Page 1 of 7
NOVA Open Call 2015 – Comments in the Application System
Applications for PhD Courses, Master’s Courses and Course Series
All questions asked in the application are presented in this document. Please note that the
questions may vary if the application is for a single course or for a course series as well as for a
PhD course or a Master’s course. If there are any differences, it is explained below.
If there are any comments/guidelines to the questions, these are also presented.
Page 1: General Information
Name of head applicant ( = course leader)Application for a single course:
The head applicant is responsible for the application and is in charge of the course. He/she must be a member of the academic staff at one of the NOVA member institutions and hold a doctoral degree when applying for PhD courses.
Course series:
The head applicant has the main responsibility for the application. He/she must be a member of the academic staff at one of the NOVA member institutions and hold a doctoral degree when applying for PhD courses.
There is a co-head applicant for each of the courses in the series. Each of them is responsible for the information concerning his/her institution's course and course budget.
Academic title
Institution
Page 2 of 7 Has the course been offered before?
Only asked if answered Yes on the previous question: Has the course been changed?
Choices:
- Yes, there are big changes.
- Yes, the course is slightly changed. - No.
Application for a single course: Are you applying for funding of a PhD course or a Master course > 5 000
euro?
Application for a course series: Are you applying for funding of a PhD course series or a Master's course
series?
NOVA accepts applications for series of yearly courses (maximum four courses in a series will be funded per application). Only one application is submitted for the series and the courses in the series should be offered by different member institutions each year. The courses can either be a series of courses within a related area or courses that form a thematic whole. In such cases, the funding granted covers the whole course series, and annual reapplication is not necessary. However, the NOVA funding for each separate course will be dependent on student evaluations of previous courses in the series, as well as on NOVA’s course budget.
Only asked in an application for a course series: Overall title of course series
Page 2: Course 1
AND: Pages 3 (Course 2), 4 (Course 3), 5 (Course 4) in an application for a course
series
Course title
Estimated workload
Please fill in the estimated workload in number of hours using the following categories: seminar, lecture, independent work, other. If you have filled in for "other", please specify the kind of activity.
Page 3 of 7 (Here we have filled in these guidelines in the box:
xx hours seminar xx hours lecture
xx hours independent work xx hours other)
ECTS
Suggested: 30 hours of workload per ECTS.
Motivation for not using the norm of 30 hours of workload per ECTS
The norm 30 hours per ECTS is accepted by all NOVA member institutions. If you suggest a different number of ECTS for course credits, please give a motivation for the difference in ECTS.
Preliminary location (place and country)
Number of course days
PhD course application: Maximum length of a course is 5 working days (plus distance learning part, if
appropriate).
Master’s course application: The course must last for minimum 5 days and preferably not more than 2
weeks.
Preliminary course dates
Please specify the preliminary course dates with start and end dates. If it is not decided yet, please specify the month and year when the course will take place.
Will the course include a distance learning part?
Only asked if answered Yes on the previous question: Preliminary distance learning period
Please specify the distance learning periode(s) with start and end dates. If it is not decided yet, please specify the month(s) and the year when the distance learning will take place.
Page 4 of 7
Only for an application for a course series: Name of co-head applicant ( = course leader) if different
from head applicant listed on page 1
Name, title, institution and e-mail for the co-head applicant must be filled in if the co-head applicant of course 1 is different from the head applicant listed on page 1.
The co-head applicant is responsible for the information concerning his/her institution’s course and course budget. He/she is in charge of the course. He/she must be a member of the academic staff at one of the NOVA member institutions and hold a doctoral degree when applying for PhD courses.
On pages 3 (Course 2), 4 (Course 3) and 5 (Course 4), the title of the question is “Name of co-head applicant ( = course leader)” and only the second part of the comment shows.
Only asked in an application for a course series: Academic title
Only asked in an application for a course series: Institution
Only asked in an application for a course series: Email
Main teachers
"Main teachers" are teachers giving a substantial amount of lectures or tutoring during the course. He/she can be either from a NOVA or a non-NOVA institution and must hold a doctoral degree. Fill in name, academic title, institution and if he/he holds a PhD.
"Other teachers" are teachers contributing a small amount of lectures or tutoring. They should NOT be listed here. They can be listed in the budget if you wish to apply for funding for them.
