Requirements & conditions

Appointment

The duration of the appointment as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie DN fellow will be for a maximum period of 3 years (PhD student). The appointment as a PhD student should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). Positions are aimed at being full-time, but if necessary (e.g. for family or medical reasons) part-time appointments are also possible. In cases where researchers – in agreement with the host organisation, and with prior approval of the European Research Executive Agency – execute their project on a part-time basis, the duration of the appointment can be extended, but not longer than the duration of the EpiSeedLink project (48 months; end date Sept 30, 2026). All partners are committed to facilitate an appropriate work-life balance. The policy of EpiSeedLink is to promote equal opportunities and no discrimination against researchers in any way, including gender diversity or other intersectional factors. We strongly encourage women and other under-represented groups to apply.

Requirements

Candidates can only apply for a position in a country different from the one they lived in for most of the time in the last three years. At the time of recruitment by the host organisation, researchers should not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date. Candidates should not have been awarded a doctoral degree yet.

What do you have to offer?

You are eager to pursue a career in science, perform a PhD abroad and spend part of your PhD in an EpiSeedLink partner group (5-12 months). You are able to work in a team as well as independently, enjoy working on collaborative projects, and can deal with and are in for a challenge. You are keen on getting experience in performing interdisciplinary research, and and also learn about working in a company. You are proficient in English and willing to improve your English communication skills, keen on supervising BSc and MSc students during practicals and/or internships if applicable, and eager to engage in the training activities of EpiSeedLink.

How to apply

You can apply to any of our projects through the contact form you find below by providing the following information. Please note that applications that are not eligible (do not meet the requirements listed) will not be considered and will not receive a reply.

In the application form you must provide:

• Motivation letter.
• Curriculum vitae in the Europass format, including:
  • List of internships (subject, name supervisor, institution, grade, length, etc)
  • Publications (if applicable)
  • If possible TOEFL scores (www.ets.org) when grade is obtained in non-native English-speaking country
• Grades (with explanation of the grading system)
• A list of four prioritised positions of interest
• Contact information of two referees willing to write a letter of recommendation. The referees will be approached directly by EpiSeedLink to provide their recommendation letter.

Organisation of the selection process

We will choose the candidates that fit best for the different projects in the following steps:

1. Eligibility check: our recruitment committee will select the eligible candidates based on the criteria listed under requirements.
2. Online interview: each eligible application will be assessed, and eligible candidates will be selected for an online interview. Based on the online interviews, candidates will be notified whether they have been selected for the face-to-face interview.
3. Face-to-face interviews: selected candidates will be invited for a 2-day interview event at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (Campus Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain) at the beginning of November.
   • Day 1 of the interview event will start with parallel sessions during which candidates are invited to give a 10-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Day 1 will also include an introductory meeting and will end with a social program.
   • Day 2 will consist of parallel sessions during which the candidates will have an interview with EpiSeedLink principal investigators.
4. Notification of the selection outcome. Within 2 weeks after the interviews, candidates will be offered a position or will be informed about the rejection decision.

The evaluation and selection procedure will occur in a non-discriminatory manner, promoting equal opportunities and no discrimination against researchers in any way, including gender diversity or other intersectional factors. We strongly encourage women and other under-represented groups to apply.