FAQs

I'm already working as a PhD student with an ELLIS Fellow/Scholar and want to become an ELLIS student. Can I apply to the program through the central recruiting process?

No, the central recruiting process is only for students looking to start a PhD with an ELLIS Fellow/Scholar. If you are already working as a PhD student with an ELLIS Fellow/Scholar, you may join the ELLIS PhD and Postdoc Program via nomination (see ellis.eu/phd-postdoc, "How to join ELLIS as a PhD or postdoc", option "2. Nomination" for the requirements).

application requirements

I'm already working as a PhD student with an ELLIS Member and want to become an ELLIS student. Can I apply to the program through the central recruiting process?

No, the central recruiting process is only for students looking to start a PhD with an ELLIS Fellow/Scholar. If you are already working as a PhD student with an ELLIS Member and want to initiate a collaboration with an ELLIS Fellow/Scholar as co-supervisor, you may join the ELLIS PhD and Postdoc Program via nomination (see ellis.eu/phd-postdoc, "How to join ELLIS as a PhD or postdoc", option "2. Nomination" for the requirements). Note that if your primary advisor is an ELLIS Member, your co-supervisor must be an ELLIS Fellow or Scholar. Both advisors must agree to the nomination.

application requirements

The Fellow/Scholar I want to work with is not in the list of PhD Advisors in the application portal.

Only Fellows/Scholars who are recruiting in this year's round are listed. The list of ELLIS Fellows/Scholars who are recruiting in this year's round is available in the application portal.

advisors

An ELLIS PhD student is jointly supervised by two ELLIS Fellows/Scholars from different countries (or 1 Fellow/Scholar and 1 member). Is the research stay at the exchange institution mandatory?

Yes, it is.

application requirements exchange

Are professional references accepted or should they come from someone working in academia?

Professional references are fine, as long as the referee can comment on your academic/research abilities (e.g. referees from industrial research labs).

references

Do the English translations of the transcripts need to be certified?

No, we don't require certified translations at the stage of application. You may upload your own translation, but please add your signature to certify correctness.

certificates translation

Do I need to be a European citizen to apply?

No, the ELLIS PhD and Postdoc Program welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of nationality.

nationality international applicants

Will I get an ELLIS degree?

ELLIS is a non-profit organisation that cannot award official degrees. The ELLIS PhD Program is a meta program on top of existing graduate programs. The student will enrol as a student or be employed at a degree-granting institution (typically the university your main supervisor is affiliated to) and must comply with all the regulations and fulfil all the requirements of the host institution.

degree host institution

Do I need to apply to the university that the main advisor is affiliated to?

It depends on what the rules of the host institution are. In brief: ELLIS offers an EU-wide central application portal and coordinates the matching process, but the official hiring process is local, governed by the institution of your main advisor.

If you are not yet working as a PhD student with an ELLIS Fellow or Scholar, but are a new student who wants to apply for a PhD as part of the ELLIS PhD Program, you would typically first apply through the ELLIS portal (but see below for important exceptions).

Each year, ELLIS Fellows and Scholars may sign up to recruit new PhD students through the centralized recruiting of the ELLIS PhD program. Students may select preferences for various advisors from the list of recruiting ELLIS Fellows and Scholars. Students and potential advisors are matched and the best students will be invited for interviews. If the student gets an offer, the student and two supervisors will sign a letter of intent which specifies the plans for funding, graduation and the exchange. However, ELLIS does not provide funding (except for smaller travel grants) nor does it award degrees. The ELLIS PhD Program is a meta program on top of existing graduate programs. I.e., you will be funded through your advisors' resources and the degree will come from a university. This means that all the official paperwork goes through the institution of your main advisor and you have to comply with all their rules. Consequently, new students must be accepted to the degree granting university in addition to being accepted as an ELLIS student (i.e., the acceptance to the ELLIS PhD program is a conditional accept).

After you accept the offer to become an ELLIS PhD student, you should ask your advisor which steps you have to take to become a student/an employee at the degree-granting institution (e.g. submitting documents, applying to the local doctoral school, etc.). Rules may vary depending on the institution.

*IMPORTANT* Some universities (e.g. University of Oxford) do not accept graduate students throughout the year, but have strict deadlines for applying to their graduate programs, which may be earlier than the ELLIS deadline. In this case, you should not wait until the ELLIS selection procedure has ended, but apply in parallel if you don't want to wait for the next deadline to enroll as a PhD should you get an ELLIS offer. If unsure, visit the website of the university or contact your preferred advisor. It's safest to apply to both programs in parallel to avoid any delays in the starting date of your contract.

host institution

If I am accepted as an ELLIS student, how exactly will my PhD be funded?

ELLIS does not employ or fund PhD students (except from providing smaller travel grants). If you get an offer, you will be funded through your advisors’ resources. After accepting the offer, the student and the two advisors will sign a letter of intent which specifies the funding plan (among other things). The ELLIS Team cannot give you any details about the amount of funding beforehand because it may differ from country to country and from advisor to advisor. You can ask for more details during the interview. Only ELLIS Fellows/Scholars who have open positions are listed in the application portal.

funding

Who will fund the exchange?

