Admission Criteria

Candidate selection is responsibility of the SETS Joint Admission Committee in which all the consortium partners are represented.

This section describes the SETS selection procedure and candidate admission criteria.

Candidate selection

The selection procedure comprises a candidate selection and classification and the final selection of students, considering the preferences of the research line leaders. The procedure is arranged in the following steps:

The candidates submit their applications.

Each candidate submits his/her application form and all the documentation that is required to comply with the admission criteria (see Admission Criteria section).

Candidates must provide their preferences regarding, on the one hand, priority research lines and, on the order hand, reserve research lines. Each candidate can select and rank as many priority research lines and reserve research lines as they are interested in. At least one priority research line must be chosen.

The Joint Admission Committee obtains the eligible candidate list.

Candidates are selected and ranked in a short list (hereinafter eligible candidate list) according to the candidates evaluation criteria.

The leaders of the research lines select their candidates from the eligible candidate list.

Research project leaders select their candidates from the eligible candidate list. They can select and sort as many candidates as they are interested in.

The Joint Admission Committee assigns the candidates to research lines

The Joint Admission Committee sorts the research lines. Research lines will be ranked from the most demanded to the least demanded as first option by the eligible candidates, and so forth. In any case, priority research lines will be on top of the list.

Finally, candidates are assigned to research lines according with the leaders preferences and the constrains regarding the number of Category A and B students. The assignment procedure will start with the highest ranked research line and will finish with the lowest ranked research line.

The results are submitted to the Erasmus Mundus Executive Agency for final approval
The final resolution is communicated to the candidates, whether if they are granted with the Erasmus Mundus Fellowship, if they are in the Reserve list, or if they are not selected.

Admission criteria

The selection criteria are defined in keeping with the admission requirements in place in the HEIs awarding the joint degree, while at the same time considering the differences in students’ university systems of origin. The criteria cover previous studies and language skills.

Previous studies

The criteria on previous studies include:

Candidates must have earned the equivalent of 300 ECTS credits, including at least 60 in a master’s degree or equivalent.
Candidates must hold a degree in engineering.

Student selection will be based on an evaluation of their academic studies, among others. In this regard, the consortium will require students to submit a transcript. The minimum admission requirements will be a master’s (or equivalent) grade point average (GPA) of at least 75 % of the highest grade and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores of at least 450 in verbal reasoning, 4.1 in analytical writing skills, and 700 in quantitative reasoning.

Language skills

Verification of applicants’ language skills is believed to be of cardinal importance. Students must prove that they have a sufficient command of the English language. They will therefore be required to pass the DIALANG European test (http://www.dialang.org/), which is free of charge. Students last university will be asked to organize the examination, to ensure it is held under controlled conditions.

All this requires is a network connection and a professor able to verify applicants’ identity and the test scores. Where the test cannot be organised at applicants’ last university, the consortium will make arrangements for them to write the exam at their embassy or consulate. The consortium has established level B2 as the minimum for admission. Students may forego this exam if they submit official proof of a similar level of command of the language, for instance: English Proficiency Certificate, a minimum score of 6.5 IELTS or 80 IBT TOEFL (or equivalent).

IMPORTANT: The Joint Admissions Committee will decide whether deviation from one or more of the above selection criteria is justified on a case-by-case basis. Exceptional circumstances may result in conditional admission, in which case final admission and enrolment will be subject to meeting the condition(s).

Erasmus Mundus Fellowship constraints

Eligibility constraints

Individual EMJD fellowships are awarded exclusively for full-time enrolment in one of the doctoral programmes.
Individuals who have already benefited from an EMJD fellowship are not eligible for a second grant.
Doctoral candidates benefiting from an EMJD fellowship cannot benefit from other Community grants while carrying out their Erasmus Mundus doctoral activities.
Only candidates who have applied to and have been accepted by an EMJD consortium in accordance with its specific doctoral candidate’s application and selection criteria are eligible for a fellowship.
Candidates can not apply to more than 3 EMJD the same year.

Doctoral candidates holding an Erasmus Mundus fellowship must:

Commit to participate in the doctoral programme in accordance with the terms defined by the consortium in the Doctoral candidate agreement. Failure to do so could lead to the cancellation of the fellowship;
Perform their training/research periods in at least two different countries represented in the consortium; for Category B fellowship holders, these two countries must be different from the country in which the doctoral candidate has obtained his/her last university degree;
Spend most of the doctorate period in the European countries represented in the consortium or among the associated partners. However, if the EMJD consortium includes Third-Country partners and/or associated members:

Category A fellowship holders can spend a training/research/ fieldwork period of a maximum duration of one semester (or 6 months, cumulative or consecutive) in these countries; periods in excess of this duration may not be covered by the EMJD fellowship;
Category B fellowship holders can spend up to one year (cumulative or consecutive) of their doctorate activities in these countries; periods in excess of this duration may not be covered by the EMJD fellowship.

Without prejudice to high academic standards, in order to ensure geographical diversity among the doctoral candidates, no more than two doctoral candidates with the same nationality should be awarded an EMJD fellowship. If consortia wish to diverge from this criterion, prior permission to do so must be obtained from the Agency.

Application

The consortium will require each applicant to submit

An online application form
A motivation statement (included in the online application form)
Two recommendation forms from referees from his/her university (submitted online, according to contact information provided by the candidate in the online application form)
Photocopies of passport or Identification Cards
Certified Photocopies of University Diplomas (in English)
Certified Photocopies of Transcripts (in English)
Certified Photocopies of English Certificate (in English)
Document proving any other funding (the document must state the name of the payer or awarding authority, and the value of the award)

The aforementioned documents must be submitted to COMILLAS to the following address, after completing and signing the printout of the online application form:

SETS Joint Doctorate

ETS de Ingeniería ICAI, Universidad Pontificia Comillas,

c/ Alberto Aguilera 23

28015 Madrid, Spain.

Deadline CLOSED for SETS applicants requesting an Erasmus Mundus Doctoral Contract Fellowship 2010 in February 7th 2010.

Next call will open by the end of Autum 2010

Evaluation

A Joint Admissions Committee will classify candidates pursuant to the following criteria:

Academic record (50 %)
Curriculum vitae (40 %)
Letters of motivation and recommendation forms (10 %)

All HEIs will be represented on this committee. Candidate evaluation in accordance with the selection criteria will be governed by the General Principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, i.e., transparency, merits, non-discrimination, recognition of mobility experience, recognition of qualifications, and the pattern of lifelong professional development.

In the initial screening, a video-conference conversation with candidates may be required to verify their motivations and the consistency of their project. The Joint Admissions Committee will draw up a final list of students admitted after this interview.