JRC opens call for Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships 2026

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has opened its 2026 Call for Expressions of Interest for the Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP) Programme.

The call invites universities, higher education institutions and research organisations from EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe to collaborate with the JRC on jointly designed, hosted and supervised PhD projects across eight Collaboration Themes. Successful applicants will establish an institutional-level scientific partnership with the JRC, leading to doctoral projects of shared interest.

Under the programme, doctoral candidates spend 12 to 24 months at a JRC site in Brussels, Geel, Ispra, Karlsruhe, Petten or Seville, and the remaining time at their home institution. Applications must be submitted by institutions, not by individual PhD candidates.

The programme does not involve any transfer of funds between partner institutions and the JRC. Each side covers the costs incurred during the candidate’s stay on its premises; while at the JRC, doctoral candidates are employed and funded by the JRC.

Deadline is 25 September 2026, 23:59 (Brussels time).

For more information, please see the website (including documents explaining the eight Collaboration Themes in detail) or contact JRC-CDP@ec.europa.eu.