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Program terms

PSL and Biogen are offering a doctoral program in partnership with the objective of creating a community of young, researchers with the hight-level research and innovation skills in the biotechnology and neuroscience area.

This partnership plans to provide scientific and financial support over a three-year period to doctoral students who have been selected by a scientific committee composed of Biogen representatives and PSL institutions.

The dissertation will be directed by a PSL researcher and co-supervised by a scientist from Biogen USA. The dissertation subject must therefore correspond to a double expertise of the PSL and Biogen researchers.

Theme of the call – Third edition

The proposed dissertation topics need to come under the general umbrella of the neurosciences, including deep learning and the data sciences, and have potential implications for neurodegenerative, demyelinating and genetic diseases.

Any scientific approach will be considered: molecular, cellular, in vivo/in vitro, in animals or humans.

The projects can lie at the interface between the neurosciences, including the cognitive sciences, and other disciplines such as physics, chemistry, information technology, mathematics and nanotechnology.

The call covers the areas of basic to applied research, including methodological developments and technological innovations in the study of the nervous system.

A direct biomedical purpose is not mandatory, but only dissertation subjects likely to correspond to a research problem common to Biogen and PSL may be selected.

Eligibility criteria

For the applications from PSL teams:

• PSL dissertation adviser: any researcher (HDR) assigned to a PSL unit or laboratory, who will be able to enroll their doctoral student in a PSL co-accredited doctoral school.
• Student: any student with a Master's degree or equivalent at the beginning of the 2020/2021 academic year.

For applications from Biogen USA:

• Student: any US Biogen employee with a Master's degree at the beginning of the academic year.

Program conditions

The successful candidates of the Program will have to keep in regular contacts with their PhD adviser and Biogen supervisor. Every year, they will participate in scientific trips to the United States to meet Biogen USA teams, or to France to meet PSL Laboratories teams. In addition, a joint symposium will be held every year in Paris.  
 
Biogen will finance the doctoral contracts of the PSL students in CIFRE format and the costs of organizing the symposium, as well as the laboratory and mission costs of the doctoral candidates and their supervisors.

Selection procedure

Pre-selection of topics

For the applications from PSL teams:
Teams must send by e-mail no later than Monday, February 24, 2020 only to the following address biogen@psl.eu the following information:

• A half-page to one-page document presenting the doctoral project
• Composition of the team
• List of 5 recent publications of the team
• Name of the PSL dissertation adviser
• Name of the attached doctoral school (co-accredited by PSL)

Only one application per team will be accepted.

For applications from Biogen USA:
Applicants must send by e-mail no later than Monday, February 24, 2020 to the following address biogen@psl.eu the following information:

• A half-page to one-page document presenting the doctoral project
• The name of their supervisor at Biogen

A pre-selection of projects will be made on the basis of an application package.
Project leaders will be informed of the results of the pre-selection in March.

Identification and exchange phase (April - May)

For pre-selected projects from PSL institutions, a step of identifying candidate students and competent supervisors on the subject at Biogen will be necessary.
At the same time, PSL researchers likely to supervise the dissertations of the pre-selected Biogen candidates will be contacted in order to identify the dissertation adviser of the project.

Once the three-way partnerships have been formed, a time for exchange is planned in order to bring the project to fruition in partnership between the researchers from PSL and Biogen.

Hearing of pre-selected candidates and selection of successful candidates

Applications must be submitted no later than May 11 (form to be completed).

The student candidates will be auditioned by the Scientific Committee at the beginning of June.