1. What is the application process following application submission?
After the June 30th project proposal submission deadline, there is a grace period of 4 business days, within which associated students must have submitted the accompanying job application. Project proposals submitted by a supervisor without an associated student or vice versa, will not be considered. Project evaluations will commence immediately after the deadline, and application responses will be sent in August. Responses can range from rejection letters, possibly annotated, to provisional acceptance letters. If provisionally accepted, CFCS and the project supervisor will begin negotiations of terms for the final agreement.

2. When is the PhD project set to begin?
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the funded PhD projects are slated to begin 1 January 2024.

3. Is it required for supervisor and candidate to apply together?
Yes. To be considered, supervisors must submit the complete PhD project proposal to perive@cfcs.dk, while associated student candidates must submit their own applications via the accompanying job listing at https://fe-ddis.dk/da/karriere/ledige-stillinger/. Student candidates should make sure to clearly reference the associated supervisor and project as part of their application.

4. Can multiple students apply for the same project?
Yes, through prior agreement with the supervisor, it is possible for multiple student candidates to associate their application with the same project proposal, although only a single candidate will be selected.

5. Can multiple project proposals be submitted from the same supervisor or research group?
Yes, it is allowed. Be mindful that a single high-quality proposal will have a much higher likelihood of success than multiple lesser proposals.

6. Can applications unrelated to the focus topics be accepted?
Exceptional projects on cyber security technologies can be considered, even if they are not explicitly related to the focus topics. In this case, it is even more important, to ensure that the project description is highly detailed and properly motivated.

7. Who should produce and submit the application for the PhD Call?
It is the main supervisor’s responsibility to produce and submit the project proposal to perive@cfcs.dk.

8. Who should produce and submit the application for the associated job listing?
It is the student candidate’s responsibility to independently produce and submit the job application as instructed at the listing found at https://fe-ddis.dk/da/karriere/ledige-stillinger/.

9. What are some practical considerations for an industrial PhD with CFCS?
As an industrial PhD candidate fully funded by CFCS, the student becomes a CFCS employee subject to part-time responsibilities at CFCS locations. Naturally, CFCS will strive to ensure that any obligations at CFCS are relevant and minimally disruptive to the PhD education. Additionally, all employees of CFCS must obtain security clearance as part of the recruitment process, and be able to maintain it throughout the entire term of employment. If for any reason the security clearance is revoked, the PhD student ceases to be employed by CFCS and the PhD project is terminated.

10. Will projects based on social sciences be considered?
Unfortunately not. For our current PhD call we emphasize technological solutions to problems related to cyber security.

11. Will the student candidates be able to publish research results freely?
Generally yes – the student is not expected to conduct classified research and as such will be free to publish like other PhD students. However, in some cases the student may be exposed to restricted information as a CFCS employee, which may not be publishable.

12. What are some selection criteria for the supervisor’s background?
The main supervisor has an academic level equivalent to at least associate professor at a Danish university, with excellent research and publications related to the project subject matter. Ideally, the supervisor has a proven track record of teaching successful PhD candidates.

13. What are some of the student candidate’s background selection criteria?
The student has an educational background relevant to the project work, and it should be predetermined that the student candidate meets standard expectations of eligibility for acceptance by the relevant PhD school.

14. Can a co-supervisor be based at a different university/institution from the main supervisor?
A co-supervisor from a different institution is quite ok, as long as it is by agreement without CFCS involvement, made bilaterally between the co-supervisor’s and the main supervisor’s institutions. CFCS will only partake in agreements directly with the main supervisor’s institution but must be informed of all contributing parties in the application.