Selection Process & Tips

Selection and Interview Process

The selection interviews of the IMPRS MolPlant are held online. There are two steps in the process: (1) an interview with a short presentation, questions by our faculty members, and a paper discussion; (2) a match-making phase in which candidates can meet with prospective supervisors and their group members. Candidates invited to the interviews will receive further information.

All applications will be reviewed during the slection process. After the application call has closed, a long list will be created based on the best applications. From the long list, we create the short list based on application quality and reference letters. Please do not send references directly to us, we will contact your referees. We may contact your referees before the application deadline, and we may also contact you if we have any questions regarding your application.

The best candidates will be invited for our selection interviews. The interviews will take place about 5 weeks after the application deadline and will be held via video-conferencing. In the days before the interviews, we will hold informal information events and give you the chance to meet with our doctoral researchers.

During the interview, candidates will give a 10 minute oral presentation about their previous scientific work (e.g. their Masters thesis) and are then asked questions by the audience for 5-10 minutes. In addition, the interview includes a paper discussion. We provide you with a publication for this interview element a week in advance.

Candidates who convince us during the interview will move into the match-making phase. Here, you will have the opportunity for individual meetings with potential supervisors and their group members. Note that the group preference(s) that you named in your application indicate your research interests to us. However, you may get the chance to meet with other group leaders as well if they are interested in having you as doctoral researcher in their group. Moreover, if you change your group preference during the selection process, please do not hesitate to let the IMPRS Coordinator know.

Decisions about PhD positions will be communicated after the match-making phase.

Tips...

... for your application:

Applications can be submitted only via the online application form. Please study the form carefully and take your time when completing it. You may wish to prepare a document with your answers before you begin to complete the form. We recommend that you fill in the form from a desktop computer or laptop. 

Please complete the online application in English. Because we can only accept applications that are complete, you should take your time when you fill in the online form. However, do not wait until the last day of our application period to submit your application.

Note that it is not permitted to use AI to generate content for your application. If you use AI to enhance aspects of your application (language, layout), you must indicate so. 

The application form has 9 sections /steps. You can click on the online application link and study the application form and its sections before you actually begin to complete the form. In addition, have a look at the PDF with instructions and tips for filling in the application. You can dowload it via the grey box below.

You can pause filling in the application form and close the browser window, if needed. If you wish to do so, click on “II Continue later” in the bottom right corner of the form. A pop-up window will appear that allows you to enter your email address. A link to your paused form will be sent to this email address. Please make sure that the address you enter is correct.

If you are having problems getting certain documents or have gaps in your CV you should provide us with explanations. Sloppy applications will definitely fail to make it on our shortlist. With your application you show us that you are informed about the research activities of our faculty and that you have knowledge of the respective scientific publications in your field(s) of interest. We have seen applications where the 'research project' essay was prepared so poorly that we could not consider these candidates further! Please make sure that you think carefully about this part of the application and make full use of the permitted space to give us a first impression of your scientific creativity and conceptual understanding. However, please do not try to copy/paste published text pieces, as we will control for plagiarism. Plagiarism will immediately remove your application from further consideration.

The online application form can only be submitted when all required fields are complete. The button for submission is at the end of the form. Applications must be submitted by the application deadline to be considered for evaluation in a given application call. You cannot change your application once it has been successfully submitted. 

When you have successfully submitted your application, you will get a screen confiming your submission. In addition, you will receive a confirmation email shortly after you have submitted your application. This email gives you an Application ID. Please use this ID in all further correspondence with us.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you experience any problems with the online application procedure.

... for the interview:

The interviews usually take place over two days. Invited candidates will receive a slot on one of the two days. Important interview elements are a short presentation of your previous research, for example from your Masters project, questions on your presentation, and a paper discussion.

To keep in mind for your presentation: Your audience during the interview will be IMPRS faculty members. Depending on your scientific background you may not have worked in a field that is related to the research done by the group leaders in our IMPRS. Your presentation should therefore be clear to an audience that may not be familiar with your topic. It is important that you give a general introduction into the topic and lead the audience carefully through the figures presented.

Ten minutes for a presentation may seem to be short, but we would like to see many candidates present their research and thus must impose time constraints. Keep to the time limit! Usually the real presentation takes longer than the rehearsals, and we will have to interrupt you if you need longer. Thus, you may miss the chance to tell your full story.

Be well prepared for the scientific discussion after your presentation since you might get a lot of tough questions, e.g. why you were using certain techniques, what the aim of your project was, what the next steps in the project would be, what kind of further scientific questions would be interesting to address and how you would approach them methodologically etc. Are you (at least in theory) familiar with the methods in the research areas carried out in the groups of the IMPRS faculty? Think about approaches you are familiar with and ask yourself about their potentials and limitations.

With the paper discussion, we would like to see how well you deal with primary literature, even if it is outside the direct research area of your Masters project. All candidates receive the same scientific paper that we will send out at least a week before the interviews. 

The may also be questions about your background and motivation. At any time during the interview, you can impress us with your knowledge, creative thoughts, and ideas.

We look forward to receiving your application - Good luck!