The purpose of the application is for PhD students to gain industrial experience during their studies and to get involved in industrial research, while the program strengthens the relationship between universities and companies by encouraging companies to employ PhD students at least half-time. The KDP therefore provides support for those who, in addition to their status as doctoral students, carry out research work outside of a higher education institution, primarily at companies, which promotes, among other things, the practical utilization of their scientific results. In the Cooperative Doctoral Program, the PhD student receives a regular fee from the industrial actor, while the student’s university supervisor and the company expert (who will mentor the student at the employer) receive regular remuneration at the expense of the application support.
The current 2023 Call for Tenders of the KDP has been announced, further details are available here:
https://nkfih.gov.hu/palyazoknak/nkfi-alap/kooperativ-doktori-program-kdp-2023/palyazati-felhivas
Some important information about administration:
a. Deadline for submission: 2023.06.19-2023.07.20., 12:00 o’clock.
b. Submission: exclusively electronically, on the https://kfivelemeny.nkfih.gov.hu/ interface (here the student must register in advance).
c. Support that can be applied for: A scholarship of HUF 400,000/month/person can be applied for. HUF 120,000 per month can be used separately for the remuneration of the university supervisor who assists the recipient and contributes to the implementation of the application, and the company expert, which includes the contribution and public charges in addition to the salary cost.
d. Eligible for support:
– Students with doctoral student status who started their doctoral studies in the year 2022 and do not pass the complex exam by the beginning of the 2023/2024 academic year, or those who start their doctoral studies in the 2023/2024 academic year.
– In addition, it is important that during the KDP scholarship period, students must have an employment relationship with the partner organization of their choice or another legal relationship aimed at working, for which they are entitled to remuneration.
e. A person cannot receive a KDP scholarship if:
– who is during the KDP scholarship period
• New National Excellence Program scholarship,
• You are on a Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship
• a scholarship in the “Scholarship for the Nation’s Young Talents” application
benefits from;
– who received support in the framework of one of the previous KDP calls, and the legal relationship of the scholarship recipient will also exist during the application period of this call for tenders.
f. The employer of the PhD student can be not only a company, but also a state institution or a non-profit organization, but not a budget research center or another higher education institution, or only in exceptional cases (details in the call).
g. Application period: 24, 31, 36, 43 months. Start of the legal relationship with the scholarship holder: 02.01.2024.