Applicants

Important: The information on this page is from previous calls, which are already closed. There will be no future calls within the EuroTechPostdoc2 programme. —- On this page we share the most important information for applicants. More information and details can be found in the Rules & Regulations. If you consider submitting a proposal, please, also refer to the templates for the annexes that need to be submitted. We strongly advise you to study these documents carefully before starting your application.

For your convenience, we provide a check list with the most important things to consider during the EuroTechPostdoc2 application process. However, be aware that we cannot include all details in this check list. For details, please, read the Rules & Regulations.

If you have any questions, that are not answered in this document, or if you want to be added to our mailing list, please contact us at postdoc2@eurotech-universities.eu.

In case you have questions concerning the specific arrangements at one of EuroTechPostdoc2 partners, you can contact the local programme manager directly.

The fellowship consists of a monthly salary for the postdoctoral researcher based on the salary scale of the Host Institution and is granted for a period of twenty-four (24) months, and a dedicated Career development and research budget (up to €8,000) and Collaboration and travel budget (up to €6,000) related to the project.

Salary

The monthly salary is among others dependent on the Host Institution. Below, we therefore mention the minimum gross salary per institution. The actual salary will be based on the experience and qualifications of each admitted postdoctoral researcher.

  • DTU: The minimum gross salary for DTU fellows is 40,543 DKK, including a pension contribution of 17,1% (based on the collective agreements (AC overenskomst)).
  • L’X: The minimum gross salary for l’X fellows is 3,080 EUR.
  • TU/e: The minimum gross salary for TU/e fellows is 3,353 EUR (Salary scale 10.4, in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.) Additionally, fellows receive an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
  • TUM: The minimum gross salary for TUM fellows is 4,074.30 EUR (Payment Group TV-L E13 level 1, on the basis of the collective agreement for the public service of the federal state of Bavaria).

Career development and research budget

The Career development and research budget is a fixed amount of up to €8000 per fellowship. This amount is intended to cover the costs associated with the fellow’s project as outlined in the Research Plan of the proposal, including, but not limited to:

  • the cost of attending the 2 compulsory Bootcamps (1 week each) at one of the EuroTech partner universities
  • the potential costs of open access publication (which is compulsory in projects receiving EU funding)
  • attending career development and training courses
  • attending conferences & meetings
  • outreach and communication activities

If sufficient, this amount could also help to cover the cost of the research (e.g. consumables, small equipment, access to databases…), as appropriate.

Collaboration and travel budget

The Collaboration and travel budget is a fixed amount of up to €6000 per fellowship, to cover the expenses related to the collaboration with the Co-Host Supervisor described in the proposal (including travel and accommodation expenses during secondments and/or visits to the Co-Host Institution). If sufficient, this amount can also be used for other collaborative travels directly related to the research proposal.

Additional costs

Additional Career development and research costs, and additional Collaboration and travel cost necessary to conduct the fellow’s project as outlined in the Research Plan of the proposal is covered by the Host Department or Host Group and has to be negotiated individually.

The research thematic is open to all areas within the Alliance enabling the exploration of emerging and promising fields and promoting new interdisciplinary research collaborations. Fellows may freely choose a research topic and the appropriate Host and Co-host Institution, fitting their individual needs and ambitions.

Examples of potential research areas can be found, but are not limited to, within the Focus Areas of the EuroTech Universities Alliance.

In the online portal, we will ask you to choose a Research area. This is used for the selection of reviewers only. Find more information on the selection of the Research area and the related keywords here.

The fellow must conduct the proposed research in a laboratory of one of the universities of the EuroTech Universities Alliance (the Host Institution) and under the supervision of a Professor or a Senior Scientist (the Host Supervisor) employed in that institution or in the case of l’École Polytechnique à Paris, working at one of the ‘Unités Mixtes de Recherche (UMR)’ at that institution.

The proposed research should be a mandatory collaborative project between the Host Institution and another participating EuroTech university (the Co-host Institution). This collaboration can take place in the form of secondments, research stays, short visits, field research and/or web conferences.

Supervision at the Co-host Institution is done by a Professor or a Senior Scientist (the Co-host Supervisor) employed in the Co-host Institution, or in the case of l’École Polytechnique à Paris, working at one of the ‘Unités Mixtes de Recherche (UMR)’ at that institution.

Four universities within the EuroTech Universities Alliance can act as Host Institution:

  • Technical University of Denmark (DTU),
  • École Polytechnique à Paris (l’X),
  • Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), and
  • Technical University of Munich (TUM).

All six universities within the EuroTech Universities Alliance can act as Co-host Institution.

  • The four above, but also
  • École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
  • Technion Israel Institute of Technology (the Technion)

Note that a viability check will be done before the final selection of candidates, to confirm the availability of infrastructure, supervision and resources to successfully complete the project. Since this check could lead to a rejection of a highly ranked proposal, we strongly advice you to contact your intended Host and Co-host supervisor before submitting the proposal, and check whether indeed the infrastructure, resources and supervision needed are available.

