FNR PRIDE Doctoral Training Programme

For an international student, the practical effect is straightforward: once a DTU has been awarded PRIDE funding, it opens PhD positions and recruits candidates directly, in the same way a well-funded international research group would advertise doctoral vacancies. These positions come with full four-year employment contracts, meaning PRIDE-funded PhD candidates are salaried university employees under Luxembourg labour law, not scholarship recipients living on a stipend, which brings the security of social security contributions, paid leave, and pension accrual alongside the doctoral training itself.

PRIDE is open to all domains of research and technological development on a bottom-up basis, so DTUs exist across the University of Luxembourg's science, technology, law, economics, humanities, and social science faculties, as well as in partnership with Luxembourg's public research centres (such as LIST and LIH). Each DTU project can run for up to 6.5 years in total, covering PhD recruitment waves, structured coursework, and mobility, though any individual PhD candidate's own contract runs up to four years.

Alongside the salaried contract, each PRIDE PhD position comes with a dedicated training and mobility allowance of €6,500 for the duration of the doctorate, which candidates can use to attend international conferences, summer schools, or short research stays abroad, on top of the structured coursework and supervision the DTU itself provides.

Because the FNR funds the DTU as a block rather than individual students, there is no single central 'PRIDE application' for prospective PhD candidates to submit. Instead, candidates must identify an active, currently-recruiting DTU (through the FNR's list of funded projects, University of Luxembourg PhD vacancy pages, or direct contact with DTU coordinators) and apply for an open position within it, much like applying for any advertised doctoral post.