Because of EU-regulations, we distinguish between two categories of applicants; category A applicants and category B applicants. These categories are defined as follows:
Category B applicants
If you meet any of the following requirements, you are a category B applicant:
- Applicants who are nationals or residents of any EU member state or any EEA member state; Liechtenstein, Iceland or Norway
- Applicants that have carried their major activities (=work or study) in any of the countries mentioned above for more than 12 months over the last 5 years
Category A applicants
All other applicants.
There different scholarships available for students from the two different categories (see Tuition Fees and Scholarships).
The following general selection criteria will be applied to determine eligibility of a candidate for the MEME programme, as well as eligibility for scholarships:
- Candidates must have completed a BSc in biology or equivalent, or convincingly show that they will obtain such a degree before the MEME programme starts in September 2014
- Candidates must have sufficient background in evolutionary biology or neighboring disciplines (e.g. ecology or systematics)
- Candidates must have belonged to the top students of their cohort during their BSc
- Candidates must have a strong motivation to pursue a scientific career
- Candidates must be sufficiently proficient in English (for accepted tests please see below)
The application form can be found here.
Two groups of students are relieved from having to prove proficiency in English:
- Students that are native English speakers AND had education until secondary education (high school) in the English language
- Students that did their BSc for at least three years in the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand
Unfortunately we can make no exceptions to this rule as it is mandatory for the Admission to all MEME universities to be able to proof your proficiency in English.
However, if the medium of instruction was English during your previous education we can make an exception, but ONLY for the Application part of the programme. Please note that even if the medium of instruction was English, we still require official proof of your proficiency in English, e.g. by means of sending us a test score report from the university. Alternatively you can provide an official letter of the university (signed, stamped and printed on university paper) in which is stated that the complete BSc has been taught in English (courses and examinations!). We understand this may seem strange to you, but our experience tells us that English being the medium of instruction during a student’s previous education very often doesn’t guarantee a sufficient command of the English language.
Please note that if you are selected for the programme and the MEME consortium or the Admission Office is not convinced of your English Proficiency, you will still need to do one of the below mentioned test with good result before you can even be admitted to the MEME programme or any of the MEME universities.
The accepted tests are:
- IELTS (Academic) 6.5 – no less than 6.0 on each section
- TOEFL iBT (internet-based test) 92 – no less than 21 on each section
- TOEFL CBT (computer-based test) 237 – no less than 21 on each section
- TOEFL PBT (paper-based test) 580 – no less than 55 on each section
- Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English – CAE (Certificate of Advanced English)