Germany: Doctoral Fellowships in Competition and Innovation Legal and Economic Determinants, The International Max Planck Research School

Doctoral Fellowships in Competition and Innovation Legal and Economic Determinants, The International Max Planck Research School, Germany
The International Max Planck Research School for Competition and Innovation Legal and Economic Determinants (IMPRS-CI)
The IMPRS-CI contributes to high-quality interdisciplinary research at the interface of law, business administration and economics in the area of competition and intellectual property rights. It aims at the integration of these three disciplines and the study of the nexuses between patents, invention and innovation, between copyright law and creativity, between trademarks and unfair competition, between technology transfer and economic development, between competition law and market transparency through:
- The IMPRS-CI doctoral Programme,
- Teaching,
- Academic Exchange,
- Post-Doctoral Research,
- Lecture Series and Conferences.

The IMPRS-CI is committed to excellence in research, to fostering intellectual and professional academic growth in its ?elds and to providing quality facilities and resources.
Main Features
The IMPRS-CI offers participants an outstanding interdisciplinary three year doctoral programme in English with courses in law, economics and business administration.
IMPRS-CI doctoral students will be trained in the essentials of all three disciplines to acquire an understanding of the perspectives of their counterparts. In accordance with their interests and the concrete topic of their theses, students will also deepen their disciplinary and cross-disciplinary knowledge and expertise.
Students enjoy close supervision by world-renowned lawyers and economists in a competitive, yet collaborative, environment rich in interaction with other students, post-docs and academics.
Curriculum and Structure
The structure of the doctoral programme is determined by coursework in the form of lectures, seminars, independent research and participation in doctoral forums, research colloquia and conferences.
Requirements
The IMPRS-CI doctoral programme is open to excellent applicants holding the equivalent of a German diploma, Masters degree or state examination in law, economics, business administration or management. Applicants will also be required to meet all entry criteria for the respective doctoral programmes speci?ed by the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich.
Scholarships
Each participant will be awarded a scholarship to cover his/her living expenses. Students are granted a fully equipped shared of?ce, full access to the libraries and research facilities of the participating institutes and university departments and research funds to conduct their projects.
Selection of Candidates
The selection process is competitive: Applicants will be assessed against other international applicants and will be selected in order of merit.
Short-listed candidates are invited to an interview in Munich.
Application Information
Application Deadline: March of each year
Programme Start: October of each year
Number of participants: 8 per year
Duration: 3 years
Tuition Fees: none
Contact:
Prof. Reto M. Hilty, Director
Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law
Marstallplatz 1, D-80539 Munich, Germany
Tel: +49 89 242 46 402
imprs[ at ]imprs-ci.ip.mpg.de
For more application information visit: http://www.imprs-ci.ip.mpg.de

Belgium: PhD Student Positions in Modelling the Distribution of Sediment, Water, Carbon and Energy Fluxes Along the Hillslope

PhD Student Positions in Modelling the Distribution of Sediment, Water, Carbon and Energy Fluxes Along the Hillslope, Belgium
Ph.D. student position
Starting January 2010, the laboratory of Environmetry and Geomatics (UCL/AGRO/MILA/ENGE) is looking to appoint an enthusiastic Ph.D. student in the framework of a joint research project entitled “Modelling the distribution of sediment, water, carbon and energy fluxes along the hillslope”.

About the project
A recent key area of interest is the characterization of linkage between masses and energy fluxes of water, carbon, and energy fluxes at the geomorphologic hillslope level, as their coupling induce spatially and temporally structured patterns with non negligible attached uncertainties. The final objective is to obtain a reliable model at the hillslope scale, with possible extensions at the regional level.
Working environment
The successful candidate will lead the statistical/physical data analysis and modeling part of the project, among a team of three Ph.D. students. He/She will work mainly inside the Environmetry and Geomatics (UCL/AGRO/MILA/ENGE) research team of the Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium (http://www.uclouvain.be/mila).
Expected candidate profile

• master diploma in bioengineering, civil engineering, physics, mathematics (statistical orientation) or equivalent diplomas.
• great fondness for statistical data analysis and modelling. Sound knowledge in physical and statistical modeling for environmental sciences is a clear benefit.
• good practice and mastering of computer software’s in statistics and mathematics (especially Matlab, but additional knowledge in SAS, R, S+ and C++ are welcome as well)
• a clear interest for a research work and for the perspective of a Ph.D. work
• good communication skills in English (written reports, oral presentation, etc.). Additional knowledge in French/Dutch is welcome as well.

