The selection process took place between January and February and about 20 candidates have already signed their contracts with the University. In total, 71 new doctoral students from 19 countries all over the world will be starting work. Their theses will be supervised by almost 100 lecturers

As part of the standard and MSCA-COFUND editions of the Martí i Franquès Programme, the URV has completed the process of selecting 76 predoctoral researchers in a variety of research fields. The call was an international one and interest was such that almost 1,200 applications were received from all over the world.

The research areas of the candidates cover all knowledge areas – sciences, arts and humanities, social and legal sciences, engineering and health sciences – and they involve 19 departments and about 100 lecturers from the URV and IRTA (supervisors and co-supervisors).

In the standard call, 41 places were covered by 22 women and 19 men. The candidates selected are largely from Spain (33) but eight are from Colombia, Italy, China, Equatorial Guinea, Peru, Venezuela and Morocco. Four places have not been filled because there were no candidates or the successful candidates did not accept the offer.

In the MSCA-COFUND call, 30 of the 31 places on offer were covered by 10 women and 20 men from 14 different countries (nine from European Union countries and 22 from other countries). One of the places will be occupied by a disabled researcher.

Now, with the selection phase completed, the first candidates have started to arrive in the URV. A total of 22 have already done so and the others will gradually arrive over the coming weeks. All the doctoral students from this call are expected to take up their positions in the University before the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year.

The selection process – open, transparent and merit-based – was designed in accordance with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for Employing Researchers. The URV, with the HR Excellence in Research award (HRS4R), confirms that researchers are contracted according to the recommendations of the Charter and the Code and that, once employed, they will be provided with the necessary conditions to carry out research in an appropriate working environment and with equal opportunities for all candidates.

During their time at the URV, the candidates will work on their doctoral thesis, they will be given multidisciplinary and inter-sectorial training, and the candidates from the MSCA-COFUND call, will be able to go on international research visits in universities, research centres, companies and institutions.

The Martí i Franquès places are financed by 4.2 million euros of the URV’s own funds. The two types of call also count on the support of IRTA and the Banco de Santander. In the case of MSCA-COFUND, the places receive 2 million euros from the European Commission as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme of Horizon 2020.

The MSCA-COFUND project was carried out by the Unit of Support to International Research Projects (USPIR), cofinanced with funds from the State Research Agency through the call “Redes y Gestores 2019” (“Networks and Managers 2019”) and with the support of the Tarragona Provincial Council.