of English language proficiency (unless the applicant is a native speaker of English or has a degree obtained on a programme of study taught and assessed entirely through English).
  • two research proposals – each of them 1000 words (excluding the bibliography) – justifying the choice of two projects from the list and demonstrating the applicant’s readiness for the required research.
  • letters from two referees attesting to the applicant’s academic standing and potential.

Submission deadline: 15 February 2019, 23:59 CET.

The required documents will have to be submitted electronically after 15 January 2019 in pdf format to applicationprojectmoves@univ-montp3.fr

If the size of all attachments to the e-mail message is too big, please use wetransfer.

Write your name and “MOVES application” on the subject line.

Application guidelines

The MOVES consortium wants you to make the best possible case for you and your project in your application.

The most important of the documents you are asked to submit is the file containing your two research proposals. The evaluators of your application will scrutinize them very carefully, so make sure that they represent your ideas as accurately as possible and explain convincingly how you will carry out the two projects you have chosen.

We also place great emphasis on your CV and your previous experience.

Also important in your application will be the judgement of your referees: they will have to attest to the quality of your work and to your potential as a researcher, so select them carefully. Throughout the application we will be assessing the quality of your written expression, so we want to see you use the best English that you are capable of.

Our selection criteria are specified in the tab on Selection Process (on this page). In what follows we give you some further advice on the individual documents you will be asked to submit as part of your application.

The Application Form

This application form is mainly informative and will ask you for your personal details, your main places of residence in the past three years (required to check your eligibility), and your past research experience. Please take particular care to give us your accurate contact details for the interview date (phone number including international dialling code from France and Skype name).

Send the completed application form to: applicationprojectmoves@univ-montp3.fr

Deadline: 15 February 2019, 23:59 CET

Detailed transcripts

We will require these transcripts with a clear indication of your grades and degree classification and an overview of the national education system in which your highest degree was obtained. Please give us as much information as possible on your past academic experience to enable us to compare your record fairly with that of other candidates. If you need to submit multiple documents, you will have to put them into a single file first. Please also make sure that your record of transcripts is available in a format than can easily be sent by email and/or uploaded on an electronic platform. If your transcripts are in a language other than one of the five languages of the consortium members (English, German, Portuguese, Czech and French), you are required to submit certified translations.

Degree certificates

We also require copies of your degree certificates. Please proceed as above with your transcripts (i.e., put all documents into a single pdf file and, if required, include certified translations).

Current CV

Your CV should include all relevant information about your previous education and work and research experience. Please use the European CV format. See template here)

A certificate of language ability

Applicants who are non-native speakers of English must demonstrate, through the acquisition of a recognized qualification, proficiency in English at level C1 (‘proficient user’), as defined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). You can demonstrate this in various ways, for example with an IELTS (International English Language Testing System) certificate at level 7.0, or through a score of 100 (including a minimum 22 in both writing and reading) in the internet-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). Please note that the paper-based TOEFL is not acceptable. Please ensure that the documents attesting to your language skills are available in a format that can be uploaded onto an online platform.

These certificates are not necessary in two cases:

– If you are an English native speaker or from a country where English is an official language (in that case, the paperwork has to be clear that English was the language used in the applicant’s education).

– If you had a prior degree that was obtained on a programme of study entirely conducted in English, no matter where (it could be a non-anglophone country). The paperwork has to provide evidence for this.

NOTE: We consider language competence an essential prerequisite of a MOVES doctorate and cannot make any exceptions to the English language requirement. If you cannot produce the required language certificates during the application process, you will not be selected on the MOVES research team.

Research proposals

You should select two of the 15 MOVES projects and explain in your proposals how you would carry out the research for those projects. You should set out as precisely and clearly as possible what the main focus of your research will be, what your main research questions and proposed methodology are, and what primary phenomena, texts, or materials you are aiming to examine. We are expecting candidates to place particular emphasis on interdisciplinarity. Please read carefully through the MOVES profile and ensure that your proposals meet our research objectives. The maximum length of the two proposals is 1000 words each (excluding bibliography).

Here are the main guidelines to writing your research proposals for MOVES:

What is a research proposal?

A proposal is a little like the early parts of a dissertation, but its primary aim is not to contribute to a body of academic learning, but to make a case for doing a piece of research. It will therefore be briefer and punchier. Your two proposals for MOVES should each be 1000 words in length (excluding the bibliography) and include the following:

  1. The title (for each proposal)

Choose two of the 15 titles of individual research projects (see also Call for Applications) and formulate a more precise individual topic (a title of your own, using a few key words that sum up the objective of your research and the proposed methodology). Your precise working title(s) can then be discussed and modified in the first months of the project in coordination with the supervisors.

  1. An explanation of the research problem

What problems or questions is your research trying to resolve or answer?

For example, it may resolve issues or increase knowledge in a specific field, or lead to the development of new theoretical models; it may deepen insight into the historical circumstances of a phenomenon; it may influence the ways people working in the field operate in the future; and/or it may influence politicians and other decision makers. Think about your own background – are you particularly well-placed or qualified to do this research? Back up your arguments with details in order to build up a case for supporting the research.

