The University of Groningen/University Medical Center Groningen for many years has enjoyed a successful Double Degree PhD collaboration with Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA), Colombia. There are well-established collaborations with UdeA entities such as the Basic Biomedical Sciences Corporation (CCBB) and the Faculty of Engineering. In more recent years, many connections have also been established with researchers and students of UdeA's Faculty of Medicine (FM). In 2020, Groningen's Graduate School of Medical Sciences (GSMS) and FM are proud to announce the first call for applications for the enrollment of UdeA medical students & graduates in the GSMS PhD program.
What is the UdeA-Groningen MD-PhD?
We refer to the collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine at Universidad de Antioquia and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences at the University of Groningen (UG) as an "international MD-PhD". We may still also call this a "sandwich PhD", because the research work that leads to the successful defense of the PhD thesis at UG in most cases has important characteristics of a "regular" sandwich PhD that leads to a dual or joint degree, i.e. co-supervision of an UdeA researcher and/or alternating periods of stay at UdeA and UG. You may read more about the definition of a what we call a sandwich PhD here.
In relation to the UdeA-Groningen international MD-PhD, accepted applicants:
- Aspire to obtain/have obtained their Medical Degree (MD) from UdeA
- Aspire to obtain their doctoral degree (PhD) from UG
Important:
- Due to European and Dutch legal and language restrictions it is very difficult to obtain an MD from UG if students have not been admitted to the UG MD program from the first year onward. Consequently, the focus of the UdeA-UG MD-PhD program is explicitly not on students who want to obtain their MD from UG: this is impossible under this program.
- Unlike in Colombia, it is legally possible to enroll medical students in the Groningen PhD degree program. UG has a successful MD-PhD program for its own medical students that has enrolled more than >500 MD-PhD students since 2001.
What do we offer?
Selected students:
- Receive a top-up of a selective external scholarship for a maximum of 24 months of stay at the UMCG, working under the supervision of a UMCG researcher on a PhD project that should result in a PhD thesis to be defended at UG, in accordance with the UG PhD Regulations.
- Receive a fee waiver (tuition, bench fees) for their period of enrollment as a PhD student at UG
How does it work?
- Interested students should connect with a UMCG supervisor to submit an ATTP Sandwich PhD application in accordance with the instructions as outlined here. Note that it is the UMCG supervisor who submits the application, not the student. The student however should prepare the application package, in close consultation with their supervisor(s).
- In most cases, students will work under the co-supervision of an UdeA researcher on their research project leading to a PhD thesis to be defended at Groningen. Students will continue to work on their project also when located at UdeA. This however is not a strict requirement in the sense that:
- It is important that the ATTP Research Proposal that forms the core of the application is feasible. The student and UMCG supervisor should be convinced of the feasibility of the project, taking into account that the full PhD trajectory as outlined in the ATTP Sandwich PhD application: (a) may consist of alternating periods of stay at UdeA and UG, in accordance with the demands of the research project; (b) will be GSMS-(co-)funded for a maximum of 24 months while the student is at UG;
- UdeA medical students and (recent) medical graduates may be beneficiaries of the international MD-PhD program, provided that they count with the support of a UMCG supervisor and the FM Dean at UdeA. In regard to the latter:
- The standard ATTP Sandwich PhD application package should additionally include a Letter of Support of the FM Dean at UdeA, agreeing with the project and the PhD trajectory as outlined in the Research Proposal and supporting documents.
Deadlines & other important information
- The GSMS will receive applications to the UdeA-Groningen international MD-PhD program on the basis of a "rolling admission" system, that means that applications may be received all year round;
- Students and supervisors however need to take into account that we need to receive the application to ATTP Sandwich PhD funding at least six (6) months in advance of the actual start date in Groningen, for two main reasons: (1) we need 1-2 months for the award decision (evaluation and rebuttal); and (2) practicalities (visa, housing, etc.) to prepare for a student's stay in the Netherlands take up to 4 months - see also our FAQ section.
- There is no cap on the number of projects to be awarded under the UdeA-Groningen international MD-PhD program, however the GSMS award decision is always dependent on the availability of funding and any other criterion mentioned on the ATTP Sandwich PhD program page
- The GSMS retains the right to modify the conditions for admission to the international MD-PhD program at all times
- Due to the reasons as described above, we encourage students and supervisors to apply to the international MD-PhD at their earliest convenience