PhD Scholarships in Social and Agricultural  Sciences

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6 PhD Scholarship Positions being offered at The International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD) in Social and Agricultural Sciences

The ICDD is an interdisciplinary and international scientific network of excellence with the head office located at the University of Kassel (Germany) and partner universities in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The ICDD is funded by the programme gex)/(ceed .

Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperationh launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). In the framework of its Graduate School of Socio-Ecological Research for Development, the ICDD invites students from ODA countries.

To apply for one of the following PhD scholarship positions at an ICDD partner university:

  • University of Kassel, Germany, in the field of social sciences,
  • University of Kassel, Germany, in the field of agricultural science,
  • Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), India, in the field of sociology,
  • Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil, in the field of economics,
  • Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan (UADY), Mexico, in the field of agricultural science,
  • University of Cape Coast. Ghana, in the field of development studies.

    Background:

    The ICDD's objective is to generate and transfer knowledge on how to create and improve work and income opportunities in rural and urban regions of developing countries in light of globalisation, climate change and urbanisation. The ICDD encompasses various disciplines such as agricultural science, political science, sociology and economics.

    The ICDD supports three research clusters to which the prospective PhD project must relate:

    1. Sustainable Value Creation for Decent Work.

    2. Instruments for Promoting Decent Work.

    3. Strategies of Empowerment for Decent Work.

    Application Requirements:

  • A completed or almost completed MA/MSc degree, with excellent results, in a discipline related to the above topics; the applicantfs last academic degree should not be more than six years ago; if an applicant already started with his/her PhD project, it should have started not more than three years ago;
  • a high proficiency of English (CEFR level: C1 or above), demonstrated by one of the following language certificates: TOEFL, with a minimum score of 550 PBT (paperbased test) / 80 IBT (Internet-based test); IELTS 6.5 or above; the Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English or an equivalent (native speakers and applicants who have completed their first degree fully in English do not have to provide an English proficiency certificate);
  • Academic or vocational experience in one of the disciplines related to the thematic field of development and decent work;
  • Citizenship of an ODA recipient country (cf. list attached).

    Application Procedure:

    Your application package must include the following elements in the below sequence:

  • A completed cover sheet (cf. attachment / download from ICDD Graduate School website); applicants must clearly indicate the university for which they apply in the cover sheet section Aspired University of Enrolment;
  • A detailed curriculum vitae (including the academic background, the list of publications[if applicable], professional experience, language skills, voluntary work);
  • A preliminary PhD project proposal (about 2000 words,including topic, research question, short overview of the relevant literature, theoretical approach, research design and methodology);
  • A summary of the Master thesis (about 1500 words) if applicable;
  • scanned copy of an English proficiency certificate if required;
  • scanned copies of the following documents in the original language with translations attached, if the language of these documents is not German, English, French, Spanish or Portuguese:

    -The certificate and transcript of records of your recognised Master degree,

    -The certificate and transcript of records of your recognised Bachelor degree,

    -The university entrance examination certificate,

    AB: listing all subjects and grades;

  • scanned copies of certificates of previous professional/vocational experience if applicable.

    Application deadline: 20 November 2011

    Send to: graduateschool{at}icdd.uni-kassel.de

    For more information and application, see: PhD Scholarships in Social and Agricultural Sciences

    For more International students scholarships, see: Graduate Scholarships