Candidates will submit their detailed curriculum vitae, along with a motivation letter and two reference letters. Correspondence should be sent with the clear mention “ARC Project_Bogaert” through e-mail or regular mail to the following address:
Professeur Patrick BOGAERT
Email : patrick.bogaert[ at ]uclouvain.be
Université catholique de Louvain UCL/AGRO/MILA/ENGE
Tel : +32 10 47 36 82
Fax: +32 10 47 88 98
Croix du Sud, 2, Boîte 16,
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.

UK: Postdoctoral Scientist Safety Pharmacology (Cardiovascular)

Post-doctoral, Scientist Safety Pharmacology (Cardiovascular), UK
Post-doctoral
Scientist Safety
Pharmacology (Cardiovascular)
Two-year post
Competitive salary + benefits
Alderley Park, Cheshire
Here’s a great opportunity to develop your expertise within a committed and recognised scientific team.

About the role
We are looking for a post-doctoral scientist to join our Safety Pharmacology team for two years, to support a project addressing translation from preclinical to clinical models. The project aims to evaluate and improve the predictive value of preclinical cardiac investigations, with a special focus on QRS prolongation as a marker of pro- arrhythmic risk.
Your work will potentially influence the preclinical strategies that are already in place within Global Safety Pharmacology, as well as the risk assessment of candidate drugs before the first clinical trials. For that reason, you can expect to be directly involved in different preclinical models, from in-vitro screens up to in-vivo telemetry studies. It is anticipated that the work will lead to scientific publication, influencing both the drug selection process and the scientific community.
About you
PhD qualified, you will ideally hold a UK personal licence for animal experimentation. While a background in cardiovascular pharmacology or toxicology would be ideal, we’re equally interested in any competence relating to the late phases of pre-clinical development. You will also need technical and scientific skills in both in-vitro and in-vivo electrophysiology, with broad knowledge of preclinical risk assessment.
About us
As one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca is focused on providing innovative, effective medicines that make a real difference in key areas of healthcare. With 66,000 staff around the world, we invest $16 million every working day on research and development.
For full details please click or visit:
www.astrazeneca.co.uk/careers
quoting ref: SAUK113.

Pakistan: Postdoctoral Position in Mathematics, Lahore University of Management Sciences

ostdoctoral Position in Mathematics, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan

LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
Centre for Advanced Studies in Mathematics
http://asm.lums.edu.pk
POST DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS At CASM-LUMS

Centre for Advanced Studies in Mathematics (CASM) at LUMS invites nominations/applications for post doctoral fellowships (@ Pak Rs. 77,000.00 per month) for six months during the year 2010-11. The applications should be succinct and include the following: Name, Date of birth, Academic qualifications starting from B.Sc., Research experience, List of publications, Research proposal, Address for correspondence and name of two referees. Applications are welcome at any time, but the review process starts on June 1, 2010.
For further inquiries contact: Scientific Director, Centre for Advanced Studies in Mathematics, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore Cantt.-54792, PAKISTAN (E-mail: casm[ at ]lums.edu.pk).

Europe: PhD Scholarships in Functional Materials Science, Erasmus Mundus

PhD Scholarships in Functional Materials Science, Erasmus Mundus, Europe
IDS-FunMat is an International Doctoral Programme in Functional Materials funded by the ERASMUS MUNDUS Programme of the European Union.
The school offers scholarships for PhD projects in Functional Materials Science, carried out in co-supervision between universities from two different countries (see list of partners). In most projects an industry partner is also involved. The PhD candidates must spend at least 6 months in each university. The projects start around October and take 3-4 years.

The European Union finances each year a number of ERASMUS MUNDUS PhD scholarships in the school, and in addition we have PhD projects funded by other sources.
For more information, please visit the official announcement.

