The Sustainable Water Management (SWM) doctoral training programme, WATER4ALL, brings together complementary expertise of a diverse group of researchers from four leading universities in Türkiye to offer unique interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international research and training opportunities for 20 highly competitive Doctoral Candidates (DCs).
First contact the main supervisor you consider applying for, please. All applications must be submitted using the online portal. Recent applications will be taken into consideration during the evaluation process!
Call Opening: 15 March 2024
Application Deadline: 15 June 2024
With this call, 20 successful applicants will begin their doctoral programme at the start of the academic year 2024-2025, i.e. October 2024.
Necessary documents for application:
1. BS Diploma (and its official English translation if not in English language)
2. MS Diploma (and its official English translation if not in English language)
3. BS Transcript of records (and its official English translation if not in English language)
4. MS Transcript of records (and its official English translation if not in English language)
5. GRE score sheet
6. English language test score sheet (official result documentation from TOEFL, Cambridge C2 or PTE)
7. Reference Letters (3 official reference letters from 3 sources)
Doctoral candidates (DCs) will be recruited for 48- months on a fixed employment contract.
Living and mobility allowance: gross salary of €2.800/month for 48 months; covering DCs’ all expenses linked to their living and mobility (i.e. income tax, social security coverage including benefits for health care, occupational accident, unemployment and disablement benefits, paid parental and sick leave as well as relocation and travel expenses including secondment visits). Please note that all these expenses based on Turkish laws and regulations can reach up to 50% of total gross salary. In general, DCs’ monthly net salary is calculated as below;
Net salary = Gross salary (€2800 * exchange rate of Euro to Turkish Lira) – Total deductions (Social Security Premium Employee’s Share (including Unemployment Insurance) + Income Tax + Stamp Tax+ Social Security Premium Employer’s Allocation (including Unemployment Insurance).
According to Turkish income tax regulations (summarized below) a DC may be paid approximately a net salary of €1450 to €1750 per month depending on the amount of taxable income
Income Tax (Cumulative) (2024) Up to 110.000 TL / Tax Rate %15
Income Tax (Cumulative) (2024) Between 110.001 TL and 230.000 TL in excess / Tax Rate %20
Income Tax (Cumulative) (2024) Between 230.001 TL and 870.000 TL in excess / Tax Rate %27
Income Tax (Cumulative) (2024) Between 870.000 TL and 3.000.000 TL in excess / Tax Rate %35
Over 3.000.000 TL in excess / Tax Rate %40
Citizens of all nationalities can apply as long as they satisfy the following eligibility conditions:
1st step: Eligibility check
After the Calls’ deadline all submitted applications will be checked for eligibility.
2nd step: Peer review evaluation + Ethics check
The Project Manager assisted by the Recruitment Committe will assign all eligible and admissible applications to peer review panels based on applicant’s selected Ph.D projects. Each External Peer-Review Panel will evaluate the applications (online) using the evaluation criteria (CV, transcripts, GPA, letter of intent, reference letters, extra-curricular activities, etc.) and weightings as listed. The top 40 (2x20 Doctoral Candidates) will be formally invited via e-mail by the Project Coordinator to progress to the interview phase.
3rd step: Interview Panel
40 interviews will be conducted in English and applicants will be asked to present themselves, their latest achievements, their main motivation for applying. During the interview, competencies apart from scientific skills such as communication skills, creativity, time management, self-career management, analytical and critical thinking will be evaluated. Independent observers will also be appointed by the Recruitment Committe to observe the fair and transparent conduct of each interview and report on this (one observer per panel). Each interview panel will provide a written feedback in the form of a report for each interviewed candidate.
4th step: Funding decision
Applicants will be first listed according to their total scores by the Recruitment Committe. Ranking will be made based on the results of the peer review stage and interview panel. After the formal approval, the top 20 candidates will be offered a contract and enrolled in a PhD course at the chosen host institution.
Full time contract (48 months)
Living and mobility allowance: A monthly gross salary of 2800 Euro for 48 months,covering living and mobility allowances will be offered to Doctoral Candidates. Expenses such as income tax, social security coverage including benefits for health care, occupational accident, unemployment and disablement benefits, paid parental and sick leave as well as relocation and travel expenses can constitute 50% of total gross salary depending on cumulative income in related year. The estimated monthly costs for a single person are approximately 500€ without rent. Please check application guide for details of Turkish tax system, net salary calculation and living conditions in Türkiye.
Travel allowance: Water4All DCs will receive €50/month for 48 months for travel allowance. The funding will be managed by the project management team in coordination with project supervisors.
Research and training allowance: DCs will receive additional financial support to cover research related costs such as laboratory analyses and consumables. The funding will be managed by the project management team in coordination with project supervisors.
Working Conditions: Water4All DCs will