1.  Amount, duration and deadline	6.   General criteria for the distribution of grants
2.  Thematic fields	7.  Application documents
3.  Eligibility of applicants	8.  Selection committee
4.  Eligibility of host institutions	9.  Timetable of related activities
5.  Criteria for the selection of grantees	10.  Commitments of selected grantees

 

1. AMOUNT, DURATION AND DEADLINE

 

1.1. Each of the three partner associations – BECSA, RECSA, and TUNAECS – announces an open call for applications for 6 (six) short-term doctoral scholarships (grants) in European Union integration studies, in accordance with the provisions of the current terms of reference.

 

1.2. The amount of each grant is up to 1900 Euro and comprises:

·        Part 1: contribution towards living expenses (accommodation, subsistence, local travel, pocket money, etc.) – equal to 1500 Euro;

·        Part 2: contribution towards research-related expenses at the host institution (photocopies, internet access, library fees and other host institution fees, etc.) – equal to 200 Euro;

·        Part 3: contribution towards travel expenses (airplane ticket economy tariff, or bus ticket, or train ticket) – up to 200 Euro (but not higher than actual travel costs);

 

1.3. The doctoral grant is payable to the selected grantee in the following way:

·        Part 1 is payable upon the signature of a Doctoral Grant Contract before his/her study period at the host institution.

·        Part 2 and Part 3 are payable upon verification of the fulfillment of all commitments undertaken by the grantee (see section “Commitments of selected grantees”) after his/her return from the host institution (including upon presentation of original travel documents).

 

1.4. The duration of the study period, for which the grant is awarded, is 2 (two) months – from 15 March 2005 until 15 May 2005 (see also section “Timetable of related activities”).

 

1.5. Applications must be received by each partner association (BECSA, RECSA, or TUNAECS respectively) by 14 February 2005 (Monday), 17:00 hours local time at the latest (see also section “Timetable of related activities”).

 

2. THEMATIC FIELDS

 

2.1. The thematic coverage of this call for applications includes:

(a)    the four principal fields of action of the Jean Monnet programme of the European Union:

·        European Law (Community Law),

·        European Political Integration,

·        European Economic Integration,

·        History of the European construction.

(b)   specific issues related to the accession of Bulgaria, and/or Romania, and/or Turkey to the European Union;

(c)    specific issues related to the accession of (one or more of) the ten Central European and Mediterranean countries that joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia).

 

3. ELIGIBILITY OF APPLICANTS

 

3.1. Each applicant must fulfill all of the following conditions of eligibility:

(a)    be a citizen of either Bulgaria, or Romania, or Turkey;

(b)   be registered as a doctoral student at an institution based in either Bulgaria, or Romania, or Turkey, which is legally authorized to organize doctoral studies and award a doctoral degree (this might be a public university, or a private university, or a foundation university, or an institute within the Academy of Sciences, etc.);

(c)    write his/her doctoral dissertation in one of the thematic fields described under item 2.1. above;

(d)   be in good command of: (d.1.) the language spoken at the host institution (the institution where s/he intends to spend his/her study period under this grant), or (d.2.) either English, French or German;

 

4. ELIGIBILITY OF HOST INSTITUTIONS

 

4.1 The applicant can apply to spend his/her study period in a university or a research institute based in:

(a)    Bulgaria, or Romania, or Turkey; or

(b)   One of the twenty-five member states of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom).

 

4.2. However, the country where the host institution is located cannot be the same as the country whose citizen is the applicant.

 

5. CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF GRANTEES

 

5.1 Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

(a)    choice of an innovative specific research topic for the applicant’s dissertation;

(b)   soundness of scientific methodology; quality and relevance of hypotheses and/or findings;

(c)    high academic record during undergraduate and graduate education;

(d)   high research record during doctoral studies;

(e)    language and style of expression;

(f)     effectiveness of the applicant’s programme for the study period and its relevance for completing his/her doctoral studies.

 

6. GENERAL CRITERIA FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS

 

6.1. The following general criteria for the distribution of grants will apply:

(a)    Within the amount available to each partner (11400 euro), up to one third will go to applicants who want to go to a host institution based in the other two candidate countries.

(b)   Without prejudice to the other criteria, each partner will attempt at distributing the grant amounts in a balanced way among the thematic fields covered by the current call for applications.