UK: Fully Funded PHD Studentship in Cooperative High Resolution Mosaicing for Autonomous Ground Vehicles, Cranfield University

Fully Funded PHD Studentship in Cooperative High Resolution Mosaicing for Autonomous Ground Vehicles, Cranfield University, UK

As part of our collaborative research work with BAE Systems, we wish to recruit a research student for an industrial case PhD study on Cooperative High Resolution Mosaicing for Autonomous Ground Vehicles

Images from a camera onboard Unmanned (or remotely piloted) Vehicles may be very helpful in perceiving information about the environment of operation but is often plagued with limited spatial and temporal field of views, disorienting rotations, and noisy and distorted images. These problems collectively make it very difficult for human viewers to identify objects of interest as well as inferring the right decisions and actions during the vehicle operation. In many applications of autonomous vehicles such as land surveillance, military operations and disaster monitor and digital city, it is often required that images offer a 3D information, a wide Field of View (FOV), and the different viewing directions. Indeed, objects seen within acquired videos tend to move quickly through the viewing stream, the time a user can really evaluate the scene or look back at objects that may have been interesting can dramatically be shortened, often make it very challenging for vehicle users to identify objects of interest actually captured within the acquired video. For the above mentioned reasons, the construction of mosaic images and the use of such images become necessary for vehicle mapping applications.
So, whilst a single autonomous vehicle with its set of vision sensors can achieve simple mission objectives, a cooperating set of vehicles can provide better performance by incorporating additional and different information to that available to the single platform. This is not a surprise: it is after all the basic premise of data fusion.
A networked set of vision sensors will enable new capability by allowing multiple mobile vision sensor platforms acting as an adaptive, distributed mapping sensor providing visual information that increases the likelihood of mission success. The challenge for such a system of cooperative vision sensors is to behave in a predictive global manner to enable the environment to be explored, objects identified and tracked by providing complementary perception information.
In this work, the objective is to build highly enough resolved 2D/3D video mosaic of imaging streams acquired from vision sensors mounted on each of the cooperative vehicles. Cooperative mosaicing will be, in this case, considered at the level of each vehicle to obtain its panoramic view and most importantly between the networked vision sensors of vehicles that are linked to the command station to provide the full map of the operation environment. The challenge of this study is propose methodologies that will be adapted for delivering the challenging real time highly resolved 2D/3D video mosaicing of the moving platform and for which rotational and translational camera motions is also considered.
We propose collaboration with our industrial partner BAE Systems to investigate techniques of robust natural feature extraction as our adaptive SIFT, or SURF descriptors to characterize and register images based on robust norms estimation of the Homography. The use of such mathematical techniques will help into discarding outliers affecting our individual imaging data. The use of these norms (L1, Linfinity) will also help in optimizing the resolution of the 2D mosaic by taking into account and in a robust manner all possible geometric and photometric transformations that the cooperative video streams are submitted to and in building the 3D video mosaic based on the multiple views obtained from the multiple vehicle platforms to be exploited by the user at the command station.
It is planned, for this study, to have a laboratory mobile robotic setup including onboard vision sensors at the premises of the university to proceed with the validation of developed algorithms and presenting a lab prototype of the system we aim to achieve. It is also planned to use facilities of the company (BAE Systems) to gather more realistic data from the ground vehicles available there and to validate the work proposed on more sophisticated real scenarios.
Entry Requirements: 
For this research studentship, we are seeking a talented graduate, having (or be expected to obtain) at least an upper second class honours degree (first class honours preferred), MSc or equivalent in electrical engineering or computer science. Good mathematical background and experience of signal and Image processing, data fusion and real time systems would be most desirable.
Eligibility: 
We are looking for a UK national student (or a European resident in the UK for last three years) only. The studentship is for three years and provides payment of tuition fees at the UK/EU rate plus a £15,000 to 17,000 per annum (depending on qualification and normally tax free) contribution to living expenses.
Starting date: 2010 (October 2010 is the latest date)
To apply send a CV and a covering letter by email to: Dr Aouf n.aouf[ AT ]cranfield.ac.uk

[UK] Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at University of Cambridge

