Thursday, September 25, 2008

Erasmus Mundus 2009/2010 Masters Scholarship in Environmental Science, Policy and Management

ESPOM is an Erasmus Mundus Masters course in Environmental Sciences,
Policy and Management operated by four leading European Universities
and supported by the European Commission. MESPOM prepares students for
identifying and implementing solutions to complex environmental
challenges, especially in an international context.

The MESPOM study programme is in English and lasts two years. The
students study in at least three out of four consortium universities:
the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at
Lund University (Sweden), the University of Manchester (UK), Central
European University, Budapest, and the University of the Aegean
(Lesvos, Greece).

The European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus programme provides scholarships
to outstanding students from countries outside the European Union to
attend MESPOM and to scholars to participate in teaching and research. Additional forms of financial assistance are available to students of all nationalities.
MESPOM invites applications from all countries. Successful candidates
must have a good first degree in a subject related to environmental
sciences, policy and management. Candidates with other first degrees
are also considered if they show commitment to environmental issues,
usually through work experience.

Official website nya : www.mespom.eu

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UK MA Scholarships for January 2009 - University of Kent

University of Kent
MA Scholarships Available for January 2009
University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies

Applications are invited for two scholarships for politics students wishing to begin their studies at the University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies in January 2009.

Successful candidates will be registered at the University of Kent as full-time students on one of the five politics programmes offered at UKB (listed below) and will receive payment to cover 50% of their tuition fees (€6845 in 2008/9).

These scholarships are open to students of all nationalities and are valid for the following programmes:

MA in International Relations

MA in International Conflict Analysis

MA in International Political Economy

MA in European Public Policy

MA in Political Strategy and Communication

In order to be considered for the scholarship, candidates must both apply for admission to one of these masters programmes and submit a separate scholarship application, no later than the closing date of 15 October 2008.

To submit an application for admission to an eligible MA programme, please follow the instructions as detailed on the following webpage: http://www.kent.ac.uk/brussels/admissions/.

Applicants should normally have obtained, or be about to obtain, a relevant undergraduate degree, with an overall First or Upper Second Class Honours result, or equivalent. No application for admission is considered complete until all supporting documents have been received by the university.

Once you have submitted your application to study at the University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies (with all the required documentation), in order to apply for the scholarship, you should send a letter/email to ukbschols2@kent.ac.uk confirming your wish to be considered for a scholarship and explaining why you believe you should be awarded one. To help you decide what to write, you should be aware that the Scholarships Board is looking for academic excellence as well as academic potential. If it helps, imagine that you are standing in front of the members of the Board and have one chance to tell them about yourself and why you want the scholarship.

For politics students starting in January 2009, your scholarship application must be received no later than 17h00 CET on the closing date of 15 October 2008.

Successful candidates will be informed of the results by Friday 21 November 2008.

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The Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA)

The Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA) is a collaboration between the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR), the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). PhD training will be carried out in English at your chosen lab at A*STAR Research Institutes, NUS or NTU. Students will be supervised by distinguished and world-renowned researchers in these labs. Upon successful completion, students will be conferred a PhD degree by either NUS or NTU.

"We want to encourage more such exchanges, to build friendships and mutual understanding. This is why we are introducing a new Singapore International Graduate Award (or SINGA), for international students to do their PhD training in a multi-disciplinary environment in Singapore. 240 SINGA Awards will be given every year to top students from all over the world. I hope that this will enhance the close educational ties between our countries and will bring our young talents even closer together."

