EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School
The Doctoral School: Turn your thesis into a startup
The EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School supports PhD students in transforming their research results or patents into marketable solutions.
The programme involves PhD students from selected universities and may include collaboration with industry partners from the EIT Manufacturing community which help create an industrial doctorate position. These partners come from a variety of sectors such as automotive, aerospace, process industry, machinery and equipment, electronics, Information and Communication Technologies or medical technologies.
The EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School goes beyond traditional PhD studies to deliver an international two-year education focused on manufacturing innovation and entrepreneurship. The educational experience is enriched through five months, in which students are given the opportunity to move in academic and non-academic environments.
During the first year, students spend part of their time deepening their knowledge of specific manufacturing aspects, such as green manufacturing, robotics, production systems, etc. In parallel, they work on the ideation of a marketable solution for their PhD topic, through design thinking methodologies.
In the second year, the programme continues its focuses on entrepreneurial aspects, as participants develop their own innovations. Students work on definition and eventual launch of an innovative start-up, which can be supported further on its market path by other EIT Manufacturing initiatives.
The portfolio of courses of the Doctoral School is also offered to students who cannot enrol in the full programme but are still interested in experiencing entrepreneurship education. They can take a short course, involving innovation webinars lasting a few days, a two-week course, or a full two-year course through the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme. Participants who choose this option will receive a certificate of participation, but not the EIT Label.
Applications are made through the EITM Doctoral School applications portal.
IMPORTANT: if you are not a PhD student enrolled in one of the universities below, don’t feel excluded! You can attend our Innovation & Entrepreneurship Programme or our short courses:
- EIT Manufacturing Doctoral Summer School on Green Manufacturing
- EIT Manufacturing Doctoral Winter School on Sustainable Manufacturing
- A PhD diploma (issued by the partner institutions)
- An EIT Label Certificate
- You must follow one of the PhD programmes provided by partner universities (with international mobility).
- You must obtain at least 30 ECTS (750 hours) of innovation and entrepreneurship modules from among a portfolio of network-wide activities, annual Winter and Summer schools, and the Venture programme. Students can choose the appropriate combination to define a personalised innovation and entrepreneurship education and to be supported in becoming entrepreneurs.
Watch our previous PhD students’ experience at the EIT Manufacturing Winter School 2020!
Who can apply to the Doctoral School?
We are looking for PhD students who wish to build up entrepreneurial, innovation and business skills, and who attend the following EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School university partners:
Scholarships may include mobility grant and fee waivers.
Scholarships will be awarded based on ranking that considers:
- Academic grades
- Gender
- Student from RIS Countries
- Research topic
Industrial companies can offer PhD positions (Industrial Doctorate), based on the EIT Manufacturing thematic areas, and in collaboration with the EITM Doctoral School university partners.
EIT Manufacturing industrial partners can have PhD positions partially covered by the Doctoral School.
Industries can propose their PhD topic to the Doctoral School office all year round, by contacting the Doctoral School Office at: DoctoralSchool@eitmanufacturing.eu.
The EITM Doctoral Scientific and Industrial Committee (EITM DSIC) will review the proposals and select the most relevant to be submitted to the students. Accepted Industrial Doctorate proposals will be published on the EITM Doctoral School and university partners websites, in order to recruit students.
Organisations and individual experts that have not applied for or received partnership status are strongly encouraged to register in the experts area in our Plaza system. They will have the opportunity to participate in the Doctoral School annual programme as subcontractors under the H2020/Horizon Europe and national legislation rules and other relevant local regulations.
In order to be considered for this education call, innovation, entrepreneurship and education experts must fill tthe registration form at the following link:
Please note, experts don’t need to have an account in our Plaza system to join the list of experts.
Once you have completed the registration process, you will receive a notification by e-mail from EIT Manufacturing confirming your registration and including a link where you can contact the EIT Manufacturing partners to discuss possible collaborations. Please note, for Doctoral School calls we suggest you contact the EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School university partners, listed above.
Candidates first must apply to one of these partner universities:
- Arts et Métiers Institute of Technology (Arts et Métiers)
- Czech Technical University of Prague (CTUP)
- Grenoble Institute of Technology and Management (G INP)
- Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STUBA)
- Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP)
- University of Tartu – Institute of technology (TARTU)
The partner universities will evaluate the applicants according to their internal PhD requirements. Successful candidates can then apply to the open Industrial Doctorate positions of the EITM Doctoral School, where they will be selected with a competitive grading system.