The Managers of the Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Fund invite applications for a Fellowship in the areas of Astrophysics or Cosmology to be held either in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) or in the Institute of Astronomy (IoA) at the University of Cambridge from 1 October 2010 or otherwise by negotiation. The Fellowship is available for between two and three years.
Eligible Candidate
Applicants must have received, or be close to completion of, a PhD, DPhil, or equivalent doctoral-level research degree. If an applicant has not yet formally received their degree, they must present evidence of having completed the academic requirements before commencing the Fellowship. In compliance with the wishes of Herchel Smith, applications are invited from doctoral or equivalent graduates from any university but normally excepting those who have obtained their PhD, or equivalent, from Harvard or Cambridge Universities.

The Fellowship is only available to early career researchers, defined as those who have no more than three years’ post-doctoral experience. The length of post-doctoral experience should be taken from the date of PhD viva (or equivalent) until the date of Fellowship commencement. Exceptions to this time limit will be made in the case of applicants who have taken a career break (e.g. for maternity leave or compulsory national service). In these cases, brief details about the period of interruption must be provided with your application.
Value of this fellowship
The Fellowship provides an opportunity for independent research, although the holder will usually work in close collaboration with established research groups. Preference will be given to applicants whose work is of interest to both DAMTP and IoA. The stipend will be on the University’s Postdoctoral Research Associate scale which currently is between £27,183 and £35,469 per annum. Appointment will be at an appropriate point on this scale.
Closing date: 31 January 2010.
Further details and an application pack are available from the Secretary to the Fund Managers, Tel. +44 (0)1223 761507, e-mail hsf@admin.cam.ac.uk.
* Limit of tenure: two to three years from the start date.

[German] African Scholarship Exchange Programme 2010

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb) is granting fellowships to students and young graduates enabling them to take part in a four-week seminar to be held from 14th August to 4th September 2010 in Germany and in March 2011 in South Africa.
The fellowship holders are invited to take part in an education programme that will encompass both talks with political decision-makers, personalities from civil society and industry, academics and journalists from both countries and will give participants the opportunity to take part in political and cultural events and excursions. The participants are to contribute towards implementing the programme by assisting in organising lectures and facilitating group discussions. They will also draw up an interdisciplinary strategy paper on an academic subject that will be prepared in Germany and will be written between September 2010 and April 2011.
The event is directed at students and young graduates from Germany, Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Applicants should be between 21 and 28 years old and be studying or have a degree in political science, modern history, international relations, economics, business administration, African studies, cultural studies, media and communication studies or law.

The seminar will be delivered in English; the number of participants is limited to 24, twelve from African countries and twelve from Germany. The Federal Agency for Civic Education will cover the costs. Furthermore, there will be a compulsory preparatory seminar for the German participants in June 2010.
Students and graduates who are interested can apply to the Federal Agency for Civic Education by submitting an essay comprising a maximum of three A4 pages (approx. 6,000 characters) written in English. The essay must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae in tabular form, a letter of motivation comprising no more than one A4 page and a photograph (the following information must be provided: surname, first name, gender, date of birth, profession, job/field of study, place of study, place of work and place of residence).
Applicants must also issue a declaration stating that they wrote the essay without any help from third parties. Please note that the Federal Agency for Civic Education is not able to cover costs for obtaining visas or medical care. The acceptance of African participants to the programme only becomes final, when the German Embassy in the participant’s home country has issued the relevant visa. There is no possibility to legally claim the participation in the programme.
A further condition for receiving a grant is that applicants must be able to participate for the entire period.
Full applications (essay, CV, letter of motivation, photo) must be e-mailed to the Federal Agency for Civic Education at goafrica-at-bpb.de by 15 March 2010.

