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When selected to start PhD research at SCK CEN

When a PhD applicant is selected to start a PhD research project at SCK CEN, he/she will be contacted and informed by e-mail by the SCK CEN Academy for Nuclear Science and Technology.

The following administrative steps have to be undertaken by the PhD student after receipt of that e-mail:

1. The PhD student contacts his/her university promoter in order to start the appointment process at the university.

The university promoter contacts the Human Resources department within his/her department and he/she will give instructions to start up the appointment process for the PhD student. This appointment process includes the following three steps:

  • The PhD candidate needs to obtain the Academic admission to the doctoral programme (doctoral school).
    Depending on the nationality of the PhD student and the origin of the Master diploma, the appointment process can differ and the PhD student might be asked to submit different documents. A minimum of information that needs to be transferred:
    1. Personal details, address and contact information;
    2. Academic information: language skills, certificates of language proficiency, diploma, …;
  • The PhD student needs to enroll at the university. Please ask the correct documents to your university promotor or to your HR contact person (for most of the universities, this is an online enrolment process).
  • The PhD student needs to receive and sign a contract with the university, with a starting date similar to the starting date of the research agreement that will be set up between SCK CEN and the university (see next point).

Please take into account that the standard time for the appointment process takes at least 6 weeks for EU candidates and at least 3 months for non EU candidates. Candidates will only obtain a university admission letter when their application for all processes has a positive result.

With the admission/tuition letter, provided by the university administration, foreign students can apply for a visa. Upon arrival in Belgium, the foreign PhD student has to register at the Foreigners Office in Mol and needs to provide the following documents:

  • a birth certificate;
  • a medical attestation;
  • an extract of the criminal record;
  • 3 photos (passport size).

2. In a parallel process, the SCK CEN Academy draws up a research agreement between the university and SCK CEN in order to settle the basic modalities between both organisations. The PhD student does not have to sign this agreement. The agreement is the basis for a personal contract of the PhD student with his/her university.

3. In addition, SCK CEN needs approval from the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control before allowing the student to access the SCK CEN technical site. In order to draw up a request for security verification SCK CEN needs an extract of the criminal record of the student's home country (with official translation in Dutch, English, French or German).  This should be sent to the SCK CEN HR department (traineesHR [at] sckcen [dot] be). 

4. In case the PhD student prefers to rent an SCK CEN accommodation (dormitory or studio), he/she needs to contact the HR department of SCK CEN (traineesHR [at] sckcen [dot] be (traineesHR[at]sckcen[dot]be)).

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