The details of the funding arrangement will be specified in the letter of intent, which the student and the two advisors sign. It’s up to the advisors to decide the split and determine who will fund the student for which period of time.

funding exchange

I haven’t finished my BSc/MSc degree yet. Can I apply?

Final-year students can apply.

application requirements degree

Can I apply if I don’t have a MSc degree?

Rules in Europe vary. Some participating universities require a MSc, others accept BSc students as well (sometimes under specific conditions). You will find this information in the portal if you click on the list of this year's recruiting advisors (this list can also be pre-viewed from the Call of Applications in the 'News' tab).

application requirements degree

Are publications mandatory?

Publications are not mandatory, but may strengthen your application.

application requirements publications

Can I ask a postdoc to submit a reference letter?

The referees should know you well, both academically and personally. At least two of the referees should be professionally established at the level of independent investigator, principal scientist, group leader, lecturer or above. A maximum of one reference may come from a postdoc. References from PhD students or class mates are not accepted.

application requirements references

Can I ask a PhD student or classmate to submit a reference letter?

No, references from PhD students or classmates are not accepted.

application requirements references

Do I have to pay an application fee?

The ELLIS Society does not incur a handling fee for processing your application to the central application portal.

application fee

I want to apply to the ELLIS PhD Program via the central application portal. Should I contact a potential advisor beforehand to enquire about possibilities?

It's not advisable to contact advisors beforehand as this would only create more overhead for the advisors. The list of recruiting advisors can be found in the portal. In the portal, you can indicate your preferences for specific advisors. You can select up to 10 advisors from the list.

advisors

Interview matching: How were applicants matched? Why haven’t I been selected for an interview?

ELLIS received an overwhelming number of applications, which is why selection is already highly competitive at the interview stage. Advisors have been matched to the candidates that they believe most closely match their requirements for doing a PhD with them. Unfortunately, not all promising candidates could be matched for the so-called ‘mandatory’ interviews advisors are asked to conduct, mainly because of limited interviewing capacity. That is, some advisors received hundreds of applications, often with only a couple of spots to interview.

In general, we tried to distribute the top applicants so they get a chance to talk to at least one and up to three of their preferred advisors, while at the same time ensuring that advisors get to talk to the students they ranked highest in their priority list. Note that in the 20/21 call, only 18% of registered applicants were matched for at least 1 mandatory interview; only 8% for two or more. Advisors may still invite additional applicants beyond their mandatory list of interviews, if they have interview spots left.

Overview of the reviewing process:
- 1,339 registered applicants pre-screened by the ELLIS administration
- 850 eligible candidates released to faculty and their assessors for further review (every application is reviewed by multiple experts)
- 238 candidates invited for at least 1 mandatory interview with one of the participating advisors

matching interviews

Interview matching: I have been matched with an ELLIS fellow/scholar for interviews. Who will be the co-supervisor?

Applicants have been matched for mandatory interviews with advisors who are also recruiting as main advisors (though in some cases they may only want to co-supervise). With an ELLIS fellow/scholar as main advisor, your co-supervisor can be any ELLIS fellow/scholar or member from a **different country** who agrees to host you (see ellis.eu/members for the full list of eligible co-supervisors). This year, the process of finding a co-supervisor is done in an informal fashion and not yet integrated into the system (we will change this in future recruitment rounds). You may suggest potential co-supervisors during your interview with the fellow/scholar or perhaps the fellow/scholar has already some suggestions for potential collaborations. In the end, you decide on a co-supervisor together with the main advisor.

matching interviews co-supervisor

Interview matching: I have been matched, but not to Advisor X and Y I mentioned in my application. Can I follow up with them to see if they are interested?

Before sending emails to any advisors, consider that advisors receive a high volume of emails every day, and cannot reply or provide feedback to every student individually. Advisors have been able to review and score your application in the portal. They have ranked the top candidates to invite, and have limited capacity to interview. Some advisors have received hundreds of applications for only a couple of interview spots. They may conduct additional interviews beyond their 'mandatory' matches, but this is up to them to decide. At the same time this also means that advisors you have been matched with have indicated a strong interest to invite you.

interviews matching advisor preferences

Admission: Does signing the Letter of Intent mean I am accepted to the ELLIS PhD Program?

It means you are *conditionally* accepted to become an ELLIS PhD student. As a meta PhD program, the ELLIS PhD program does not employ students nor grant degrees. Consequently, new students must be accepted to the degree-granting university in addition to being accepted as ELLIS students. In other words: the acceptance to the ELLIS PhD program (via the Letter of Intent) is a conditional accept, and can only be finalized once you are officially accepted at the degree-granting institution (this can of course be *after* the conditional acceptance to the ELLIS program). If the student is not accepted at the university, the offer to become an ‘ELLIS PhD Student’ is cancelled.

admission requirements letter of intent degree-granting institution