Contact:
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung
Adenauerallee 86
53113 Bonn
Tel +49 (0)228 99515-0 (Zentrale)
Tel +49 (0)228 99515-115 (Kundenberatung)
Fax +49 (0)228 99515-113
E-Mail: info@bpb.de
# Anfahrtsskizze zur Adenauerallee
For more detailed information about the application process, please visit the website: www.bpb.de/goafrica. Further Scholarship Information (pdf)

[Hong Kong] Overseas Student Scholarships-Lingnan University

Scholarships of HK$120,000 each per academic year will be awarded to successful applicants, covering tuition fee, hostel and other academic and living expenses. Each scholarship is offered on an annual renewable basis and is tenable for a period of up to 3 years, subject to continued outstanding academic performance. In 2009-10, the annual tuition fee is HK$70,000 and the hostel fee is HK$9,000 per year (excluding the summer term). Tuition fee for 2010-11 is HK$80,000 per year. Hostel fee for 2010-11 is under review.
Eligibility

• Students should have attained at a recognised post-secondary institution outside Hong Kong a qualification equivalent to the Admission Requirements of the University and students will be considered on an individual basis.
• Students may be required to gain a minimum of Grade C in English in the GCE O-Level or GCSE Examination or an equivalent public examination; or a TOEFL score of 213 in the computer-based test, or 550 in the paper-based test, or 79 in the internet-based test; or an IELTS overall band score of 5.5.

Selection Criteria
The scholarship will be awarded to a student who has good academic standing and a good track record in community services. For candidates of comparable academic merits, preference will be given to the candidate with better proven records of community services.

Application Procedures
Online Application:
Please complete the Online Application for Direct Admission and upload the completed Application for Overseas Student Scholarships together with relevant documents through the online application system on or before 31 March 2010.Please visit www.LN.edu.hk/admissions/da/intl/f_schship.html for details.
Paper-form Application:
Please submit the completed Application for Overseas Student Scholarships with your Application for Direct Admission form (both available atwww.LN.edu.hk/admissions/da/intl), together with other supporting documents by post to
Admissions Office, 
the Registry,
Lingnan University,
8 Castle Peak Road,
Tuen Mun,
Hong Kong
on or before 27 February 2010. 
Late applications will be considered subject to the availability of places.

[Germany] 29 Scholarships for PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers – University of Hohenheim

The Food Security Center (FSC) is a newly established university center of excellence in development collaboration at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. FSC is one of five excellence centers of the program “exceed – Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperation”, which is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany. FSC’s mission is to make effective and innovative scientific contributions in research, teaching, and policy advice to eradicate hunger and achieve food security in collaboration with partner Higher Education Institutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and national and international development and research organizations. Thematically, FSC’s activities deal with issues of sustainable food availability, food access, food use, and food utilization. More information is available from www.foodsecurity.de.
FSC awards up to 29 scholarships for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers for a period of 4 to 36 months, starting April 15, 2010. The Center wishes to attract outstanding PhD students and postdoctoral fellows pursuing a career in academia or development collaboration. The scholarships aim at increasing their previously gained scientific knowledge and skills relevant to food security related issues. Furthermore, FSC aims at establishing an active, long-lasting collaboration with the supported researchers and their home institutions.
FSC offers three categories of scholarships:

• Sandwich scholarships for PhD students (6 months)
• Research scholarships for visiting postdoctoral researchers (4 months)
• Excellence scholarships for FSC-supported PhD program “Young Excellence School” (36 months)

In category 1 and 2, FSC scholarships will support researchers from developing countries to conduct their research either at the University of Hohenheim (South – North) or at a national or international research institute in a developing country, for instance one of the centers of the CGIAR (South – South). There are few scholarships for students and postdoctoral researchers of the University of Hohenheim to visit a research institute in a developing country (North – South).
The application deadline for all scholarships in category 1 and 2 is January 30, 2010. Selection is carried out on a competitive basis and the decisions will be communicated up to March 16, 2010. Regarding the details of the different scholarships, the application process and the requirements, please consult FSC’s webpage (www.foodsecurity.de ). Please read the information carefully before you apply. Only complete applications will be considered.
In category 3, FSC is supporting excellent PhD students to participate in the FSC-supported PhD program at the University of Hohenheim, mainly students from developing countries, but few scholarships are as well provided to students from Germany. The detailed application information for the scholarships of this category will be posted on FSC’s webpage end of January 2010; the PhD program will start in August 2010.
COntact:
Visiting Address:
Food Security Center
University of Hohenheim
Wollgrasweg 43
70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone :+49 711 45924455
Fax :+49 711 45924456
E-mail :fsc@uni-hohenheim.de