9 PhD positions in Life Sciences, Univ of Zurich, Swiss

International Ph.D. Programs
Life Sciences

Description: The Life Science Zurich Graduate School consists of nine highly competitive Ph.D. programs, run jointly by the ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Each program offers research and education opportunities in a stimulating international environment for ambitious students who wish to work towards a Ph.D. degree. Accepted students perform their research project in one of the participating research groups of their favorite program, according to their scientific interest. Advanced teaching and training courses are offered throughout the curriculum. The program language is English throughout. Ph.D. studies usually last 3-4 years. 

Education: Applicants must hold or anticipate receiving a Master's degree or equivalent from a university in a relevant field before starting the Ph.D. program. Applicants accepted for the program will have to register with either the University of Zurich or ETH Zurich, depending on the affiliation of their future research group. 

Application: Our web pages provide detailed information for submission of application. Please refer to the guidelines as we only take into consideration applications received in the required format: http://www.lifescience-graduateschool.ch/index.php?id=108. 

Application deadlines are July 1 and December 1 

Contact details: 
Dr. Susanna Bachmann 
Life Science Zurich Graduate School
University of Zurich
Institute of Molecular Biology
Winterthurerstrasse 190
8057 Zurich
Email: gradschool@lifescie nce.uzh.ch. 

http://www.lifescience-graduateschool.ch/. 

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/ME032/International_PhD_Programs

10 PhD scholarships in Economics & Business Management, Univ. Venus

website link:
http://venus.unive.it/sse/pag/applications2009.html

Admission 2009 - 2010

The School offers two doctoral programs: Economics (DEC) and Business Management (DEA). They cooperate and share most activities.

There are 5 three-year fellowships available for DEC and another 5 for DEA.

Classes start on September 1st, 2009. Most first-year classes are common across the two programs.

The general application procedure is similar for the two programs, with minor differences. Please make sure to carefully read the relevant information for the program you wish to apply for: DEA or DEC.

Separate applications are required for either program. Simultaneous applications to more than one program are possible.

An application must abide by the statute of their respective "Bando" (Official Advert) as published on the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana. The official version of each Bando is available from the website of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice following the path Offerta Formativa -> Dottorati di Ricerca -> Scuola Superiore di Economia - SSE. (With a bit of luck, this dynamic link should get you there in one click.) Links to the necessary documents are in the grey box on the right-hand column. You can also download a copy of each Bando using the links posted in the admission page of the program you wish to apply for.

Brief GUIDELINES ON HOW TO APPLY - CALL FOR APPLICATIONS A:Y 2009/2010

These are guidelines to assist you in making your application to the SSE Doctorate programs 2009 and should be considered as informal information and are in no way legally binding.
1- Read official announcement carefully
2 – Download attachments A, B & C
3 – Read all attachments carefully
4 – Compile attachment B (application form)
5 - Ensure you have the obligatory documents to include with the application form
Attachment B - see list below
6 – Where necessary (original foreign qualifications without legal translation) fill out attachment C
7 – You should put your application and all attachments in an envelope and put the following phrase on the envelope:
Domanda di ammissione alle Scuole di dottorato di ricerca 25° ciclo (A.A. 2009/2010)
(Application for admission to Research Doctoral schools 25th cycle – AY 2009/2010)
Dottorato di ricerca in
(Research doctorate in) [please indicate the doctoral course]

8 –Deadline: Ensure that your application arrives by and not after June 23rd, 2009 at 12.30. Applications arriving after this time will not be accepted.

You can hand deliver your application to e Accoglienza studenti, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venice (1st floor), during opening times to the public: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from 9.30am to 12.30pm; Wednesday also from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

or
you can send it via express/registered mail (with note of receipt) or by private courier to Università Ca' Foscari
Ufficio Protocollo Informatico, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venezia, arriving no later than Tuesday 23rd June 2009 at 12.30pm. It must arrive by this time and not sent by this time
You must attach a photocopy of your identity card (or other proof of identity) to the application form.

Obligatory attachments to the application form:
Statement of purpose written in English language -The candidate should describe his/her professional goals and research interests, as well as providing any information useful to evaluate him/her (but not implied by the other attached documents) (no more than 15.000 characters)
Curriculum Vitae
Degree Certificate –or equivalent qualification: Grade/marks of degree, title of the dissertation and a dissertation abstract of no more than 30.000 characters.

At least two letters of recommendation from university professors or scientific researchers (one letter has to attest the candidate's adequate knowledge of English language) Please use the online form. LINK

Foreign academic qualifications: if you have foreign academic qualifications you are required to attach the following:
o the academic qualification certificate including the list of exams taken, with sworn translation into Italian and Apostille;
o a "statement of value", issued by the Italian embassy/consulate in the country where the institution issuing the academic qualification is based certifying that the qualification is valid for registration at a university course – in that country - equivalent to the Research doctorate in Italy.