Some of the information on intended supervisors, that we ask in the submission, is classified as personal data (Definition: any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. This includes but is not limited to: name, email address, specifics of research experience, etc.).

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires you to inform the intended supervisors of your project that:

  1. You plan to include their personal data in your proposal
  2. Their personal data will be shared with external evaluators.

If (one of) your intended supervisor(s) notifies you that they object to the sharing of their personal data, GDPR requires you to remove the personal data of the supervisor from your proposal. A submission without the information of the intended supervisors misses some details that are needed in the evaluation, and thus will be scored lower. So, in this case we recommend you to find another supervisor.

Please note: changes in supervisors after the deadline of the call will not be accepted. We therefore recommend that you inform your intended supervisor(s) as soon as possible on your intention to submit a proposal to the EuroTechPostdoc2 programme and to inform them that personal data will be shared.

 

If an intended supervisor notifies the Programme Management Office (PMO) that he/she objects to the sharing of his/her personal data, and the candidate has failed to remove the personal data before submitting the application, GDPR obliges the PMO to remove the data from the application after submission. This means that some of the evaluation criteria cannot be evaluated, leading to a lower score.

To be considered eligible, applicants must fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

  1. In agreement with Horizon 2020: 2018-2020 Work Programme for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, applicants to EuroTechPostdoc2 must be Experienced Researchers, namely they must, on the call deadline (2022 call: February 24, 2022), be in possession of a doctoral degree or have at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience. Full-Time Equivalent Research Experience is measured from the date when the researcher obtained the degree entitling him or her to embark on a doctorate (either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the researcher is recruited, or from where he/she is seconded) even if a doctorate was never started or envisaged.
    • To check whether you are considered an experienced researcher, and what documentation is needed to show this, see our flow chart.
  2. Mobility Rule: Researchers may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the Host Institution for more than twelve (12) months in the three (3) years immediately before the call deadline. Time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention, compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account. Exceptions related to Covid-19 can be considered, based on a case-by-case analysis.
  3. Applicants must be able to carry out full time research during the fellowship period (parental leave, sick leave, military leave and care leave are accepted).
  4. Research direction should follow the H2020 Ethics rules.
  5.  

To be considered admissible, the application must be complete and submitted in the electronic submission system before the deadline of the call.

For an application to be complete, it must contain the following elements:

  1. Research plan (maximum five (5) pages, following the mandatory template provided).
  2. Prioritized CV – including career breaks and list of all publications of the applicant, following the template provided.
  3. Completed and signed ethical issues form, following the mandatory template provided.
  4. Scanned copy of PhD diploma or an official statement of the awarding university that the degree has been awarded, or official statement(s) proving the four years of full-time equivalent research experience in English. Check our flow chart to see what documentation is needed.
  5. Names of intended Host and Co-host.
    • The Host Supervisor could be from the following Host Institutions: Technical University of Denmark – DTU, École Polytechnique Paris – L’X, Eindhoven University of Technology – TU/e, and Technical University of Munich – TUM.
    • The Co-host Supervisor could be from the following Co-host Institutions: Technical University of Denmark – DTU, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL, École Polytechnique Paris – L’X, Technion Israel Institute of Technology – Technion, Eindhoven University of Technology – TU/e, and Technical University of Munich – TUM.
  6. Motivation letter on carrying out a cross-border collaborative project (maximum one (1) page; additional pages will be discarded).

Note that templates are provided for the research plan, CV and ethical issues form. It is mandatory to follow these templates, meaning that 1. The structures is used (sections, subsections etc.) and 2. The guidelines for formatting are followed (font, font size, spacing, margins). Not following the templates will lead to the submission being non-admissible, and rejected because of that.

The figure below shows the timeline of the Application and Evaluation process of the EuroTechPostdoc2 – 2022 call.

The most important steps within this process are the following:

  • Deadline call: On or before the deadline (24 February, 2022, 17:00 hr. CET/GMT+1), applicants submit their proposal in the electronic submission system.
  • After the submission deadline, the Programme Management Office performs an admissibility and eligibility check for all submitted applications and inform the applicants by e-mail of the outcome within two weeks.
  • Proposals found eligible and admissible are sent for review by three external independent reviewers, who will score the proposals according to the evaluation criteria (see Rules & Regulations for details). Only proposals scoring higher than the threshold are considered for the next steps.
  • For the proposals with the highest score per university, a viability check will be performed to confirm the availability of infrastructure, supervision and resources to successfully complete the project.
  • Per university, fellowships will be offered to the applicants of the best proposals that are found viable. TU/e, TUM, DTU have 10 hosting positions per call whereas L’X has 5 positions.

Note that the viability check is a crucial step before the final selection of candidates. Since this check could lead to a rejection of a highly ranked proposal, we strongly advise you to contact your intended Host and Co-host Supervisor before submitting the proposal, and check whether indeed the infrastructure, resources and supervision needed are available. For more details, please refer to the Rules & Regulations.