  1. An explanation of the proposed research methodology

You may wish to set out:

–           A hypothesis or hypotheses that your research will test.

–           An explanation of your research design and tools.

–           Details of your sampling methods or corpuses. The validity of your findings will depend on the sampling techniques used.

  1. Timeframes

You need to show a realistic appreciation of the need to plan your research and of how long it is likely to take to complete it. Do not be over-optimistic when working out time frames. Make sure the project is feasible within three years.

  1. An explanation of how the research findings will be used

You will have already explained why the research is important. The purpose of this final section is to give brief details of any immediate applications of your research, including any further research that may be done to build on your findings.

  1. A bibliography (not included in the word count)

As in any piece of academic writing, you should list articles, books and other documents that you have referred to in your proposal and that you intend to use for your research.

Referees

We will require the names of two referees who will attest to your academic standing and potential. It is your responsibility as an applicant to ensure that your referees respond promptly to requests for a reference.

Eligibility

Who is eligible to apply?

European Joint Doctorate rules state that applicants to MOVES must be Early-Stage Researchers (ESR) and can be of any nationality. Specific mobility rules also exist: you cannot apply for an individual research project starting at a consortium university in the country in which you have spent more than twelve months of the three years prior to the recruitment deadline (1 September 2019). The following definitions should help clarify these rules further:

  • An ESR is a postgraduate researcher in the first four years of their research experience who has not been awarded a doctoral degree. ESRs must have been awarded a degree entitling them to doctoral study either in the country where the degree was issued or in the first country to which the researcher would be recruited on the MOVES programme. In practice, this means that applicants need to have at least a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent), and are expected to have (or be studying towards) a Master’s degree (or equivalent).
  • The period of four years is calculated not with reference to calendrical time but on the basis of full-time equivalent workloads. This means, for example, that if you have spent two years working or studying as a part-time researcher in any field at 50% of your time, these two years will count as one year of research experience. The limit of four years is to be understood as the maximum period of early research experience allowed at the point of application. If you have fewer years of research experience, or none at all, you are eligible to apply. The cut-off point for the calculation of the length of prior research experience is the recruitment date (ie, 1 September 2019).
  • Research experience means any professional or academic research activity acquired in any research field in the public or private sector. It does not include taught classes (such as modules on a Master’s programme, for example), but only independent research activity. The duration of research experience is measured from the date when ESRs obtained a degree entitling them to embark on a doctorate (either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the first country in which the ESR is recruited on MOVES), even if a doctorate was never started or envisaged.
  • Mobility rules: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the MOVES university which will recruit them first, for more than twelve months in the three years immediately before the recruitment date (1 September 2019). Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention, are not taken into account. So please make sure that you apply only for those MOVES projects that do not include countries in which you have most recently been residing or working.

If you require further advice on the application process please contact the project manager PetraJohana.Poncarova@ff.cuni.cz

Selection process

The selection committee will consist of representatives of all five Beneficiaries (MOVES consortium universities) and one external member. Each member of the committee will assess and score each application.

Candidates will be graded on a 100-point scale across the following criteria:

The quality and potential of the research proposals 1 (1 to 60) and 2 (1 to 60). Each of the research proposals will be evaluated separately and the points will not be added up. Each application will thus be graded twice and the average of these two grades will be decisive for the ranking of the candidate.

The quality of the CV (1 to 20)

The academic references (1 to 10)

The quality of the written expression (1 to 10)

Selectors will be required to comment on all criteria using the MOVES Application Assessment Form. In addition, the prospective supervisors will also comment on the relevant applications.

The selection committee will review the grading and comments, and compile a ranking based on average scores. In a preselection phase, the committee will then nominate a list of candidates selected for interview.

Interviews will be conducted by telephone (with possible use of Skype or Whatsapp, if needed). After the interviews, the committee will agree on a final ranking of candidates, taking into account the programme requirements/restrictions and consider special cases in relation to disability and gender balance.

Appeal procedure

Written appeals against the results of the application procedure and of its first stage (the assessments of applications and their enclosures submitted by 15 February 2018) can be addressed to the Project Manager, Petra Johana Poncarová, by 31 March 2019. Appeals will be considered by the Academic Board of EJD MOVES. Final decisions on them will be made at the first meeting of the MOVES Supervisory Board in April 2019.

Important dates

  • Submission deadline: 15 February 2019, 23:59 CET. Required documents will have to be submitted electronically after 15 January 2019 in pdf format to applicationprojectmoves@univ-montp3.fr
  • Applicants shortlisted for telephone interviews will be notified by 1 March 2019.
  • Telephone interviews will take place on 8 and 9 March 2019.
  • All applicants will receive notifications about the results of the selection procedure by 31 March 2019.
  • Offer letters will be sent by 30 April 2019.
  • The recruitment procedure will close and the EJD programme will start on 1 September 2019.