MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships
Vilnius University (VU) invites talented and motivated researchers to apply for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF) together. The objective of MSCA PF is to support researchers’ careers, enhance their creative and innovative potential and foster excellence in research. The Postdoctoral Fellowships action targets researchers holding a PhD who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility.
Through the implementation of an original and personalised research project, MSCA PF aim to foster excellence through training and mobility and to equip researchers with new skills and competences in order to identify solutions to current and future challenges.
The scheme is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers in research.
Types of postdoctoral fellowships
European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe.
Duration: 12-24 months.
Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Duration: 24-36 months (12-24 months outgoing phase in a non-associated Third Country & 12 months mandatory return phase to a host organisation in Europe).
Additional funding opportunity
ERA Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe to a Widening Country*. In order to apply for the ERA Fellowships call, applicants need to submit their proposal to the 2022 MSCA PF call. To be eligible to this call the host organisation must be located in an eligible widening country. The application to the MSCA PF call will be automatically resubmitted to this call in case the proposal fails to reach an adequate place in the ranking to be funded.
*Widening countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and all Associated Countries with equivalent characteristics in terms of R&I performance and the Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).
Worldwide secondments and placements in the non-academic sector
Researchers may opt to include a secondment phase, within the overall duration of their fellowship in any country worldwide. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods.
For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, secondments cannot exceed 1/3 of the standard fellowship duration.
For Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, optional secondments are permitted for up to 1/3 of the outgoing phase.
Both European and Global Postdoctoral Fellowships can provide an additional period of up to 6 months to support researchers seeking a placement at the end of the project to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
Eligible applicants
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Mobility rule: fellows must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months before the call deadline
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Supported fellows must be in possession of PhD at the call deadline (applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply)
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Up to 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research from the date of award of the doctoral degree at the call deadline (exceptions: career breaks, work outside research, research outside Europe for reintegrating researchers)
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All domains of research and technological development are eligible for funding
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Applications made jointly by the researcher and a host institution in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country (in the research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025 legal entity must be established in an EU Member State or Euratom Associated Country)
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Excellent researchers of any nationality. However, researchers applying for Global Postdoctoral Fellowship or researchers reintegrating to Europe, must be nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
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Researchers reintegrating from a Third Country must either be based in a Third Country at the call deadline, or have moved directly from a Third Country to an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country within the last 12 months before the call deadline.
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Fellows in the research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025 must be nationals or long-term residents of an EU Member State or Euratom Associated Country
Applicable unit contributions
* A country correction coefficient applies to the living allowance in order to ensure equal treatment and purchasing power parity for all researchers (72,8% for Lithuania). For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, this coefficient is the one applicable to the country of the beneficiary. For the Global Postdoctoral Fellowships two different country correction coefficients apply – for the outgoing phase and for the return phase.
** The pre-defined categories are as follows: EUR 3 000, EUR 4 500, EUR 6 000, EUR 9 500, EUR 13 000, EUR 18 500, EUR 27 500, EUR 35 500, EUR 47 500 and EUR 60 000.
The beneficiary must recruit the postdoctoral researcher under an employment contract or equivalent direct contract with full social security coverage.
The above rates apply to postdoctoral researchers devoting themselves to their project on a full-time basis. Researchers may, in agreement with the supervisor and beneficiary and with prior approval by the granting authority, implement their project on a part-time basis.
VU as your host institution
Founded in 1579 VU is one of the oldest higher education institutions in Eastern and Central Europe and the largest university in Lithuania involved in multidisciplinary academic activity. During more than four centuries of its existence VU grew into the leading university in the country in a broad spectrum of fundamental and applied research, education, training and retraining, consultancy, providing research and development services to a wide range of businesses. VU represents Lithuania by shaping high scientific standards, which increasingly contribute to attracting international researchers and becomes a serious competitor to prestigious European Universities.
