The MuSkLE PhD COFUND programme

The MuSkLE programme aims to recruit a total of 55 outstanding doctoral candidates from around the world in the fields of musculoskeletal health and related disciplines. The project is coordinated by Université Lyon 1 (Arqus) and involves several academic partners in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Among them are Université Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne (Transform4Europe), Université Clermont Auvergne (ARTEMIS), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (UNITA) and Université Grenoble Alpes (UNITE!), meaning that five European university alliances are directly connected to the programme.

The MuSkLE project also involves several other universities, research organisations and socio-economic partners, making it a broader regional and international consortium. As highlighted in the proposal, European university alliances play an important role in helping disseminate the call and reaching a wide pool of talented candidates. Beyond that, we are convinced that strengthening the link between the regional scale (academic excellence on the topic of musculoskeletal health) and the European scale (inter-alliance cooperation) is both a necessity and an opportunity for our alliances, with the European Commission strongly calling for these synergies. In this context, we would be very grateful if you could share and promote the first call for applications within your alliance and across the universities that are part of your network, in order to ensure broad visibility among potential applicants.

Application deadline: 6 May 2026.

You can find the announcement and key information here.

Should you need any additional information or communication materials, please contact arqus@univ-lyon1.fr