Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) JSMC Recruitment - Content A. Application deadlines for EU-nationals and non-EU-nationals A. 1.

. What are the application deadlines for the JSMC PhD Fellowships? A. 2. Why are there two different application deadlines? A.3. Can I apply by submitting the Statement of Interest form without already having a visa to enter Germany? A. 4. Can I submit the Statement of Interest after deadline_1 if I am not an EU national? B. Where to direct questions / application materials B.1. To which address do I have to send the completed Statement of Interest form? B.2. Whom do I ask if I have a question on the application procedure or a general question on the JSMC Fellowships? B.3. Can I contact the supervisors of the PhD projects currently offered (Vacant Projects) with my questions? C. Filling in the Statement of Interest form C.1. Where can I download the Statement of Interest form? C.2. How do I submit the Statement of Interest form to the JSMC? C.3. Can I submit supplementary material in addition to the Statement of Interest form? C.4. What can I do if my personal bibliographic and academic information does not fit with the entry fields in the Statement of Interest form? C.5. How can I increase my chances to successfully pass the first level of the JSMC selection process (Statement of Interest)? C.6. What do I fill in the JSMC Projects of Interest section? C.7. Does it increase my chances if I enter three projects in the JSMC Projects of Interest section rather than one? C.8. How long should the Cover Letter be? C.9. Can I submit more than one Statement of Interest? D. JSMC Recruitment / The 4-level selection procedure for the JSMC PhD Fellowships D.1. Who is eligible to apply for the JSMC PhD program? D.2. What is the maximum age to apply for a JSMC Fellowship? D.3. What are the selection steps in the 4-level selection procedure of the JSMC Recruit ment? D.4. What is the probability of getting selected for a JSMC Fellowship? D.5. When do I get a reply from the JSMC after submitting the Statement of Interest form?

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A. Application deadlines for EU-nationals and non-EU-nationals A. 1. What are the application deadlines for the JSMC PhD Fellowships?
The first step of the application is the submission of the completed Statement of Interest form. Depending on your nationality, there are two different deadlines to submit this form to us in order to enter our application process: Deadline_1 (for applications who will require visa to enter Germany): March 16, 2012 Deadline_2 (for applicants who will not require visa to enter Germany): April 16, 2012

A. 2. Why are there two different application deadlines?

The last step of our candidate selection process is the invitation to the JSMC Recruitment Meeting, in Jena, Germany. To attend this meeting, candidates from many countries outside Germany will have to apply for visa to enter Germany. Since the visa application process for non-EU nationals can take up 5 weeks, candidates from this group receive invitations to our recruitment meeting about 5 weeks prior to the meeting. To allow for this, we have to set the deadline for this group of applicants (deadline_1) three weeks earlier than for applicants who dont need visa to enter Germany (deadline_2).

A.3. Can I apply by submitting the Statement of Interest form without already having a visa to enter Germany?
Yes. We will send out recruitment meeting invitations about 5 weeks prior to the meeting to all (successful) candidates who submitted their Statement of Interest before deadline_1 (see above). This usually gives you enough time to apply for a visa (immediately) after being informed about your invitation to our recruitment meeting.

A. 4. Can I submit the Statement of Interest after deadline_1 if I am not an EU national?

There are two answers to this question, depending on your status: 1) No. If you are a non-EU national and you would have to apply for a German visa to attend our recruit ment meeting, we cant consider your Statement of Interest after deadline_1. 2) Yes. If you are a non-EU national but you dont need to apply for a German visa, we are happy to accept your Statement of Interest until deadline_2. Two examples why this might be the case: a) Please follow this link and check the list there:
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/EinreiseUndAufenthalt/StaatenlisteVisumpflicht_node.html

If your country of citizenship is listed as country whose citizens do not require visa to enter Germany, deadline_ 2 is relevant to you (i.e., you can apply after deadline_1). b) You already have a Schengen visa that is valid at least until the end of September 2012. In both cases please make sure to provide a brief explanation in the email you submit your State ment of Interest with (otherwise we cant consider your application). Please note that (if selected) you will then receive an invitation to the JSMC Recruitment Meeting about 2 weeks prior to the event, only.

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B. Where to direct questions / application materials B.1. To which address do I have to send the completed Statement of Interest form?
To apply-jsmc@uni-jena.de . Please DO NOT send any of your application materials to any other JSMC member/address (unless specifically requested to). Because of the high number of applications we usually receive, accepting them at more than one address would inevitably result in confusions. Therefore, only applications submitted to applyjsmc@uni-jena.de will be considered.

B.2. Whom do I ask if I have a question on the application procedure or a general question on the JSMC Fellowships?
Please send your question to apply-jsmc@uni-jena.de . You are also welcome to give us a call (phone: +493641-9-30421/30420)

B.3. Can I contact the supervisors of the PhD projects currently offered (Vacant Projects) with my questions?
If you have scientific questions specifically on the JSMC PhD project you wish to apply for, you are welcome to contact the project supervisor(s) directly (contact information can be found here:
http://www.jsmc.uni-jena.de/people/faculty/ .

Please send all other questions you may have to apply-jsmc@uni-jena.de . Please DO NOT send your application materials to the project supervisors unless specifically requested to do so. They will not be considered.

C. Filling in the Statement of Interest form C.1. Where can I download the Statement of Interest form?
Here: http://www.jsmc.uni-jena.de/phd-program/fellowship-application/guidelines/

C.2. How do I submit the Statement of Interest form to the JSMC?

