ELLIS PhD Program: Call for Applications

The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems offers an interdisciplinary PhD program. The ELLIS PhD program is a key element of the ELLIS initiative and its goal is to foster and educate the best talent in machine learning related research areas by pairing outstanding students with leading academic and industrial researchers in Europe. The program offers a variety of networking and training activities, including boot camps, summer schools and workshops of the ELLIS programs. Every PhD student is supervised by one ELLIS fellow/scholar and one ELLIS fellow/scholar/member from a different country and visits the partner institution for min. 6 months. 

Research areas include (but are not limited to) the following ML driven research areas:

• Machine Learning Algorithms
• Machine Learning Theory
• Optimization
• Deep Learning
• Interactive and Online Learning
• Reinforcement Learning and Control
• Computer Vision
• Computer Graphics
• Robotics
• Human Computer Interaction
• Natural Language Processing
• Causality
• Interpretability and Fairness
• Robust and Trustworthy ML
• Quantum and Physics based ML
• Symbolic Machine Learning 
• Computational Neuroscience
• Earth and Climate Sciences
• Bioinformatics
• Health

Interested candidates should apply online through our application portal:

• Application deadline: December 1st, 2020, 23:59 CEST
• Timeline of the selection procedure: review/matching (December 2020 - January 2021), interviews (February 2021), decisions (March 2021)

Please note that only students who are not yet working as a PhD with an ELLIS fellow/scholar/member can apply through the central recruiting process (but see PhD Program, option 2 "nomination", for PhD students already working with an ELLIS fellow/scholar member).

ELLIS seeks to increase diversity and the number of women in areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply. We are also committed to recruiting more people living with disabilities and strongly encourage them to apply.

Additional information

As part of the application procedure, you will be able to indicate preferences for specific research areas and potential supervisors who are currently hiring. The list of ELLIS fellows/scholars who are recruiting this year and their research areas is available in the application portal.

You will also be asked to provide contact details of 2 to 3 references who have agreed to submit a reference letter within the application deadline. Additionally, you will need to upload the following documents:

• A two-page motivational letter in which you (1) explain why you want to earn a Ph.D. within the ELLIS network and (2) include a research statement describing past research projects and interests as well as the future direction of your research. (Optional: In addition to (1) and (2), you may also mention specific advisors you are interested in working with.)
• Your current résumé or CV that provides your educational background, work experience, full citations of any publications you may have, any research presentations you have given, and any awards you have received.
• Unofficial transcripts of all of your university studies (BSc and MSc), as well as a translation into English.
• Optionally, additional documents such as a thesis, published paper, or project portfolio, (or parts thereof) as a single PDF (<20 MB).

All application documents (including reference letters*) must be submitted before the application deadline. Only complete applications will be considered.

(*While referees are strongly encouraged to submit reference letters before the application deadline, we understand this is not always possible. Please note that we will not desk reject the student if the reference letters have not been submitted yet on December 1st. However, all other forms and documents must be completed for the application to be passed on to the reviewers. It's in the student's best interest to submit the reference as soon as possible, as reviewing will start on December 5.)

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