(c)    The principle of equal opportunities for men and women will be respected.

 

7. APPLICATION DOCUMENTS

 

7.1. Each application must contain the following documents:

(a)    an application form duly filled in (in English) – downloadable here ;

(b)   curriculum vitae (in English);

(c)    legally certified photocopy of university diploma proving the possession of a Master’s degree (in either Bulgarian, or Romanian, or Turkish);

(d)   legally certified photocopy of the supplement to the diploma containing a transcript of grades (in either Bulgarian, or Romanian, or Turkish);

(e)    legally certified photocopy of a document proving language proficiency in: (е.1.) the language spoken at the host institution (the institution where the applicant intends to spend his/her study period under this grant), or (e.2.) either English, French or German, or (e.3.) both (e.1.) & (e.2.);

(f)     certificate of the applicant’s registration as a doctoral student, or, failing this, a letter from the head of department or from the dean of faculty of the applicant’s university replacing the certificate (in the original, in either Bulgarian, or Romanian, or Turkish);

(g)    letter of recommendation from the applicant’s supervisor of his/her doctoral dissertation (in the original, in either Bulgarian, or Romanian, or Turkish);

(h)    letter of invitation from a professor / lecturer based at the host institution, whereby this professor / lecturer undertakes to provide the applicant with scientific guidance, advice and assistance during the latter’s study period at the host institution (in English) – it is advisable to submit the original letter of invitation in the application package, although a letter sent BY FAX will also be admissible;

(i)      plan of the applicant’s doctoral dissertation (in English), with relevant bibliography;

(j)     list of publications of the applicant on the topic of his/her doctoral dissertation (in English);

(k)   programme for the applicant’s study period at the host institution (1-2 pages, in English), indicating relevant activities (for a general orientation for the content of this programme, see section “Commitments of selected grantees”).

 

7.2. Applicants should note that they need NOT necessarily translate into English the documents mentioned in items 7.1. (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g).

 

7.3. Application documents must be sent by the applicant by post or express courier (NOT by fax or electronic mail!) to the following addresses:

(a)    for those who apply in Bulgaria:

BECSA (re: Jean Monnet doctoral grants)

ul. Acad. Georgi Bonchev, block 6, floor 6, P.O.Box 11, Sofia 1113, BULGARIA

(b)   for those who apply in Romania:

RECSA (re: Jean Monnet doctoral grants), c/o European Institute of Romania,

7-9, Regina Elisabeta Blvd., Bucharest, RO-70348, ROMANIA

(c)    for those who apply in Turkey:

TUNAECS (re: Jean Monnet doctoral grants),

c/o European Community Institute / Marmara University,

Jean Monnet Binasi, M. U. Goztepe Kampusu, 81040 Kadikoy, Istanbul, TURKEY

 

7.4. Application documents will be considered for selection only after payment of an administrative fee by the applicant, which amounts to 10 (ten) euro (equivalent calculated in local currency). This fee can be paid upon submitting application documents, or at the time of the selection interview at the latest.

 

8. SELECTION COMMITTEE

 

The project coordinator(s) will invite the following types of experts to become members of the selection committee:

·        distinguished academics who work in the thematic fields of this call for applications who are members of the respective partner (BECSA, RECSA, or TUNAECS),

·        two representatives of the other two partners (one from each partner),

·        practitioners in the field of EU integration (representatives of the respective branches of public administration responsible for EU integration, of the European Commission Delegations, etc.).

 

9. TIMETABLE OF RELATED ACTIVITIES

 

The call for applications and related activities will take place in accordance with the following timetable:

Early January 2005	launch of the call for applications, announcements and dissemination of information by each partner;
14 February 2005	deadline for receiving applications at the partner institution (by 17:00 hours local time);
End of February 2005	interviews with applicants, to be held in Sofia, Bucharest and Istanbul (exact dates to be fixed before expiry of the mentioned deadline);
Early March 2005	signature of Doctoral Grant Contracts by selected grantees; issue of part 1 of the grants to selected grantees;
15 March	study period of selected grantees at the host institution;
End May 2005	submission by selected grantees of their research papers for publication in a volume of doctoral papers;
June 2005	doctoral seminars organized by the selected grantees and the three partners (BECSA, RECSA, or TUNAECS) in cooperation with the universities where selected grantees are registered as doctoral students;
June – July 2005	completion of administrative formalities related to the issue of grants; issue of part 2 and part 3 of the grants to selected grantees.

