How to apply

The eligibility criteria are precise criteria regarding mobility and level of education:

International mobility: Candidates can have any nationality but must undertake transnational mobility according to the MSCA rules. Thus, candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity in Denmark for more than 12 months in the three years prior to the call deadline.

Education: Candidates must hold a master’s degree in a relevant field at the time of application, obtained no longer than four years before application deadline. If the master’s degree is not completed at time of application, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records and a written statement on the expected completion date from the institution is required. The master’s degree needs to be completed so that the diploma is issued no later than start of the fellowship.

Candidates can switch to another field of research than their master’s but must have sufficient understanding/skills to address the potential research project.

To ensure equal opportunities, exceptions to the 4-year rule are made for applicants with documented career breaks (parental leave, illness, mandatory military/civil service).

Candidates must not already hold a PhD degree.

Application requirements: To be eligible, a complete set of application material submitted in due time is required.

Application can only happen online via the link on the INTERACT website and the UCPH job portal, Euraxess or Nature job. A complete set of application material (in English) is required:

• Online application form including personal details
• Motivation letter/cover letter (mandatory template, max 1,5 page)
• CV (mandatory template, max 4 pages)
• A signed eligibility declaration and consent form (mandatory template)
• List of two referees, whereof one should preferably be the master thesis supervisor or another senior scientist the applicant has worked closely with (mandatory template)
• Certified copy of original master diploma and transcripts records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English *
• Documentation of English test**
• Documentation of career breaks, if any
• Other relevant information for consideration

* The master’s degree needs to be completed so that the diploma is issued no later than start of the fellowship (September 1st, 2025). If the master’s degree is not completed at time of application, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution is required.

** Please check here if you need to provide an English test https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/apply/language/
If required but not available at the time of application, copy of an English test will be required at time of interview.

Read more here: Admission requirements and English language skills.

The selection process consists of eligibility screening and three phases of evaluation.

Eligibility screening 

• Mobility
• Education
• Complete application Material

PHASE 1: Evaluation of application material

• Each eligible application will be evaluated individually by two Selection Committee members
• Based on the ranking, up to three candidates per position will be invited for online interviews.

PHASE 2: Evaluation through interviews

• Candidates who are invited to online interviews will be interviewed by a panel of members from the Selection Committee (half will be independent international experts, half will be experts from the host institution).
• The candidate will present her/his master thesis project and a preselected scientific paper.
• Potentially recruiting PIs can only participate as observers
• Based on the ranking, candidates will be shortlisted for host interviews in each call.

PHASE 3: Final selection

• Following host interviews, candidates and host group leaders forward their priorities to the coordinator.
• Final ranking for a fellowship is based on evaluation scores and candidate and host priorities.

Criteria evaluated at application stage

Education and track record (70%)

• Master-degree in a field relevant to the prioritized group/project the candidate wishes to engage in during the fellowship (Candidates can swap to another research field than that of their master-degree, however, they need a sufficient background to ensure project feasibility)
• Grades obtained during education
• Experience with original research project for master thesis
• Scientific communication
• Publications
• Other professional merits (teaching, supervision, scientific communication, fellowships, prizes and awards etc.)

Motivation (30%)

• The candidate’s general motivation for taking on doctoral training
• Specific motivation for applying to the discover programme
• Motivation for the specific groups/projects the candidate would like to work with

CRITERIA evaluated during INTERVIEWS

Scientific potential (70%)

• Outcome of master thesis project (exploitation, dissemination and communication)
• Scientific communication skills
• Ability to reflect and form scientific ideas
• Scientific abilities and competences obtained in previous work (reference letters

Motivation (30%)

• The candidate’s general motivation for taking on doctoral training
• Specific motivation for applying to this programme
• Motivation for the specific groups/projects the candidate would like to work with

Scoring

In each evaluation phase, a predefined selection criteria and scoring of 1-5 will be used. Only applicants receiving a score above the quality cut-off (≥3) will continue to the next evaluation phase and be considered eligible for a fellowship.

5: Excellent. The candidate meets all the evaluation criteria in the category with high quality and any shortcomings are minor.

4: Very good. The candidate meets most of the evaluation criteria in the category with high quality and only a few shortcomings.

3: Good. The candidate meets most of the evaluation criteria in the category with a good quality, but improvements could be expected.

2: Fair. The candidate meets most of the evaluation criteria in the category with a fair quality and there are several shortcomings

1: Poor. The candidate meets the evaluation criteria the category inadequately and there are significant shortcomings

The INTERACT fellows will receive a contract with University of Copenhagen (UCPH) or Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The contract will be for 36 months. The employment conditions will be equal to those of other PhD-researchers employed at UCPH/DTU. The terms of employment are in accordance with agree­ments between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State and include:

• Depending on seniority, the monthly gross salary begins around 30.716,02 DKK (approx. 4.118,74 EUR) plus pension as a PhD fellow.
• Full social benefits including public health care
• Right to paid holidays (five weeks plus five special holidays, on top of national holidays)
• Right to salary during own illness and child’s first two sick days
• Right to parental leave (up to 32 weeks paid leave) and two childcare days/child/year until age 7

The overall working conditions at UCPH/DTU are set out in a ‘Personnel Policy’, presented in a Personnel Policy Handbook and centered around a set of basic principles ensuring an open, collaborative, secure, including and developing work environment with equality for all staff. The INTERACT fellows will:

• Have flexible work hours in a family friendly environment
• Be hosted in a healthy physical work and psychosocial work environment
• Have Annual Performance and Development Reviews with nearest leader (main supervisor)
• Participate in university-wide satisfaction and well-being assessments