The Marie Curie Fellowships for Early Stage Training in the field of Gender and Women's Studies allows early stage researchers access to a training programme offered by a network of seven universities in different European countries. The partner institutions, with proven record of high expertise in gender research and education, will jointly train and exchange junior PhD students. The Marie Curie Early Stage Training Scheme is designed to encourage international mobility and therefore carries an enhanced salary/stipend package.

The partner institutions include:

- University of Bologna (Prof. Vita Fortunati),

- Cornelia Goethe Centrum in Frankfurt am Main (Dr. Ulla Wischermann),

- University of Hull (Prof. Gabriele Griffin),

- Linköping University (Prof. Nina Lykke),

- Ljubljana Graduate School in Humanities (Prof. Svetlana Slapsak),

- University of Lodz (Prof. Elzbieta Oleksy),

- Utrecht University (Prof. Rosi Braidotti)

The training structure is a core curriculum of structured courses, some jointly taught by the partners, offered at Utrecht University. The language of instruction will be English. Furthermore, each partner university will also provide training and supervision.

The Gender Studies Department of Utrecht University co-ordinates the Marie Curie Fellowships for Early Stage Training in the field of Gender and Women's Studies. Within this Marie Curie Consortium there is currently one PhD fellowship available for 36 months at Utrecht University (the Netherlands). The preferred commencement of the fellowship is September 1st or October 1st 2005. PhD candidates for the 36 months-fellowships are offered the opportunity to follow a high-level doctoral training, including a course package and opportunity to prepare a dissertation with a professor from Utrecht university.

The fellowships are for beginning PhD students and not open to post-PhD researchers. We envisage projects in the field of gender and the humanities, with special emphasis on cultural studies in the areas of ethnicity, subjectivity, sexuality in the arts and/or technology and the media. We are looking for candidates with a strong interdisciplinary profile and expertise with both the analysis of texts and artifacts, empirical work and interviews and with theoretical discussions. The students apart from being trained in the field of feminist and/or post-colonial studies should preferably have an academic background in literature, art history, music, film, media studies, social work, anthropology, ethnography and/or philosophy.

GRANTS:

The fellowship covers: living, mobility, travel and career exploratory allowances according to the EU standards. However, medical health insurance is not included in the grant although some EU countries provide this automatically.

REQUIREMENTS CANDIDATES:

Each eligible researcher must simultaneously fulfill the following criteria:

· Nationality: The nationality of the researcher should be other than Dutch. Furthermore: The researcher must be a national of a Member State of the European Community, of an Associated State or a third country if legal residence/main activity has been in a Member State or Associated State for at least 4 years out of the 5 years prior to the appointment. In that case the researcher will be considered a national of the state in which s/he has resided for the longest period.

· Mobility: The nationality of the fellow must be different from the country in which the host university is located. In the case of holding dual nationality, the researcher will be able to be hosted by the university from the country of her/his nationality provided s/he has not resided there during the last 5 years.

· Qualifications: Candidates applying for this fellowship should have a MA degree (or an equivalent of a MA degree) from a university. The degree must demonstrate a clearly identifiable interest in Gender and Women's Studies, as evidenced in a minimum of 45 ECTS in this field of study. Candidates should have demonstrable knowledge of the main types of research questions and methods in the field of Gender and Women's Studies as well as a working knowledge of the basic concepts used in the discipline; have demonstrable research qualities and above average scores; be highly motivated to do academic research. A good knowledge of English is required. The researcher is within the first 4 years (full-time equivalent) of her/his research activity (including training) since gaining a university degree (or equivalent institution of higher education) giving access to doctoral studies in the country in which the degree was obtained. The degree/s already obtained must entitle the holder to embark on doctoral studies without having to acquire any further qualifications. Researchers who have already obtained a doctoral degree are not eligible.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, we kindly urge you to contact the Marie Curie office in Utrecht before submitting your full application.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES:

Applications, in English, must include:

- The application form completed in all sections;

- A motivation letter in which the applicant explains clearly his/her

academic and personal reasons for entering the programme;

- A brief curriculum vitae, including language skills, and any publications;

- An outline of a proposal for a PhD project (max. 4 pages). This should be accompanied by a brief abstract;

- A copy of the student's previous academic record (courses) and diplomas.

If necessary, the candidate must provide a translation into English. This need not be an official translation;

- A copy of one or more written assignments, possibly in English, which may be relevant for admission to the programme;

- A photocopy of the candidates passport;

- Two sealed letters of recommendation with the referees full address.

DEADLINE:

The application form, motivation letter, CV and PhD proposal should be sent before August 12th 2005 as an email attachment (Word format) to the Utrecht office: gendergraduates@let.uu.nl A hard copy of all the documents should arrive by registered mail on August 12th 2005 at the latest at the Utrecht office:

Utrecht University

Marie Curie GenderGraduates Programme

Muntstraat 2A

3512 EV Utrecht

The Netherlands

The application form be can found on the website.

INFORMATION:

http://www.gendergraduates.org

gendergraduates@let.uu.nl