DDSA-DDEA Cross-Academy PhD Scholarship

Danish Data Science Academy (DDSA) and Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy (DDEA) invite applications for up to five 2/3 co-funded PhD scholarships of DKK 1,100,000 to visionary young researchers who want to bridge the Danish data science environment with the Danish diabetes and classical endocrinology research environment.  
Applications can be in any field overarching data science and diabetes and/or classical endocrinology research.
Co-supervision is a requirement. You must have an agreement with a principal supervisor within data science employed at a Danish university, as well as a co-supervisor within diabetes or classical endocrinology research affiliated with a Danish research institution.

Objective
The DDSA-DDEA Cross-Academy PhD Scholarships aim to bridge the Danish data science environment with the Danish diabetes and classical endocrinology research environment. Applications must be cross-disciplinary between fields of data science and diabetes and/or classical endocrinology.
Data science in this context is a multidisciplinary approach that combines elements from mathematics, statistics, artificial intelligence and computer science to analyze and extract meaningful scientific insights from large amounts of data. Data science thus goes beyond classical and established statistical methods.  Scientific data is typically stemming from a specific scientific domain, and advanced analysis of these data can provide new scientific insights into said domain and therefore data science as a discipline is synergistic to most scientific disciplines.
Application can be within any area of diabetes, metabolism or classical endocrinology research.
The research approach for diabetes, metabolism and classical endocrinology must concern improvement of the understanding of disease mechanisms and improvement of disease prevention, diagnostics, treatment, or rehabilitation within diabetes or classical endocrine diseases.

With the DDSA-DDEA Cross-Academy PhD scholarships, we further aim to:
- Promote interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research
- Create viable networks and collaborations across disciplines and sectors
- Position Denmark at an international level within data science in diabetes, metabolism or classical endocrinology research

The Candidate
- You must have a master’s degree from a Danish university or an equivalent degree from a foreign university by the time of application*.
- You must have completed your master’s degree within five years at the time of application (leave of absence and “hoveduddannelse” excluded).
- You must have research experience. An MSc can be considered as having research experience from the master’s degree thesis. An MD is expected to have research experience beyond the medical training (e.g. publications, submitted manuscripts, pre-graduate research year).
- Co-supervision is a requirement. You must have an agreement with a principal supervisor within the field of data science employed at a Danish university, as well as a co-supervisor within diabetes or classical endocrinology research affiliated with a Danish research institution.
- You must have a high-level of proficiency in English**.
- You must not already be enrolled as a PhD student by the time of receiving the grant notification letter (June 2024). This means that if you are already enrolled as a PhD student you cannot apply for or obtain funding, and we reserve the right to check with the relevant institution whether you are already as a PhD student.

The Supervisors
- The principal supervisor must be within the field of data science and be employed at a Danish university***.
- The co-supervisor must be within the field of diabetes or classical endocrinology research and affiliated with a Danish research institution.
- Both supervisors are expected to play a highly active role in the training and supervision of the PhD student.
- Supervisors cannot apply for PhD scholarships, only candidates may apply.

The Research Project
Your project must span both data science and diabetes or classical endocrinology research and must be aligned with the research scope of the DDSA/DDEA funder, Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Data science requirements:
- The proposed project may concern basic theoretical research, development of new data science methods and technologies, and/or innovative applications of data science to generate new important insights.
- Projects mainly concerned with methods development must argue convincingly for the potential application and impact.
- Projects that have their primary focus on applications of state-of-the-art data science methods must argue convincingly for the novelty and impact of their data science approach and for the importance of the new knowledge generated.

* If the exam is not yet passed, the applicant should enclose a statement from the supervisor of the Master thesis confirming when the thesis will be handed in and when the exam will take place. The Master’s degree certificate must be forwarded to the DDEA Secretariat no later than six months after receiving the grant notification letter. If we have not received your Master’s degree certificate six months after receiving the grant notification letter or if you do not pass the Master’s exam, the scholarship will be withdrawn.

** DDSA/DDEA expect high-level proficiency in English oral as well as written. Please be aware of the fact, that specific requirements can vary from one university to another with regards to English language skills. We refer to the individual PhD schools of the Danish university where you will apply for enrolment.

*** The main supervisor must be employed at the faculty at which the student applies for enrolment, and he/she must conduct research as an associate professor or professor within the subject studied by the PhD student. The main supervisor has overall responsibility for ensuring compliance with all formalities relating to the PhD programme. Please note that a main supervisor can only be main supervisor on one application for a DDSA-DDEA or DDSA-DCA PhD scholarship per application round.