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 our partner 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 is a complementary programme on top of the PhD studies at one of our partner universities (scroll down to know our partner universities). This Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) programme from us is 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.
How to apply?!
Application deadline: 15 Feb 2024
Applicants must be enrolled into a PhD position at one of our partner universities (scroll down to know our partner universities)
Programme overview
The I&E programme is categorised into 2 tracks allowing PhD students follow the track that is most suitable for their professional career. Our selection committee will identify the suitable track based on your application.
Track 1: Awareness and Orientation track
The Awareness and Orientation track within the I&E Program is designed for PhD students not currently planning immediate entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial projects. It is a two-year programme.
Track 2: Business Creation track
The Business Creation track in the I&E Program is designed for PhD students with a specific interest in developing their own entrepreneurial business idea. This track comprises two one-year programmes.
In both the tracks, students focus on learning “How to Develop a Business Idea”, in the first year and in the second year, they delve into “How to Validate a Business Idea and Prepare for a Launch”. What differentiates the tracks is that, in the Business Creation track, students will have a 1-to-1 mentoring session from our experts who will assist you in every step of your business creation.
Meet Artur Gonçalves from the EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School
Programme structure
The methodology of the I&E programme in both tracks and in both years is based on Design Thinking principles. Our programme mirrors the standard 5 phases, from empathizing to testing, as per the Stanford d.School methodology. Additionally, we have integrated two more phases into our roadmap:
- Self-discovery
- Pre-launch.
Throughout these stages, business creation methodologies are enhanced by generating scientific and technological knowledge and practical application. Students/teams are provided with manufacturing mentors to guide them through the innovation process, making our programme distinct, comprehensive, and particularly focused on manufacturing.
The EITM Doctoral School requires the PhD student to complete:
- 30 ECTS of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) activities
- 15 ECTS of international mobility
- 15 ECTS of cross-sectorial mobility
For more details about ECTS, kindly check in our application portal.
Programme schedule
The I&E programme take place from April to December every year.
They are delivered in blended mode with online activities along the year and three on site events as below:
- Manufacturing Innovation Webinars: 30 May to 13 Dec, 2024 (Online)
- Spring School: April 3 to 16, 2024 (Bratislava, Slovakia)
- Summer School: July 1 to 12, 2024 (Mondragon, Spain)
- Winter School: 25 Nov to 06 Dec, 2024 (Porto, Portugal)
Manufacturing Innovation Webinars
As part of the Doctoral School programme, students will also have 6 innovation webinars on various topics of manufacturing such as Digital, Ethical, Sustainable, Supply Chain Maufacturing, etc. providing an in-depth understanding of these topics which is an essential step to move towards innovative, modern and sustainable manufacturing techniques.
Spring School
The EIT Manufacturing Spring School offers an exciting opportunity for participants to delve into the dynamic realm of sustainable building technologies through the Data Usage challenge. This challenge focuses on harnessing the power of data and leveraging the Technology Roadmap Strategy (TRM) as a guiding framework.
Summer School
The EIT Manufacturing Summer School on Smart Systems for Resilient Manufacturing (SSRM) and Market Exploration offers participants a stimulating learning by doing experience during which they will discuss their research results in the Summer Symposium, international lecturers provide state-of-the-art knowledge and entrepreneurship experts will guide you along a Market Exploration Bootcamp to develop innovative business ideas.
Note: This was the topic for the programme in 2023
Winter School
The EIT Manufacturing Winter School on Innovation Ecosystem & Business Design offers participants with the skills and knowledge to design and develop business ideas that align with their professional and personal backgrounds while exploring how cutting-edge technologies and emerging business trends are implemented in an industrial setting
Note: This was the topic for the programme in 2023
The EIT Label Certificate
Along with the PhD degree from our partner universities, all our students are Awarded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The EIT Label is a certificate of quality and excellence for educational programmes that are focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and leadership.
Got a question?!
Write to us at doctoralschool@eitmanufacturing.eu
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Our partner universities
Only PhD students from one of the following partner universities can apply for the EIT Manufacturing Doctoral School to percieve our complementary I&E programme.
FAQ for prospect PhD students from our partner universities
Candidates first must apply to one of our partner universities.
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 EIT Manufacturing 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 the requested documents in the portal.
Note: 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.
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 application opening.
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
- A PhD diploma (issued by the partner institutions)
- The EIT Label Certificate
– You must follow one of the PhD programmes provided by partner universities (with international mobility) – scroll down to know our partner universities.
– You must obtain at least 30 ECTS (750 hours) of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) 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.
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.
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 2024 selection dates are:
- May 2024, exact date to be defined
- 29 September 2024
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.
You can download the EITM Doctoral School Terms and Conditions here.
FAQ for Industries and Education Experts for collaboration with EITM Doctoral School
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.