Call for Applications – AURORA Funding opportunities

Press release – 7 November 2013

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

FUNDED POSITIONS FOR CITIZENS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TARTU, ESTONIA

(download as .pdf)

Invitation to apply for grants offered by the AURORA consortium financed by the European Union within Erasmus Mundus Programme

This call is meant for Russian students, university graduates, and researchers and academics who

  • want obtain an MA or Ph.D. degree at the University of Tartu, OR
  • wish to become postdoctoral fellows at the same institution, OR
  • wish to spend 1-3 months at the University of Tartu as visiting scholars.

This call targets students and academics working in the areas of: Political Science, International relations, European Studies, Russian Studies, and Baltic Sea Region Studies. Ph.D. and postdoc opportunities may also be available in Law, Economics and History (provided that there is a match between the proposed research project and available supervising capacity).

AURORA is a new EU-supported programme that funds student and scholar mobility between universities in the EU and Russia. The programme is coordinated by the University of Turku (Finland). It has a number of participating partner universities, including the University of Tartu.

One of the AURORA schemes provides grants to Russian students, university graduates and scholars who would like to pursue degrees or conduct research at designated European partner universities.

The value and duration of grants is as follows:

  • MA students: 1 semester to 24 months, value of grant: 1000 EUR per month
  • Ph.D students: 6-36 months, value of grant: 1500 EUR per month.
  • Postdoctoral fellows: 6-10 months, value of grants: 1800 EUR per month.
  • Staff of Russian universities: 1-3 months, value of grants: 2500 EUR per month.

In addition, the programme covers travel, visa and insurance costs for successful applicants.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS to the AURORA programme is December 11, 2013.

For information on how to apply, see here
For info on WHO can apply, see here
Aurora programme webpage

 

UNIVERSITY OF TARTU (www.ut.ee) is one of the partner universities in the AURORA programme. Founded in 1632, the UT is the leading higher education and research centre in the Baltic region. The UT offers 70 bachelor, 80 master and 35 doctoral study programmes. The total number of students is close to 18,000 (including over 650 international students and over 1400 doctoral students). Ranked among the top 400 universities of the world, the UT was recently singled out in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011-2012 as one of Eastern Europe’s “most promising candidates to achieve world-class status.”

The Centre for EU-Russia Studies (http://ceurus.ut.ee) at the University of Tartu coordinates a range of activities related the study of EU-Russia relations. The Centre is interested in using the opportunities provided by the AURORA programme to attract academically excellent, highly motivated Russian MA and Ph.D students, postdoctoral fellows and scholars to Tartu.

MA PROGRAMMES

We welcome Russian students to two English-language MA programmes:

• EU-Russian Studies MA programme
For more information, contact Oliivia Võrk (oliivia.vork@ut.ee)

• Baltic Sea Region Studies MA programme
For more information, contact Dr. Heiko Pääbo (heiko.paabo@ut.ee)

The AURORA programme offers grants that cover the entire duration of an MA programme (1000 EUR per month, maximum duration: 2 years).

Ph.D PROGRAMME

We welcome prospective students to the Ph.D. programme in Political Science which is conducted entirely in English. Depending on the research topic, there may be possibilities to enroll in Ph.D. programmes in Law, Economics, or History as well.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to send their CV and brief (1-2 pages) outline of a possible dissertation topic to Dr. Eva-Clarita Pettai (ecpettai[at]ut.ee). They are also encouraged to take a look at faculty members’ research profiles (http://ceurus.ut.ee/home/people/associated-scholars) in order to identify potential supervisors. Selected applicants will be encouraged to submit full applications to the AURORA programme, which funds Ph.D studies for up to three years (value of grants: 1500 EUR per month). The nominal duration of the programme is four years.

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS

The Institute of Government and Politics, together with the Centre for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS), seek to attract highly qualified post-doctoral fellows from the Russian Federation. Research topics related to EU-Russia relations, Russian domestic and foreign policy, and EU politics and external relations are particularly welcome (however, other topics will be considered).

Prospective applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with faculty members’ research profiles, and send their CV, together with a 2-page outline of a proposed research project, to Dr Heiko Pääbo (heiko.paabo[at]ut.ee) as well as the prospective supervisor. Selected applicants will receive the UT’s endorsement (and assistance) to apply for support from the AURORA programme (grant value: 1800 EUR per month, duration 6-10 months).

SHORT-TERM VISITS BY RUSSIAN ACADEMICS TO THE UT

The UT welcomes expressions of interest from Russian academics who would like to spend 1-3 months at Tartu (the visitors could be affiliated with CEURUS, the Institute of Government and Politics, or another UT Institute/Faculty, depending on area of specialization). Before applying to the AURORA programme, applicants are encouraged to send their CV and a brief description of proposed activities in Tartu (research project, or outline of short courses they could teach) to Dr. Heiko Pääbo (heiko.paabo@ut.ee). The UT will provide letters of endorsement to selected applicants.

*** Please note that applications must be submitted to the AURORA programme, not the University of Tartu. The purpose of contacting UT staff is to determine suitability and mutual interest. Please contact UT staff well before the application deadline!***