Pre-announcement pilot call 'Computational sciences for energy research'
On 29 September 2012, a call for proposals will be published for 10 to 15 PhD research projects in the field of the computational sciences, relevant to one of the energy-related themes within the topsectors Energy and Chemistry. The first call in this programme is a pilot. A series of several calls over the next five years will lead to a total of 60 PhD projects. The main characteristics of this pilot are: broad (all subfields of natural and technical sciences are eligible), short (three page proposals) and quick (submission on 15 October, outcome already known early November 2012). PhD students have to be recruited from a pool of excellence created by Shell in India.
This programme is the main part of a joint, large-scale, public-private partnership between Shell and NWO, which was launched earlier this week.
An important driver for Shell to invest in this initiative is that it provides training for computational scientists for its technology centre in Bangalore in India. Bangalore will become a global centre for computational science in Shell.
The investment amounts to circa 20 million euros for 75 PhD positions at Dutch universities.
These positions will be filled with MSc/MTech graduates interested in building a career at the Shell Technology Center in Bangalore (STCB).
Sixty of the 75 positions are allocated to research projects within the programme 'Computational science for energy research'. Partners in this programme are NWO and its divisions Physical Sciences (EW), Chemical Sciences (CW), Earth and Life Sciences (ALW), Technology Foundation STW and Physics Foundation FOM. This programme will be executed by FOM. Permanent staff at universities and academic institutes are invited to submit research proposals for PhD students. A total of 10-15 of these proposals can be granted. In parallel, STCB will recruit 30 'high potentials' who are willing to do their PhD work in the Netherlands and to continue their career afterwards at Shell in Bangalore. In November a matchmaking process will take place to connect candidates to selected projects and vice versa. A successful match means a granted research project, a signed labour contract of the PhD student with FOM and a job offer from Shell after their PhD. The project will start next summer.
Submit research proposal: deadline Monday 15 October 2012
The final call for proposals with a programme description, guidelines and other relevant information for this pilot is published. Click here to submit your proposal. For more information please contact Rudy Kouw, +31 (0)70 344 07 55.
Application and selection process for PhD candidates: 12-25 October 2012
The Shell application window remains open from 12 October to 25 October 2012 for the academic session starting September 2013. Further process will include telephonic/face-to-face interviews in November 2012 at select locations in India. The exact schedule would be duly communicated to shortlisted candidates. Please contact Shell for more information.