 

10. COMMITMENTS OF SELECTED GRANTEES

 

The award of the doctoral grant is conditioned upon the selected grantees’ undertaking the following commitments, by means of signing a Doctoral Grant Contract with the respective partner (BECSA, RECSA, or TUNAECS):

 

10.1. During their study period at the host institution:

(a)    Expanding knowledge base & strengthening information back up of research (part 1): While doing research at the host institution, grantees will select bibliographies of major sources of literature in their research fields, so that, after they return home, they can submit them to the academic authorities at their home institutions and to the university libraries with a view to helping expand the knowledge base in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey in the sphere of EU integration studies.

(b)   Writing a research paper: Each grantee will write a paper (in English, 14-16 pages / 3500-4000 words including bibliography, in electronic form – Word for Windows) on a topic falling within the field of his/her dissertation, which is to be submitted for publication after his/her return from the host institution.

(c)    Info sessions with academics and practitioners: During the research period, the grantee will seek to hold meetings with academics and practitioners (MPs, senior officials, policy advisors, experts-consultants) in the specific field of research. Grantees will be required to promote the project / network and the Jean Monnet programme in order to raise awareness about them among political and expert circles.

 

10.2. After their return from the host institution:

(a)    Focused tutorials with students: The grantees will prepare to hold tutorials (during the 2005-2006 academic year) with B.A. and M.A. students on new up-to-date specific topics in the field of EU integration studies. This effort will constitute an element of transfer of knowledge acquired during the research period and will help disseminate research results directly towards younger generations.

(b)   Expanding knowledge base & strengthening information back up of research (part 2): Grantees will submit bibliographies of major sources of literature in their research fields, which they have selected during their research period, to the academic authorities at their home institutions and to the university libraries with a view to helping expand the knowledge base in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey in the sphere of EU integration studies. The relevant academic bodies will consider using these lists when ordering new purchases of literature for their libraries.

(c)    Doctoral seminars: Partners (BECSA, RECSA, TUNAECS) and grantees, jointly with their home universities (where they are registered as doctoral students), will organize doctoral seminars with a view to making research results more visible to the academic community interested in enlargement-related questions.

(d)   Publishing research results: Grantees will submit to partners (BECSA, RECSA, TUNAECS) the papers written by them during their study period (see item 10.1. (b)), which will be published in a volume.

11. SELECTION RESULTS

 

The selection of Bulgarian applicants took place on 25 February 2005 at the office of BECSA, and arrived at the following results:

 

1. On the basis of the selection criteria described in these Terms of Reference, the selection committee has classified the applicants in the following order:

 

First place:	ANGEL ANGELOV – general average grade: 5,92
Second place:	VASSIL GEORGIEV – general average grade: 5,79 DRAGOMIR STOYANOV – general average grade: 5,79
Fourth place:	ZHIVKO MINKOV – general average grade: 5,63
Fifth place:	GEORGI CHANKOV – general average grade: 5,50 DESISLAVA YORDANOVA – general average grade: 5,50 MIHAIL MILEV – general average grade: 5,50
Eighth place:	GEORGI BARDAROV – general average grade: 3,67

 

2. The evaluators / members of the selection committee unanimously recommend the project coordinator to make every effort to ensure the award of a seventh Jean Monnet short-term doctoral scholarship, so that the three applicants classified on fifth place (Georgi Chankov, Desislava Yordanova and Mihail Milev) receive equal treatment; failing which – to provide for an equal distribution of the financial resources available for Jean Monnet short-term doctoral scholarships under the project among the three applicants classed on fifth place, albeit with a reduced amount of these three scholarships.

 

3. Taking into consideration that the doctoral student classified on eighth place (Georgi Bardarov) is at the very beginning of his doctoral studies but has displayed his serious motivation and a good potential, the evaluators / members of the selection committee recommend the project coordinator to consider the possibility of offering a modest stimulating grant for this doctoral student, if – and as much as – the financial resources available under the said project permit.