Erasmus Mundus Scholarship in Drug Discovery (S-DISCO) 2025

The Erasmus Mundus Scholarship in Drug Discovery is a collaboration between the consortium and industrial players in the field in order to train high-level graduates with inter- and trans-disciplinary skills in the different fields of drug discovery, with a focus on sustainability.

The Erasmus Mundus S-DISCO Scholarship in Sustainable Drug Discovery covers the living costs incurred by the student, including travel, visa, installation, house-rent, and other living costs.

Eligibility Criteria:

• hold a higher education diploma issued by a competent Higher Education authority attesting the completion of a degree equivalent to a first cycle (180 ECTS – or higher) in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Biology (incl. Biochemistry), Bio-(incl. environmental, chemical and food) Engineering, Human or Veterinary Medicine, Biomedical sciences or equivalent (which then requires formal equivalency by an official body in one of the 4 consortium countries, e.g. ENIC-NARIC).
• Note: Students in their last year of such a study programme at the time of application will also be considered for admission. It is the applicant’s responsibility that the required degree is obtained prior to the start of the S-DISCO programme.

• Applicants need to provide a certificate of proficiency in English, which should be at least a B2 level according to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference).
• Certificates issued for English-taught courses or study programs will not be considered proof of language proficiency.

Benefits:

• An Erasmus+ scholarship has a value of EUR 1400 per month, for a total duration of 24 months. For these students, the tuition fee is waived.
• The scholarship can cover the living costs incurred by the student, including travel, visa, installation, house-rent and other living costs.

Required Documents

• a passport photo
• a copy of their passport (or other official identification proof for EEA students)
• a letter of motivation (max. 1 page).
• a complete curriculum vitae (preferably in Europass format, or max. 3 pages).
• a copy of their Bachelor of Science diploma (plus English translation), or a formal letter from their university stating they will finish their Bachelor of Science programme before their enrolment in the S-DISCO master programme, plus a formal equivalency if required. (Please combine separate files or pages into a single PDF file).
• official university transcript of records (plus English translation) which includes a detailed list of all courses taken with their credit hours and results, the final grade received, an explanation of the grading system used, and an indication of the student’s rank within her/his cohort (including cohort size).
• If the candidate has not yet finalised the Bachelor of Science programme, all courses still on-going should be given as well as the results up to the moment of application. Please combine separate files or pages into a single PDF file.
• certification of proficiency in English, i.e. minimum B2 level according to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference).
• a merged PDF file, containing (in this order): the bachelor degree, the bachelor degree transcript of records, the master degree (if applicable), the master degree transcript of records (if applicable), the motivation letter and the curriculum vitae.
• a recommendation letter is no longer mandatory.

How to Apply?

1. Determine whether you are eligible for the S-DISCO programme by checking carefully the Admission Requirements.
2. Before you begin, make sure you have the required documents (see checklist hereunder) ready. Also, other information will be asked for, such as the e-mail address of the embassy where you will apply for your visa (if you are a non-EU student), the GPA scores or the coordinates of 2 reference persons.
3. Create an UGent OASIS account by clicking the “Apply now” button. After registration, you can online fill in the application form and submit it prior to the set deadlines (see Timings). Note: there is one single Application Form for both admission to the programme and the scholarship application.
4. In the week after the application deadline, you will be invited to fill in an online test; this test contains 10 general as well as 10 basic knowledge (chemistry, data science and biology) questions.
5. Next to the scores for the online test and Bachelor/Master GPA values, further ranking is based on (1) the educational background (5/9), with emphasis on organic chemistry, statistics/math and cell/genetic/immune biology, (2) the curriculum vitae (2/9), and (3) motivation letter (2/9).
6. In case your file has been evaluated as positive by the Selection Committee, you will be invited for an online interview, which is the last phase in the Application Procedure. In the invitation, you will receive different topics/manuscripts from which you will choose one and prepare a lecture (presentation) of 5 minutes about this topic.
7. During the online interview, you will give your 5-minutes lecture and will be questioned about the topic/content of the manuscript.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Deadline: December 1, 2024