What should I pay particular attention to when preparing my application? The evaluation criteria focus on your academic potential. Here is what we are looking for:

Convincing research synopsis Your doctoral study synopsis should be closely aligned with one of the announced research topics. You are free to use other titles than the working titles provided in the AGTRAIN PhD Topic Catalogue but you must clearly specify the category and topic number you have chosen. Even though you have limited space, only  1500 words (excluding references), your synopsis should (i) be complete, i.e. include sufficient information to allow an evaluation, (ii) show that you have a good overview and understanding of the relevant literature and the key issues in the research topic field, (iii) contain research questions that you plan to answer,
(iv) convince the Assessors that your choice of methods is sound, and (v) that you will be able to undertake the study, i.e. that you have the competences and a realistic work plan. End the synopsis by providing the word count (excl. references).

Convincing written work: In your application you include an excerpt of your own scientific text (e.g. chapters from a thesis, a published scholarly paper or an essay written specifically for this application); this should be in English and should show your ability to write an academic document. Unpublished texts (such as from a thesis or an essay written specifically for this application) must not exceed 2000 words.
The Assessment Committee will evaluate key items such as your understanding of problems, analytical skills, and ability to construct coherent arguments.

Two strong recommendation letters: Letters of recommendation are assessed for additional evidence of your academic achievements, interests, and personal motivation. The Assessment Committee will take into account the academic experience of the referee, as a scholar and as

a supervisor of successful doctoral candidates. You should therefore strive to get letters of recommendations from strong academics

Source: http://agtrain.eu/agtrain/dokumenter/agtrain_guideline_for_web_2013