If you are unable to provide the "statement of value" document within the application deadline, you must fill in attachment "C".
In this case candidates will be admitted to the competitive examinations "under reservation" . Therefore, if they qualify for admission as winners, they will have to submit the required original documents at the time of enrolment

All candidates must be in possession of the qualifications requested at the time of applying for the doctoral program, 23rd of June 2009, otherwise they will be excluded from the competitive examination.

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS/ DOCUMENTS to include with your application – not obligatory
• Curriculum studii (w.marks)
• Publications consistent with the Doctoral program aims, including working papers
• Masters and other advanced courses
• Research experiences with university or research institutions
• Prizes, grants
• Score in GRE, GMAT, TOEFL or similar standard tests

Please note:
You can not apply electronically
All applications must be sent to address stated above
Al documentation must be in English (preferred) or in Italian

For more information about applications to DEA and DEC, please contact (scuoledottorato@ unive.it); tel.: +39-041-234- 7962).

PhD position at LIRMM, Université Montpellier, France

PhD position available at LIRMM, Université Montpellier, France
Title : Prolonged Functional Balanced Standing in paraplegic patient

The standing posture in paraplegic patient can be obtained by knee joint locking. Different approaches are possible: verticalizing wheelchairs, orthosis, Vanini boots, functional electrical stimulation (FES).

Orthoses and Vanini boots allow to lock the knee and the ankles and in some cases to free one or two hand. A visual feedback is necessary for the patient to ensure his vertical alignment.

Electrical stimulation is interesting as it would allow to have in a longer term a completely implanted version of the system and therefore largely more acceptable by the patient. The electrical stimulation of biceps femori allows to lock knee joint but involves high current intensity levels which fatigue quickly the muscles and lead to early joint unlocking. conduisent trop rapidement à un déverrouillage de l’articulation. We propose here to explore orthoses, Vanini boots and FES solutions and combine them if necessary to achieve long term functional balanced standing (allowing to free one hand to grasp an object).

More precisely, we will study :
1) Knee locking under surface FES
Several strategies will be considered : 1) moving from continuous stimulation to intermittent one , 2) alterning stimulation on the two sides, 3) optimizing stimulation patterns (frequency, amplitude, …), 4) involving frontal plane movements (lateral oscillations) and stimulating other muscles. (lateral oscillations controlled by verticality of the trunk), 5) bifocal stimulation of thigh muscles, 6) matrix stimulation to modify the localization of stimulation point.

2) Balance control
We will propose strategies to ensure balance by combining different solutions (orthoses, Vanini boots, FES)
Keywords:
- musculo-skeletal modelling
- involvement in clinical experiments
- analysis of experimental data

This PhD thesis will be co-supervised by PhD Christine AZEVEDO, PhD David GUIRAUD, MD PhD Charles Fattal (PROPARA) and Pr. P. Fraisse.
Contact: fraisse@lirmm. fr, azevedo@lirmm. fr

PhD Positions in Neuroengineering, Robotics & Navigation

The Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences (http://www. gradschool.uni-luebeck.de/) at the University of Lübeck invites applications for 3-year PhD scholarships in the fields of Brain Imaging, Robotics, Brain Plasticity, Navigation Methods, Neuroanatomy, Human-Computer Interfacing, Minimal Invasive Interventions.

Application deadline: June 30, 2009.

Project titles:
I1a - Diffusion Tensor methods
I1b - Correction of Susceptibility caused Distortions in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
I1c - Endoscopic Optical Coherence Tomography in the Deep Brain
I1d - Small animal brain imaging with nano CT
I1e - Transcranial sonography (TCS) in monogenic forms of Parkinsonism
I1f - Combined motion detection and motion correction medical imaging
I1g - Neurochemical whole-brain mapping using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)
I2a - Stroke Rehabilitation Robot
I2b - Parallel mode of action control: from human studies to intelligent robotic interfaces
I2c - Learning to See Better
I2d - Cardiac pacemaker localisation
I3a - Memory enhancement by transcranial brain stimulation
I3b - Brain Modelling
I3c - Relationship between brain activity and peripheral glucose metabolism - combining experimentally acquired data with a mathematical model
I4a - Robotic micromanipulator for small animal studies
I4b - Navigation and electrophysiologica l recordings in Deep Brain Surgery
I4c - Robot assisted navigation guided OCT operating microscope
I5a - Definition of cortical networks for the control of eye and hand movements
I5b - Wavelet-Based TMS-EEG Data Analysis
I5c - 3-dimensional kinematic principles of eye, head and limb movements
I6a - Interfaces based on EEG, ECoG and DBS
I6b - Nonlinear and multivariate EEG analysis
I6c - Basics in deep brain stimulation (DBS)
I6d - Next generation auditory prosthesis
I7 - Computer assisted minimally invasive interventions

Requirements:
Candidates are expected to have a master's degree (or its equivalent) in computer science, mathematics or engineering. Prior experiences in scientific publishing (during the university study or industry employment) are of advantage.