VU participates in numerous academic, business, social and other networks and associations and is involved in international initiatives and clusters, which are crucial to R&D activities, opening up opportunities for multilateral collaboration, new initiatives and community involvement in and for society. To name just a few:
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Lithuania is one of the founders of European Consortium for Research Infrastructures (ERIC) for Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) – the world‘s leading consortium of laser research infrastructures. Being globally famous for the achievements in the field of lasers VU together with the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology is officially representing the country in the ELI ERIC. Also, VU Laser Research Center is a part of a network of European laser research infrastructures Laserlab-Europe bringing together 35 leading organizations in laser-based interdisciplinary research. Together, they perform joint research activities dealing with the most important scientific challenges in laser research spanning across various research fields including biomedical and life science applications of lasers, innovative laser technologies, photonic techniques in materials science and high-intensity laser development.
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VU Life Sciences Center (LSC) represents Lithuania in the world's leading laboratory for life sciences research – European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). In order to intensify institutional synergies a new EMBL unit at VU has been established – Partnership Institute for Genome Editing Technologies, employing six high-level groups of international researchers whose scientific focus will be on the development and strengthening of gene editing technology.
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VU Faculty of Philosophy actively participates in the activities of a research infrastructure for studying the effects of health, social, economic and environmental policies over the life-course of European citizens and beyond – The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). SHARE is the largest pan-European social science panel study providing internationally comparable longitudinal micro data which allow insights in the fields of public health and socio-economic living conditions of European individuals.
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VU is a member of the Arqus European University Alliance which brings together seven longstanding comprehensive research universities with deep regional engagement – the universities of Bergen, Granada, Graz, Leipzig, Lyon, Padova and Vilnius. Among other priorities Arqus aims to increase and improve the joint research capacity of the partner universities by enhancing actual research collaboration within the Alliance and with European and global partners, sharing best practice in research management and support, looking for ways to share resources, fostering joint doctoral and post-doctoral initiatives as the basis for early-stage researcher development, promoting shared opportunities and thus making Arqus an attractive space for talent from around the world.
What is more, VU is a bilateral partner of many universities all around the world and these partnerships pave the way for academic cooperation in a different research and study fields.
Find your supervisor at VU
VU provides opportunities for doctoral graduates from other institutions to engage in the university-based research, to take advantage of research infrastructure at the university and to acquire new research skills and scientific knowledge under the direction of an experienced supervisor.
Find yourself a suitable supervisor or a potential host faculty via the websites of VU’s academic units, Research Teams search or simply contact Research Projects Office () for help.
The list of VU researchers who have already expressed their interest in supervising postdoctoral fellows in the frame of 2022 MSCA PF call for proposals:
Application process
Once you have identified the potential supervisor, please contact her/him directly. You can also try to find one with the help of Research Projects Office.
Please include the following documents while contacting potential supervisor (with CC to ) or Research Projects Office ():
After the supervisor agrees to endorse you as a candidate, you can start preparation of MSCA PF project proposal. Please note that you need to receive supervisor’s endorsement letter signed by her/him and the head of the host department and send it to Research Projects Office () by June 7, 2022.
Support services at VU
All the applicants having the endorsement of their supervisors will also have an opportunity to participate in VU’s MSCA PF Workshop, dedicated to acquainting with the rules of participation in the program, the content of the application, to hear experiences of the successful VU MSCA IF/PF applicants. Workshop is scheduled to take place in June, 2022 (tbc).
Important documents and useful links
MSCA PF Guide for Applicants 2022
Standard MSCA PF Application Form
MSCA Specific Evaluation Forms Used by the Expert Evaluators
Guidelines on the Calculation of 8-years Research Experience in MSCA PF
MSCA-PF Self-assessment Tool for the Calculation of the 8-years Research Experience
Specific Keywords (in the proposal template you will be asked to select specific keywords, that will be used to choose appropriate expert evaluators)
MSCA Green Charter Guidance Material (compilation of guidance documents and best practice examples)
Develop your own career becoming part of our academic community!