Global Fellows Program
The next trilateral Global Fellows Program (GFP), jointly organized by the Imperial College London, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, and the TUM, will take place from 28 July- 1 August 2025. The GFP 2025, under the academic theme “Converging Multidisciplinary Solutions for Climate-responsive Societies," will be hosted by the TUM Graduate School in Munich. Application for the Global Fellows Program 2025 will open in March 2025.
Recap- Global Fellows Program 2024
The 2024 trilateral Global Fellows Program took place at Imperial College London in South Kensington, London, from 8th – 12th July 2024.
In the current scientific environment international and interdisciplinary collaborations and networking are fundamental to developing successful projects. In a competitive research environment funding bodies increasingly look for interdisciplinary, collaborative research with partners from around the world. The modern researcher requires both excellence in research and strong professional collaborative competencies.
Focusing on transferable skills training, over the course of one week approximately 40 doctoral researchers from NTU, TUM and Imperial will develop collaborative interdisciplinary competencies and intercultural awareness required to establish and continue successful collaborations. Participants will also engage in intercultural and interdisciplinary discussions under the programme theme “Data-driven innovations for zero pollution mobility” and will develop creative innovations to address global challenges under the programme theme.
Tackling transport pollution is a complex challenge that goes beyond tackling exhaust emissions. Mobility involves all aspects related to the movement of people, goods and services, contributing to the planning, design, operations and management of infrastructures, for the promotion of the health and wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants.
Innovations range from radical new technologies to innovative methods of infrastructure operations and management, to novel insights into behaviour change and societal engagement techniques and improved methods for the assessment of impacts. External partnership across the research, business, government, media and quasi-governmental sectors, and public engagement is crucial. It is also critical, at the innovation stage, to examine stakeholders’ abilities to adopt and deploy data-driven zero-pollution mobility solutions.
Guest speakers from Imperial, NTU and TUM will provide participants with insights into current research (but not limited to) within the topics of the programme, to inspire the development of creative solutions. The programme will also provide opportunities for groups to consider the social and ethical aspects of any proposed solutions.
A background on the subject is not needed. Doctoral candidates from any discipline are invited to apply for the 5-day transferable skills course. This is a chance to challenge yourself outside of your normal working environment, meet people from other disciplines and cultures, and have fun!
During the 5-day program, participants will work in interdisciplinary and international groups, assisted by a coach from one of the partner universities. During the programme, participants will enhance:
- Their ability to work collaboratively on research ideas
- Their ability to network and communicate effectively and with impact in interdisciplinary and intercultural groups
- Their intercultural and international competency and awareness
- Their creativity to develop collaborative research ideas
- Their appreciation of research in international institutions
Although, participants will gain insights into and discuss current research related to "Data-driven innovations for zero pollution mobility", the Global Fellows Program as such focuses on transferable skills and international & intercultural networking. Hence, it is not a subject-specific course and cannot count towards the minimum of 6 semester credit hours (6 SWS) of mandatory subject-specific training.
Application is open to doctoral candidates from all disciplines and TUM Schools. Applicants should have a keen interest in the academic theme and be willing to engage with topics and concerns in this area. However an in-depth background in the area is not required.
TUM applicants must:
- Be a current doctoral candidate at TUM (no guest doctorates)
- Be a full member of the TUM Graduate School
- Have already participated in the TUM-GS Kick-off seminar at the time of application
- Be fluent in English and comfortable to engage with other participants in English
- Have already secured the support for participation from their respective thesis supervisors
- Be able to travel to London and participate in the entire one week programm (from 8th - 12th July, 2024)
- Be willing to share their experiences on the program with the TUM-GS community
Application is now open until Sunday, 14th January 2024.
To apply for the Imperial-TUM-NTU Global Fellows Program 2023, please submit the following documents in one single PDF file via email to Mrs Zizheng Zhang:
- Fully completed Imperial-TUM-NTU Global Fellows 2024 Application Form
- Short CV - max. 2 pages
- Motivation letter outlining why you are applying and your interest in the academic theme (including your expectations and goals for the summer school) - max. 1 page
- Summary of your doctoral research project - max. 2 pages
Successful applicants will be notified by end of January 2024.