The applicants need to apply in the EITM Doctoral School Applications Portal providing:
- Documentation certifying doctoral candidate enrolment:
- PhD position contract with the partner university in its original language AND translated into English, *including the institution name, the title of the PhD position and the duration of the contract.* (If your university does not provide this service, the translation has to be done by an authorised translator and his/her credentials, signature and stamps must be visible in the translated document).
- If the student is still involved in an on-going enrolment process, a statement in English certifying that he/she has been granted the PhD position, including the name of the institution, the title of the PhD position and the duration of the contract. The statement must be written by the PhD administration office (or equivalent department), confirming that the student has passed the selection and is in the process of being enrolled in that specific PhD position; it should also give the expected enrolment date.
- Description of the thesis subject, no more than two pages long (font: Calibri, minimum font size: 11pt.), including:
- Short description of the PhD thesis subject.
- The relevance for the manufacturing sector.
- The innovation potential of the subject and expected research results.
- The entrepreneurship potential of the expected research results.
- A statement on whether the thesis is coupled with an industrial/research (not academic) organisation, and if yes, the name and short description of the organisation and contacts of the industrial supervisor (name and e-mail).
- A letter of support from the PhD supervisor, giving the authorisation for the PhD student to participate in all required activities, including international placements, training courses, annual conferences, etc., in accordance with the requirements of EIT Manufacturing.
- Proof of English proficiency. Please refer to section: “What are the language requirements of the EITM Doctoral School?” for more information.
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) including details on your academic and professional career.
- A letter of motivation proving the innovative potential of the student and research topic. The motivation letter must point out:
- Specific contributions within the field of manufacturing.
- Interest and experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, highlighting the main aspects and impact of the future business idea of the student.
- Activities from which the candidate would like to benefit within the Doctoral School.
The letter can be addressed to the “Selection committee”. The structure of the letter is up to you, but it should not be longer than two pages.
- A colour copy of proof of identity, either a student National ID (only for EU/EFTA students) or passport.
IMPORTANT: applicants need to submit a complete application package consisting of the above documents, in PDF and portrait format.
It is every prospective student´s responsibility to make sure their application is correct and complete.
Applications are accepted all year round, but selections are only made twice a year (first quarter and third quarter of each year). You can apply here to be considered for the next selection window.
All programmes are taught in English.
Students are requested to provide an English-language certificate (TOEIC, TOEFL, etc.) to prove their English proficiency.
Minimum certificate grade is:
- IELTS >= 6.5, with no section lower than 6
A photocopy of the IELTS test result together with your application documents is sufficient. - TOEFL >= 93
English test results from TOEFL should be sent directly from the ETS test centre to the EIT Manufacturing Master School Office. - CAE: grades A – C are accepted
- CPE: grades A – C are accepted
In specific cases an English proficiency certificate of the PhD Home University, having a level of English equivalent to the above international English certificates, can be provided.
English proficiency tests are waived for applicants who:
- Have completed a bachelor degree given in English at a university in an EU/EFTA country. The instruction language of the bachelor degree must be stated in the degree certificate or its supplement, or in the transcript of records.
- Have completed a bachelor degree given in English at a university that is physically located in one of the following countries: USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand.
In this case, a declaration from the PhD Home university partner must be provided, issued by the PhD administration office, certifying the exemption from the English certificate for the applicant, according to the instructions above.
- IELTS >= 6.5, with no section lower than 6
The EITM Doctoral Scientific and Industrial Committee (EITM DSIC) will review the application materials through a competitive selection process based on the scientific excellence and academic qualification of the applicants and on their motivation towards innovation and entrepreneurship. A waiting list will be organised among the applicants.
Selections are done twice a year. In 2021 selection dates are:
- May 2021, date to be defined
- 29 September 2021
Selected participants will be contacted by the EITM Doctoral School office to complete their enrollment. In case of withdrawals, candidates from the waiting list will be contacted in order to fill all available seats.
Appeals are handled by the EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School Office in accordance with Belgian law. Appeals concerning decisions by the EITM DSIC and the EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School Office regarding selection criteria, ranking and distribution of scholarships will not be considered.
The Programme is free of charge for selected candidates. Students will be requested to pay for non-mandatory activities at a special rate, which will be communicated at the time of the activity application opening.
Send an e-mail to: doctoralschool@eitmanufacturing.eu
You can download the EITM Doctoral School Terms and Conditions here.