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The following sentence appears on CERN's webpage for Studentships in Summer (Non Member State Nationals) under Eligibity Conditions.

You are a national of any State other than a CERN Member State (or Cyprus, Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine)

I see two possible interpretations of this sentence.

  1. Natioanals of CERN Member States cannot apply BUT Nationals of Cyprus, Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine can apply.
  2. Natioanals of CERN Member States cannot apply and ALSO Nationals of Cyprus, Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine cannot apply.

Which interpretation is correct?

CERN's page about Member States says that:

Cyprus, Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine are Associate Member States

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  • Very inconveniently you haven't quoted the entire sentence - there must be some words before You. Nothing in your reproduced sentence says anything about apply.
    – WS2
    Nov 22, 2016 at 9:29
  • This is under Eligibility Conditions list. There is no word before you, and the quoted sentence is the first bullet point. Please check the linked webpage.
    – Yaseen
    Nov 22, 2016 at 9:35
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    I sympathise with your problem. It is very ambiguously worded. But based on the other criteria, e.g. You have a good knowledge of English... one assumes that the missing introductory words to each requirement are: You are eligible if... (I mean they wouldn't be making it a requirement that you didn't have a good knowledge of English, would they?). So they must be saying You are eligible if you are a member of a state other than a CERN member state (or Cyprus etc...). But can they possibly mean that? Why would they be seeking people who were specifically not members of a CERN state?
    – WS2
    Nov 22, 2016 at 9:52
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    @WS2 I think the key phrase is Studentships in Summer (Non Member State Nationals).
    – user140086
    Nov 22, 2016 at 9:57
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    You may find that comparing and contrasting with the eligibility for member states students makes things more clear. jobs.web.cern.ch/job/12154 'Eligibility conditions- You are a national of a CERN Member State or Cyprus, Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey or Ukraine.'
    – Spagirl
    Nov 22, 2016 at 13:53

1 Answer 1

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There is an important set of countries made up of the union of {member states} and {associate member states}. The member states are Austria, Belgium, ..., UK. The associate member states are Cyprus, Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. So on the page you gave us a link to, instructions are being given to students who are from some other country, such as Japan or Mexico. Countries that are neither member states nor associate member states. Presumably there is a different page of instructions for students who are from member or associate member states.

This page of instructions, in the "eligibility conditions" tab, is stating that the list of bulleted characteristics must all apply to you, for you to be eligible to make this type of application (Studentship in summer, non-member state national).

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