Extracted from Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's speech at the Honorary Doctorate Degree Conferment Ceremony, Eotvos Lorand University, 9 October 2007, Budapest, Hungary

ELIGIBILITY
Open to all international students
Graduates with a passion for research and excellent academic results
Good skills in written and spoken English
Good reports from academic referees
AWARD TERMS
Attractive monthly stipend over 4 years of PhD studies, which can support you comfortably. The stipend amount is SGD 24,000 annually, to be increased to SGD 30,000 after passing Qualifying Examination.
Full support for tuition fees for 4 years of PhD studies.
One-time SGD 1,000 Settling-in Allowance
One-time Airfare Grant of SGD 1,500
Estimated cost of living in Singapore

Items Per Student Per Month (SGD)
Food
- University Canteens
- Meals outside Campus
200 - 300
440 - 525
Accommodation - rental of a hostel room / room outside campus 225 - 400
Transport Expenses (local) 100 - 150
Other Expenses (stationery, toiletries, laundry, recreation, etc) 300 - 500
Total Estimated Cost of Living 1,100 - 1,700

* 1 USD is about 1.4 SGD

HOW TO APPLY
Application for January 2009 intake has closed. Click here to apply for August 2009 intake.

The application deadline for August 2009 intake is 1 January 2009. Completed application and supporting documents will have to reach us by mail then.

Incomplete applications and new applications received after 1 January 2009 will be considered for January 2010 intake.

All supporting documents are to be submitted by post to:

Attention: Jeremy Ng
A*STAR Graduate Academy
Agency for Science, Technology and Research
20 Biopolis Way, #07-01 Centros
Singapore 138668
Please check and ensure that all data you have entered in the online form is correct and accurate before you submit the online application. Amendments to the online application will not be possible after it is submitted. In addition, amendments on the hardcopy of the application form will not be included and will render the application invalid.

You may download the Academic Referee's Recommendation Form here.

Only short-listed candidates will be notified within 2 months from the application closing date.

For more information please visit:

https://www.singa.a-star.edu.sg/theaward.php

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PhD Studentship in Biophysics

University of Modena and Reggio Emilia PhD Studentship in Biophysics
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
PhD Studentship
Department of Physics

Field(s): physics, biophysics
Application deadline: Oct 15 (Wed), 2008
Contact: Dr. Ciro Cecconi
E-mail: ciro.cecconi@gmail.com
Phone: (+39) 059 205-5328
Fax: (+39) 059 2055651

Address: Department of Physics, University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/A 41100 Modena, Italy

Job description: Protein folding remains a major unsolved challenge for modern biophysics. Despite the experimental and theoretical efforts of many laboratories in the last 40 years, our understanding of the basic rules that govern the attainment of a protein structure is still incomplete. This lack of information is partly due to the inadequacy of conventional bulk methods to study a process that is highly heterogeneous. During folding, individual molecules are thought to follow different pathways and populate different intermediate structures on their journey to the native state. Such a diversity of behaviors is often blurred in the ensemble average measured by bulk methods.

Recent advances in single molecule manipulation techniques, such as laser tweezers, have made it possible to revisit protein folding with a new approach. In these experiments, individual molecules are directly manipulated and their unfolding and refolding trajectories described along a well-defined reaction coordinate, namely their molecular end-to-end distance. In a work published in Science, Cecconi et al. has recently presented a method to manipulate individual globular proteins using laser tweezers [Cecconi et al., Science 2005; Cecconi et al., European Biophysics Journal 2008]. Using this novel experimental approach, Cecconi et al. investigated the folding pathways of single RNase H molecules with unprecedented details, uncovering information inaccessible to ensemble methods.

At the Department of Physics of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia a new line of research has recently been started that focuses on the study of the folding mechanism of single protein molecules using laser tweezers. Individual molecules are directly manipulated and their response to force characterized in terms of different parameters, such as: i) deformability of the native state, ii) unfolding and refolding pathways, iii) magnitude of the forces that hold together secondary and tertiary structures; iv) anisotropy of the protein's energy landscape, v) distances from the folded and unfolded states to the transition state(s), vi) thermodynamics and kinetics of fluctuations between different molecular conformations. We are therefore seeking a motivated PhD student willing to undertake research in this field. The PhD appointment is for a period of three years. Candidates should have a B.S. or M.S. in physics or related fields.

For further details please contact Dr. Ciro Cecconi. Applicants should send their resumes (including email address) to Dr. Ciro Cecconi (ciro.cecconi@gmail.com).

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