Postdoctoral Researchers

Aim

The aim of the funding for research posts as Postdoctoral Researchers is to advance the professional competence and independence of the most promising young researchers who have recently earned their doctorate. Postdoctoral Researchers are encouraged to international mobility and collaboration as well as national, cross-sectoral mobility. The three-year funding period may include one or several mobility spells as well as funding for the researcher’s return to Finland. In principle, a project to be funded shall serve Finnish research and society or international collaboration.

We recommend that Postdoctoral Researchers provide (without separate compensation) supervision of thesis and dissertation writers in their field and teaching associated with their field of expertise, covering 5% of their annual working hours. However, Postdoctoral Researchers should use no more than 10% of their annual working hours for teaching or other tasks not directly associated with their research.

Applicant

The applicant is a researcher who must have completed his or her doctorate no more than four years ago.

Applicants who have gained their doctorate more than four years ago can be considered only for very special reasons (maternity, paternity, parental or childcare leave, military service or non-military service, or long-term illness). If you plead these special reasons, you must justify them in the application under Personal data/CV: Degrees, Additional information. If the reasons are strictly confidential, please contact the presenting official (see More information below).

Funding

The total costs of a research post as Postdoctoral Researcher include funding for a 36-month salary, personal research costs and international and national mobility (e.g. travel and a grant for a stay abroad). Funding is not granted for salary costs of other persons. The recommended amounts of grants abroad are presented in Appendix 4 (in the call for applications).

The applicant and the site of research shall agree on the Postdoctoral Researcher’s salary in accordance with the pay system at the site of research. The Academy’s contribution to funding comes to no more than 70% of the total costs of the Postdoctoral Researcher’s salary and research costs. The average amounts of funding granted by the Research Councils in the previous call are presented in Appendix 3 (in the call for applications).

Funding period

The funding for Postdoctoral Researchers is granted for three years. It can be changed only for compelling reasons (see Applicant). One and the same person can be granted personal Postdoctoral Researcher funding only once.

Special conditions and restrictions

The Academy will consider only one application from one and the same researcher for an Academy Project (incl. a consortium subproject) and a research post as Academy Research Fellow or Postdoctoral Researcher. If an applicant does submit more than one application for any of these funding opportunities or applies for more than one type of such funding, only the first application received from that applicant will be reviewed. Applications that are not reviewed for this reason will not be eligible for funding.

An applicant for a research post as Postdoctoral Researcher can be named as a researcher in the application for Academy Project funding by another applicant, but with a different research plan. Applicants must indicate this in their applications.

Research at the EUI

The European University Institute (EUI) can receive one Academy-funded Postdoctoral Researcher at a time to carry out research at the EUI for 1–2 years. Funding for this opportunity is applied for as part of the three-year research post as Postdoctoral Researcher. Applicants interested in working at the EUI are requested to read about EUI research before applying and to contact the Academy’s EUI science adviser (see More information below) when drafting their application. Applicants need not append any separate invitation from the EUI to their application.

The grant required and any other expenses arising from the stay at the EUI shall be included in the total cost estimate of the application for a research post as Postdoctoral Researcher. A justification for the EUI stay shall be given in the research plan under section 6, Researchers and Research environment. The recommended amounts of grants paid in addition to the salary are presented in Appendix 4 (in the call for applications). Travel costs of accompanying family members may be included in the cost estimate if the researcher and his or her family will stay abroad longer than six months.

Appendices

See Appendix 1 A (in the call for applications), Appendices to application.

How to apply

The deadline is in September. The deadline is non-negotiable. Applications are drafted in the Academy’s online services, (select Open calls > Postdoctoral Researcher).

Draft the application so as to ensure that the Academy’s contribution to funding comes to no more than 70% of the estimated total project costs. See more details on our website under Full cost model. In addition to salary costs, the estimated total costs shall also include necessary personal research costs.  

In the research plan, under section 5, Implementation, to be appended to the application, enter the monthly salary of the Postdoctoral Researcher (excl. indirect employee costs) together with a justification for the estimated total project costs (incl. estimated research costs).

More information

For more information, please contact the science adviser mentioned in the latest call for applications.

Content updated according to September call for applications 2012