Please prepare all the necessary documents and submit your application online: http://www.gradschool.uni-luebeck.de/?q=node/20.

For further information, send email to: management@gradscho ol.uni-luebeck. de or visit our website at http://www.gradscho ol.uni-luebeck. de/.

Postdoc and PhD student positions in Bioinformatics, Metageno

The Raes lab (VIB, University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium) is hiring 3 motivated postdocs / PhD students in the computational analysis of metagenomics data, with a particular emphasis on human-associated microbial communities in health and disease.

The last few years have seen a revolution in the functional and phylogenetic profiling of complete microbial communities through (next-generation) environmental shotgun sequencing (metagenomics). Recently, these approaches are being used to study the combined genetic material of microbial communities that live on and in the human body (the human microbiome), with important clinical applications in autoimmune disorders, infection and nutrition-related pathologies. 

The proposed research projects focus on bioinformatics tool development for comparative metagenomics of next-generation sequencing data (Raes et al. Curr Opin Microbiol 2007) as well as further development and/or application of multivariate analysis methods (Gianoulis, Raes et al PNAS 2008) towards clinical ecosystems
biology of the human ecosystem (Raes and Bork Nat Rev Microbiol 2008). Methods
are applied to public data, within the framework of existing collaborations (e.g. the MetaHIT consortium http://www.metahit.eu), and on sequencing projects initiated within the lab. VIB is an exciting, interdisciplinary research institute with excellent facilities (e.g. proteomics,
next-gen sequencing) and research groups in e.g. immunology, microbiology, genetics,
molecular and cellular biology and translational research. 

The Raes lab is located on the campus of the University of Brussels, a vibrant, international city in the hart of Europe. 

Requirements (Postdocs) 

‐ PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology, biostatistics, (environmental) genomics,
population genetics or equivalent 
‐ Good programming skills (perl/python/ ruby/etc, SQL, R), proficiency in Unix/Linux 
‐ Strong background in statistics is a plus ‐
Good knowledge of (clinical) microbiology, biochemistry and/or microbial ecology is a plus 
‐ Experience with (meta)genomics data and/or microarray data analysis, network
inference/modeling is a plus

Requirements (PhD students) 

‐ Masters in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Bioengineering, (Molecular) Biology,
Microbiology or equivalent 
‐ Basic programming skills or strong motivation to learn 
‐ Experience with (meta)genomics data and/or microarray data analysis is a plus

Interested candidates are encouraged to send their CV, along with a letter stating their interest and contact details of two references to jeroen.raes@ gmail.com. Informal enquiries can also be addressed to the same email address. Further info on
http://www.vib.be/Research/EN/Research+Departments/Department+of+Molecular+and+Cellular+Interactions/Jeroen+Raes/

30 Doctoral Scholarships in Mathematics at University of Bonn

website link:
http://www.hausdorff-center.uni-bonn.de/doctoral-scholars

Doctoral Scholars

The Bonn International Graduate School in Mathematics (BIGS-Mathematics) , embraced by the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, a Cluster of Excellence established within the German government's Excellence Initiative, offers a PhD program in mathematics based upon the well-known teaching and research tradition of the Department of Mathematics and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics. Research topics for dissertations can be chosen from the following sections:

Algebra and number theory (J. Franke, G. Harder, M. Rapoport, J. Schröer, C. Stroppel, D. Zagier) | Algebraic and arithmetic geometry (G.Faltings, G.Harder, D.Huybrechts, N. Perrin, M.Rapoport) | Differential geometry (W. Ballmann, U. Hamenstädt) | Discrete mathematics and complexity theory (S. Hougardy, M. Karpinski, B. Korte, T. Nieberg, N. Saxena, J. Vygen) | Global analysis (M. Lesch, W. Müller) | Mathematical models in the natural sciences (H.-W. Alt, J. Frehse, M. Griebel, F.Otto) | Moduli spaces (W. Ballmann, C.-F. Bödigheimer, G. Faltings, U. Hamenstädt, G. Harder, M. Marcolli, Y. Manin, S. Schwede, D. Zagier) | Numerical analysis (M. Griebel, R. Krause) | Partial differential equations (H.-W. Alt, J. Frehse, H. Koch, F. Otto, M. Rumpf, L. Székelyhidi) | Probability and statistics (S. Albeverio, A. Eberle, M. Karpinski, M. Schäl, K.-T. Sturm) | Pure and applied logic (M. Karpinski, P. Poepke) | Scientific computing (M. Griebel, H. Harbrecht, R. Krause, M. Rumpf) | Stochastic analysis (S. Albeverio, A. Eberle, F. Otto, K.-T. Sturm) | Topology (H.-J. Baues, C.-F. Bödigheimer, J. Hornbostel, M. Kreck, S. Schwede).

