ESPP GaPA GPAC² EPTC UNU-Merit European PhD Programme in Social Protection Policy (ESPP) Programme details The PhD programme encompasses a variety of social policy aspects and is focused on the analysis of the adequacy of social protection policy and all its instruments. The programme is supported by the European Union Marie Curie Human Resources and Mobility programme and offers the researchers a coherent PhD programme by providing: • advanced theoretical training in specific topics related to the field of Social Protection, Social Policy, Welfare States, Social Security, Social Insurance and other relevant disciplines; • training in research methods and their applications; • training in technical skills needed for the future PhD research; • training in research project implementation and outcome-dissemination by publications and presentations; • training in policy oriented applications of research results; • co-ordinated supervision in all stages of the research leading to a PhD. For each individual student a tailor-made training and supervision plan is developed within the requirements for the programme, taking their educational background, professional background and research interests into account. Duration The European PhD Programme in Social Protection Policy is a 3 years programme. It consists of 4 main elements: • a basic (compulsory) training programme provided in Maastricht by the leading scholars from the supporting institutes. Although the researcher can choose some courses in agreement with the supervisor, the basic programme is common for all researchers; • a personal training programme, that guarantees flexibility at an individual level in order to adapt to the skills and qualifications of the researcher and the specific research topic; • a 6-12 months international visiting researcher position, in collaboration with one of the supporting institutes in the network; • personal supervision and monitoring during the entire project by at least 2 staff members of the supporting institutes from different countries; The compulsory coursework of the ESPP programme is mainly finished in the first year. Year two and three are uses to do the necessary analyses for the dissertation, and write the dissertation. The dissertation should be ready for submission after 36 months. In addition to the coursework and dissertation the following activities are organised: • regular research skills trainings; • bi-weekly research seminars on social protection policy seminar series >> • bi-yearly Summer School in Social Protection and Governance • bi-weekly tutorial seminar for PhD researchers in Social Protection Policy; • a yearly research dissemination and policy seminar; • an academic skills and research career workshop series. These activities encourage both contact among the ESPP researchers, as well as between the ESPP researchers and other leading researchers across Europe. The staff of the supporting institutes and professionals from the social (protection) policy field also contribute to these activities. Special feature “Writing Camps” At least once a year, the programme organises the so-called “writing camps” bringing together all the researchers at the School to work on their research in a secluded and inspiring location. During these camps fellows of all PhD programmes work on their research in a social setting allowing them to benefit from lively discussions with their peers and with experienced visiting scholars. The “camps” invite the fellows into a research oriented environment providing academic and social support. Degree After successfully finishing the programme, students will have and/or receive: • a certificate confirming participation in and completion of the course programme; • a number of articles submitted, accepted and/or published in refereed scientific journals; • a PhD thesis in printed book format; • a PhD degree, upon successful submission and defense of the dissertation. Partner institutes Universite de Liege, Belgium >> Universita de Torino, Italy >> University of Warsaw, Poland >> National University of Ireland >> Universiteit Antwerpen, Centrum voor Sociaal Beleid,Belgium >> Universite des Science Sociales de Toulouse, France >> Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Spain >> University of Bath, UK >> University Upsalla, Sweden >> Universitat Bremen, Germany >> Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) >> University of Southampton, UK >> Key lecturers Prof. dr. C. de Neubourg Prof. B. Cantillon Prof. Dr. D. Checchi Dr. C. O’Donoghue Prof. Dr. Donder Prof. G. Esping-Andersen Prof. J. Falkingham Prof. E. Fornero Prof. K. Hinrichs Dr. G.Kula Prof. T. Magnac Prof. M. Okólski Dr. L. Pacelli Prof. E. Palmer Prof. T. Papadopoulos Prof. P. Pestieau Prof. M. Powell Prof. C. Saraceno   Synopsis Programme details Career perspectives Short Courses Application Tuition Scholarships Facilities Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers Coursebook available from 1 July onwards