Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) PhD Scholarships 2020 for Developing Countries (Fully-funded to Belgium)

The University of Louvain (UCL) holds a competition for awarding PhD scholarships to citizens of developing countries. By doing so, UCL hopes to contribute not only to reinforcing the capacity building in Cooperation for development,

Application Deadline: 10th April 2020

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Developing Countries

To be taken at (country): Belgium

About the Award: The Catholic University of Louvain is Belgium’s largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve, which was expressly built to house the university. UCL has satellite campuses in Brussels, Charleroi, Mons and Tournai. The PhD scholarship for students from developing countries reflects its wish not only to help strengthen the academic systems of developing countries but also to create new partnerships between UCL and research or higher education institutions in these countries.

Type: PhD

Eligibility: To be eligible, the candidate must satisfy ALL of the following criteria:

• be from a developing country;
• have the support of at least one UCL faculty member;
• be admitted by the PhD Committee (CDD) to pursue a PhD at UCL or to the Research Certificate Program (PhD in home country institution) in the candidate’s research field;
• be free from any commitment to return to a country that has funded training;
• for students who have already started their doctorate and are enrolled at UCL, not be a scholarship beneficiary.

Developing country citizens who, through their administrative status within the EU, hold Belgian student status based on a residence permit and/or social rights are not eligible.

Selection Criteria: UCL’s International Action Committee (CAI) selects PhD scholarship beneficiaries on the basis of the following criteria:

• the candidate’s academic credentials (CV, supervisor cover letter, etc.)
• the research project’s scientific attributes (research originality relating to the current state of knowledge in the field of research, feasibility of the research schedule, relevance with the current researches in the host entity);
• the prospects of strengthening capacity building in higher-education context for the applicant’s home country
• the institutional impact (added value for the UCL host entity in terms of the potential for the current and future collaborations with the higher education and the research institutions of the home country)

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value and Duration of Scholarship: Recipients receive a UCL PhD scholarship that includes support for no more than 36 months and, if necessary, one or more round-trip airline tickets between the international airport nearest to the recipient’s home country residence and Brussels Airport.

How to Apply: 

• The UCLouvain supervisor submits the candidate’s dossier (application form and annexes) using the application form on 10 April 2020 in a single PDF file at the address: appel-adri@uclouvain.be.
• If needed, and regardless of the process of  putting together the application, the applicant and his/her supervisor must complete the application procedure to both the subject-specific doctoral committee responsible for the chosen field of research (for UCL PhD Degree) or to the research certificate (Home institution PhD Degree).

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details