The TUM Graduate School offers 13 fully funded spots which include the following:
- Course fee for the entire course week
- Accommodation during the course week
- Breakfast & lunch during the course week
- Reimbursement of flight expenses and visa application fees (if applicable) up to 800 EUR (will be reimbursed after successful course participation)
General terms of participation
- TUM Graduate School offers 13 funded spots for the 2024 Global Fellows Program.
- The course will take place in London on different campuses of Imperial College London. Participants will be required to be present on site for the entire course week starting from Monday, 8th July 2024 08:00 a.m. until Friday, 12th July 2024 5 p.m.
- The Global Fellows Program is an intense 5-day program. Participants must be committed to all 5 days of the program and benefit most when they are able to take leave from their usual workload. We recommend that you discuss the time commitment involved with your thesis supervisor in advance. Supervisors must have agreed to participation in the program.
- Participants are responsible for their own travel arrangement, for obtaining necessary visa (if applicable) and other valid travel documents for their stay in London. Invitation letters and proof of accommodation for visa application will be provided after selection on request.
- TUM Graduate School will arrange and pay for accommodation for the course week from Sunday, 7th July 2024 (check-in) to Saturday, 13th July 2024 (check-out).
- TUM Graduate School will reimburse up to 800 euros towards each participants’ flight and visa costs (where applicable). Please note that travel cancellation insurance, travel health insurance and any other kind of insurance cannot be reimbursed by the TUM Graduate School and will be subtracted from the total flight expenses if applicable.
- Participants are responsible for the costs of local travel from home to the airport and vice versa, as well as for any additional expenses they might have, including travel insurance, dinner and the like.
- TUM Graduate School will not reimburse any daily allowance (Tagegeld) according to the Bavarian Travel Expense Act (if applicable, in case of TUM/MRI employees).
Cancellation policy
- Cancellation of participation is free of charge until 15th May 2024.
- For any cancellations after 15th May 2024, a cancellation fee of 500 euros will apply, in case we cannot find another candidate to fill your spot on short notice.
- If you cancel your participation after 1st July 2023 or fail to appear on the day of the course start, we will need to charge you the full course fee of 1,000 euros for the summer school.
- In the event of illness, we will waive the cancellation fee. However, please inform us of this no later than 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 7th July 2024 and provide us with a doctor’s letter within 3 days. Otherwise, you will be charged with the full course fee of 1,000 euros.
- All participants are requested to take care of visa appointments (if applicable) as soon as possible upon selection for participation. If you have to cancel your participation because of a late visa appointment and hence, were not able to obtain your visa for the UK on time, we will need to charge you the full course fee of 1,000 euros for the summer school.
- Please note that in case of cancellations (except due to illness), we cannot reimburse you any expenses already occurred in relation to the Global Fellows Program, e.g. plane tickets or visa application fees.
Before or following the Global Fellows Program (GFP) in July 2024, participating TUM doctoral candidates have the opportunity to do a research stay at Imperial College London or at the Nanyang Technology University Singapore. As a financial supplement for accommodation, travel and living expenses in London/Singapore, the TUM Graduate School offers 5 exclusive grants of 1,000 EUR* each for TUM participants of the Imperial-TUM-NTU Global Fellows Program 2024.
In order to apply for the exclusive Research@Global Fellows Grant, please:
1. Discuss this possibility with your doctoral supervisor and contact a potential host at Imperial/NTU directly.
2. Once you have found a suitable host at Imperial/NTU, please ask him/her for an invitation letter for your intended research stay.
3. Contact Mrs Zizheng Zhang from the TUM-GS Management Office for application information.
*It is possible to combine the Research@Global Fellows Grant with other TUM-GS funding options.
For information about the Global Fellows Program, please contact:
Mrs Zizheng Zhang
International Engagement & Diversity
TUM Graduate School
Email: zhang@zv.tum.de
Phone: +49 89 289 10631