Funding a Doctorate Abroad: Finding a Supervisor and Funding
Published on
In most countries, a doctorate is funded: you are paid to do research, or you receive a scholarship. But this funding does not fall from the sky: it comes through a project, a laboratory and a supervisor who commits. Here is how to go about it.
Understanding the forms of funding
- Doctoral contract or doctoral position: an employment contract funded by a university or a project (common practice in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries).
- National scholarships: DAAD, Eiffel, governments, foundations that fund a research stay.
- Project-linked funding: a laboratory recruits a doctoral candidate on an already funded project (ANR, ERC, European programmes).
- Assistantships: in North America, research or teaching assistant positions.
Finding a supervisor
- Define a precise subject or field based on your dissertation and your reading.
- Identify active laboratories and professors: recent publications, ongoing projects, thesis offers.
- Use job portals (EURAXESS, university websites, mailing lists in your discipline).
- Send an individualised message, short and precise.
The message to a potential supervisor
A good message is one page long: who you are, what you have done, why their team, which project you propose, how it fits their work, and what you are asking for (an exchange, an interview, contact with the laboratory). Attach a CV and your transcripts. Cite their articles in a relevant way. Avoid mass mailings: they are spotted immediately.
The research project
It includes a context, a question, a method, a timeline, expected results and references. It must show that you master the state of the art and that the subject can be completed in three or four years. Have a teacher proofread it.
The calendar
Recruitment is spread over the year, with peaks at the end of winter and in spring. Start making contact eight to twelve months before the intended start. For national scholarships, respect their own deadlines.
Other support
Consider short-term mobility (research stays, joint supervision) to build a relationship with a foreign laboratory. Agreements between Moroccan and foreign universities make these contacts easier. Follow the openings of doctoral funding in our scholarship pages.