(Here we have filled in these guidelines in the box: Name, academic title, institution)
Motivation for having 8 or more teachers on the course
If there are eight or more teachers in total (main teachers plus other teachers), a motivation for including a high number of teachers is required. Please mention the total number of teachers.
NB! Application for a course series: One or all of the pages 3 (Course 2), 4 (Course 3) and 5 (Course 4) should be filled in by the co-head applicants to the course series. For each course in the series, one page must be filled in. Since the boxes for estimated workload and main teachers are prerecorded
Page 5 of 7 with guidelines, the guidelines might be registered in the application even if the applicant has not filled in any information for this course.
Page 3 (single course) or 6 (course series): Content
Course descriptionInformation on all the following elements must be filled in: 1. course description, 2. content, 3. short programme outline of the course (NOT a detailed timeplan), 4. prerequisite knowledge, 5. evaluation elements, 6. pre-/post-campus assignment(s) (if applicable), and 7. pedagogical approach. The
information should be filled in with a special focus on the Nordic dimension (see the guidelines for the box "Nordic dimension" below).
Only for applications for a course series: This section should include a description of the entire course
series.
The text in this box and the text on learning outcomes will be used as course information on the NOVA website.
Learning outcome
- Application for a PhD course:
Description of the learning outcomes the candidates should have after taking this course in the categories knowledge, skills and competence.
We have seen that there are national standards for this. We will respect that applicants use national standards.
Below follows the learning outcomes relevant to PhD education in the European Qualifications Framework:
1. Knowledge: knowledge at the most advanced frontier of a field of work or study and at the interface between fields
2. Skills: the most advanced and specialized skills and techniques, including synthesis and evaluation, required to solve critical problems in research and/or innovation and to extend and redefine existing knowledge or professional practice
3. Competence: demonstrate substantial authority, innovation, autonomy, scholarly and professional integrity and sustained commitment to the development of new ideas or processes at the forefront of work or study contexts including research
- Application for a Master’s course:
Description of the learning outcomes the candidates should have after taking this course in the categories knowledge, skills and competence.
Page 6 of 7 We have seen that there are national standards for this. We will respect that applicants use national standards.
Below follows the learning outcomes relevant to Master's education in the European Qualifications Framework:
1. Knowledge:
a) highly specialised knowledge, some of which is at the forefront of knowledge in a field of work or study, as the basis for original thinking and/or research
b) critical awareness of knowledge issues in a field and at the interface between different fields 2. Skills: specialised problem-solving skills required in research and/or innovation in order to develop new knowledge and procedures and to integrate knowledge from different fields
3. Competence:
a) manage and transform work or study contexts that are complex, unpredictable and require new strategic approaches
b) take responsibility for contributing to professional knowledge and practice and/or for reviewing the strategic performance of teams
Nordic dimension - reasons why the course should be facilitated through NOVA - Application for a PhD course:
The most important evaluation criteria is how well the course advances the Nordic dimension, as defined by the NOVA strategy. This should be shown qualitatively. Please respond how the following criteria are met:
1. Does the topic fit with the NOVA strategy?
2. Does the course provide post graduate students high quality education, in fields where the critical mass in one single country would be too small, or fields with a specific Nordic dimension, constructed by e.g. geographical, climatic or cultural commonalities?
3. What is the added value of the course? - Application for a Master’s course:
NOVA supports master level courses specifically in the areas where Nordic cooperation has particularly added value. The most important evaluation criteria is how well the course advances the Nordic dimension, as defined by the NOVA strategy. This should be shown qualitatively. Please respond how the following criteria are met:
Page 7 of 7 2. Does the course provide postgraduate students with high-quality education in fields where the critical mass in one country alone would be too small, or fields with a specific Nordic dimension, defined by, e.g., geographical, climatic or cultural commonalities?
3. What is the added value of the course?
Page 4 (single course) or 7 (course series): Upload Budget
Upload budget
Only for an application for a course series: Applicants for course series must fill in a separate budget for
each course in the series and upload all budgets here.
Will your application be sent to Nordforsk?
The applicant is advised to check if NordForsk funding is available. Possible answers:
- Yes, Nordforsk
- Yes, other (box to specify) - No