There are currently about 100 PhD students in the program, which offers a wide range of lecture courses, graduate seminars, research seminars, and winter/summer schools. The language of instruction is English. 30 doctoral grants (Hausdorff scholarships) of 1100 euros per month for a maximum of 3 years can be awarded, beginning April or October each year. The grants are supplied by a family allowance, if applicable. In addition, there are 8 qualifying grants of 800 euros per month for a qualifying year.

Applications are to be sent to: Prof. Dr. Carl-Friedrich Bödigheimer, Director of Graduate Studies,
Universität Bonn, Mathematisches Institut, Endenicher Allee 60, D-53115 Bonn, Germany.

Deadline for applications
15 January annually for entry in April or October | 31 May annually for entry in October.

For more details and a list of required documents see: www.bigs-math. uni-bonn. de

PhD Scholarships in Economics, Univ. of Siena, Italy

Siena PhD in ECONOMICS - 2009

The University of Siena invites applications for the Graduate Program in Economics. The University and the city offer a unique environment for study and research in Europe.

Scholarship.

A maximum of 16 students will be admitted. The 8 most qualified candidates will be awarded a four-year scholarship of about €10,500 ($16,500) per year, after tax, for a total of about $42,000 ($67,000), plus tuition remission. A limited number of students can take advantage of lodging offered by the University of Siena in the Post-Graduate College “S. Chiara” (http://www.unisi.it/santachiara/homeEn.html) sited in the historical centre of Siena.

The Graduate Program.

The goal of the program is to train professional economists. Former students hold positions as economists in the academia, in consulting businesses, and in national and internationals economic institutions, such as central banks and regulators.

The first two years of the Program are devoted to full-time courses. All of these are taught in English, the official language of the Program. After fundamental training in Mathematics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics, a full menu of specialized courses is offered. Students are exposed to different theoretical and methodological points of view, in order to be able to explore the 
frontier of economics in an original way. Students are also required to participate in research activities, such as economics seminars and workshops. Admission to the second year is conditioned on the results of all first year final exams. Starting from the second year, students will develop their own research, under the supervision of a faculty member. While working at their dissertation, students are encouraged to undertake periods of research in foreign academic institutions. In this case the scholarship is increased by 50%. The doctorate is awarded after discussion of an original piece of scientific work (which can be written in Italian or in English). For further information about the Program, please visit http://www.econ-pol.unisi.it/dottorato/

Application process.

Applicants must hold, or obtain by September 30 2009, an Italian “laurea specialistica” or a “4-years laurea” or equivalent 4-5 years foreign degree. There are no limitations on the nationality of candidates. Prospective students are required to apply using the on-line procedure at the following website: 
http://dottorati.unisi.it/domande/elenco_proposte_24_maggio.asp

The deadline for application is June 22, 2009. In addition to the on-line application, the following documentation is required (either in Italian of in English):

1. Curriculum vitae

2. Academic transcripts. These must contain a full list of courses taken and grades obtained.

3. Two letters of reference, in sealed envelopes. These must assess the student’s aptitudes towards research, competence, scientific potential and maturity, in comparative terms.

4. A research statement, not exceeding 1000 words.

5. (OPTIONAL) A short scientific essay, not longer than 5000 words, resulting from independent research by the candidate.

All required documentation must be sent by June 22, 2009 to the following address:

Ufficio Formazione e Post-Laurea

DOTTORATO IN ECONOMIA POLITICA

c/o Collegio Santa Chiara

Via Valdimontone n. 1

53100 Siena, Italy.

Selection of Students.

The selection of candidates will be based on an evaluation of their aptitude and competence to research. To this purpose, the examination commission might ask some of the candidates to sit for a written exam and an interview, to be held in Siena in the late-Spring or early-Summer of 2009; in this case, the candidates will be notified by email a couple of weeks before (however, the University cannot be held responsible for failed communications due to the candidate supplying late or incorrect information regarding his/her address). The exams will be in Italian or 
in English. The University reserves the right to exclude from the selection process, at any time, candidates who do not meet the admission requirements.

Further information

For further information, please contact the secretariat of the graduate program: Francesca Fabbri, fabbri16 @ unisi.it

PhD in Economics at LUISS G. Carli Univ. in Rome, Italy

LUISS G. Carli
8 positions for enrollment in the PhD in Economics at LUISS G. Carli in Rome for the A.Y. 2009-2010. All positions are tuition free, 4 positions come with a scholarship. 

The deadline is May 29, 2009. See http://www.luiss.edu/dptea/doctoral-programs/economics for application and the official call.