Announcement: M20 Call for Proposals 2027

The Ubbo Emmius Foundation is pleased to announce the next edition of M20 PhD grants, taking place in 2027. The M20 PhD Programme is an initiative of the UEF in collaboration with the University of Groningen Schools for Science and Society aiming to provide opportunities for young researchers to make their way into academia. 

University of Groningen researchers and (Research) Master students are encouraged to submit proposals for a fully funded PhD project (€290.000) provided that the project is interdisciplinary and centres around the themes from the Schools for Science and Society. The selection committees will extend their preference towards projects submitted by students jointly with supervisors, but senior researchers and UG staff are welcome to submit proposals without a pre-selected PhD candidate.

Important criteria for selection include:

• Interdisciplinary research: at least two different supervisors from two separate faculties must be involved in the project.
• Research themes: the proposal must match the themes highlighted by at least one of the Schools for Science and Society.
• Ius Promovendus: at least one of the supervisors of the project must have obtained Ius Promovendus by the time of submission and must be able to provide proof of Ius Promovendus.
• Student status: if the main applicant is a student, they must be a (Research) Master student, or a recently graduated (Research Master) student, from the UG and must be able to provide proof of student status/graduation along with the proposal.

The full call for proposals will become available in October 2026. Candidates will have until February 2027 to submit a proposal. The UG academic committee will conduct the first round of selection in which a shortlist of projects will be selected to present their project to the UEF selection committee in May 2027. The grants will be distributed shortly after a grant agreement has been put in place.

More details on the procedure will be made available in the call for proposals. For questions, feel free to contact us at grants@uef.nl or visit our webpage for more information on the M20 PhD Programme.