Please follow this link to read the instructions:
http://www.jsmc.uni-jena.de/phd-program/fellowship-application/guidelines/

C.3. Can I submit supplementary material in addition to the Statement of Interest form?
No. Please ONLY submit the completed Statement of Interest form. No other materials will be considered. Despite our pleading not to do so, people keep sending us their CVs and other credentials together with their Statement of Interest form (or even worse: instead of it). Please dont be one of them, because it clearly shows that you did not attentively read our job advertisement and the description of our application procedure. If, based upon your Statement of Interest form you seem qualified for us, we will then request additional application materials from you.

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C.4. What can I do if my personal bibliographic and academic information does not fit with the entry fields in the Statement of Interest form?
We are aware that a form is always a standard scheme that cannot fit all individual situations/needs (especially regarding the vast diversity of the university degrees worldwide). Therefore, some entry fields may not be relevant to you while others may seem missing. Nevertheless, make sure a) not to forget any of your relevant qualifications/research experiences. Be sure to enter them all into the Statement of Interest form! b) not to provide false/mistakable information. Misrepresentation could (also at a later point) result in denial of admission. If the entry fields do not fit with the information you want to provide, please use the fields Additional Education and Cover Letter for explanations/descriptions of your qualifications.

C.5. How can I increase my chances to successfully pass the first level of the JSMC selection process (Statement of Interest)?
Fill in the Statement of Interest form very diligently. Make sure to state all your qualifications and experiences relevant to the JSMC project(s) you wish to apply for. In this regard, the Cover Letter section is of particular importance. Here, you have the chance to direct the attention to your scientific achievements and to explain how they qualify you as an excellent applicant for the JSMC project(s) you wish to apply for. When writing this cover letter, have the profile of an ideal candidate for this project(s) in mind. Then try to describe how you, with your personal qualifications and experiences, fit into this profile.

C.6. What do I fill in the JSMC Projects of Interest section?

Have a look at the Vacant Projects list:
http://www.jsmc.uni-jena.de/phd-program/fellowship-application/vacant-projects/

These are the PhD projects we offer within the current JSMC Recruitment Call. Read the project descriptions carefully to find out, which of the projects you are qualified for and interested in. Then enter the Project No. of the project that suits you best into the entry field (A) 1st preference. If there is more than one project, you are qualified for/interested in, you can enter up to three projects in the JSMC Projects of Interest section (i.e., you can apply for up to three JSMC projects).

C.7. Does it increase my chances if I enter three projects in the JSMC Projects of Interest section rather than one?
If you are really qualified for/interested in more than one JSMC project, then entering all projects of your interest (up to three) will, indeed, increase your chances of getting selected for the next selection level. However, keep in mind that entering more than one project entails the challenge to convince us that you are, indeed, qualified for all JSMC projects you selected (with the information you provide in other entry fields of the Statement of Interest form). This will get the more difficult with the more projects you select and the more different they are from each other. Especially your Cover Letter will probably be less targeted and concise when you select more than one project, which may have the undesired effect of lowering your chances to get selected.

C.8. How long should the Cover Letter be?

There is no general rule to this. However, the size of the Cover Letter entry field may be a good indication (this does not mean that a shorter text could not be as excellent; and please, if at all possible, avoid exceeding this field).
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C.9. Can I submit more than one Statement of Interest?

No. One Statement of Interest will be accepted per person, only.

D. JSMC Recruitment / The 4-level selection procedure for the JSMC PhD Fellowships D.1. Who is eligible to apply for the JSMC PhD program?
All M.Sc. degree holders generally are eligible to apply for a JSMC Fellowship. This includes holders of degrees equivalent to a M.Sc. degree (e.g., the German Diplom in a Natural or Life Sciences discipline). Moreover, people about to earn their degree are also welcome to apply. To finally enter the JSMC PhD program you will have to have a scientific degree that qualifies you for a German PhD at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. We will check on this after selecting candidates for the JSMC Recruitment Meeting and before awarding a JSMC Fellowship.

D.2. What is the maximum age to apply for a JSMC Fellowship?

There is no age limit. However, please note that the aim of our program is to support young, promising researchers and to train them to become internationally competitive, outstanding scientists. This means that the older you are, the more we expect from you to convince us that you still fit into this scheme (e.g., by explaining, why you havent earned a PhD degree earlier but used your time and seized your opportunities to advance your scientific career in other ways).

D.3. What are the selection steps in the 4-level selection procedure of the JSMC Recruitment?
You will find a detailed description here:
http://www.jsmc.uni-jena.de/phd-program/fellowship-application/

D.4. What is the probability of getting selected for a JSMC Fellowship?

Comparing the number of applications we receive with the number of fellowships we award, one could conclude that the chances of getting a JSMC Fellowship are pretty low. However, although our selection process is highly competitive, this isnt entirely true: if after carefully reading through the descriptions of the projects we offer you truly come to the conclusion that you are qualified for and interested in one (or more) of our projects, then your chances to successfully pass our selection process are, indeed, rather high. If you are just generally interested in a JSMC Fellowship, but none of the projects really fit your qualifications and interests, then the success of application is rather improbable (please note that a very strong interest can sometimes make up for less ideal qualifications). If you are not sure, we recommend simply completing and submitting the Statement of Interest form. This is not too much work, but if based on this form you get selected for the next selection level (i.e. invitation to submit a full application) this means, that your chances of getting a JSMC Fellowship in the end have significantly increased!

D.5. When do I get a reply from the JSMC after submitting the Statement of Interest?
You will usually receive a confirmation of receipt of your application within four (German) working days after submission. Regarding the success of your application, you will hear from us within 2 weeks after the respective deadline (deadline_1 or deadline_2; see above). Important: Please note that we will then ask you to submit your full application within one week; so please check your emails frequently, starting 1 week after the deadline for the Statement of Interest submission!

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