Postdoctoral Scientific Research Fellowship, Spain

Deadline: 30 November 2012
Open to: scientists who have recently completed a PhD, with at least one publication as first author.
Fellowship: competitive salaries, including a travel and mobility allowance.

Description

Campus Mare Nostrum 37 /38 is a joint effort of international organizations, research centres, technology parks, companies and the administration, which seeks to transform the Region of Murcia (Spain) into a pole of international, high-quality education, science, business and culture in the Mediterranean area. The CMN establishes three areas of excellence in the fields of training, research, and technology transfer.
U-IMPACT: UMU Incoming Mobility Programme ACTion: Five two-year competitive fellowships will be offered in this international call aimed to attract highly talented scientists seeking advanced research training and career development opportunities in a research environment of excellence, supported by EU Marie Curie Actions and by University of Murcia under Campus Mare Nostrum 37/38 CMN. Candidates should start by May 2013.
Postdoctoral fellows will benefit from the infrastructures present at UMU and will interact with the groups working at university. The goals of the U-IMPACT Incoming Mobility Programme Action are to facilitate interaction, both scientific and social, among postdocs from across the University of Murcia, and to liaise with Campus Mare Nostrum implementation regarding the organization of activities and networks of interest and value for the postdoctoral community.
Postdoctoral fellows will be offered competitive salaries, including a travel and mobility allowance.

Eligibility

• Applicants must hold a doctorate degree at the time of the deadline (30 November 2012)
• Applicants must have at least one publication as first author (or corresponding author) either accepted, in press or published at the time of the deadline (30 November 2012)
• Candidates are eligible for a period of 4 years following successful completion of their PhD at the date of the deadline (exceptions for maternity/paternity leaves and other documented special circumstances).
•  There are no nationality restrictions for U-IMPACT, but candidates must undertake trans-national mobility, which means that candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline. Stays inferior to 2 months shall not be taken into account.

 Application

Applications for the U-IMPACT program will be accepted exclusively online through the online application system HERE.
Applicants will be asked to attach the following documents:

• PhD certificate or official notification of the award
• Candidate’s CV via the online application form
• At least two letters of reference.
• An acceptance letter of the University of Murcia Research Group in which the candidate wants to be hosted

The deadline for the receipt of completed applications is November 30, 2012.
To submit a new application you will have to go to the U-IMPACTonline application system, click on “user registration,” complete the mandatory personal details and press “Accept”. If the registration is successful you will receive an automatic email confirming your registration and providing the login details. You will be able to complete the rest of the application before logging out or alternatively you can ”save,” log out and continue working on the application later and until the call deadline.

Important Dates

30 November 2012: Call deadline
21 December 2012: Pre-selection of candidates
21 January 2013: Submission of project proposal by pre-selected candidates
18 February 2013: Evaluation of projects
14 March 2013: Oral interview
End March 2013: Notification to candidates
1 May 2013: Start date of fellowships

Selection Process
The selection of the fellows will be based on the candidates’ academic qualifications and research excellence in an open and transparent peer review selection process following the recommendations of the “European Charter for Researchers” and “Code of Conduct for Recruitement of Researchers” as described below:

• Pre-selection: based on the candidate’s CV according to the number and relevance of publications, fellowships obtained under competitive calls, participation in international meetings, reference letters and other merits.
• Submission of proposals by candidates: Pre-selected candidates will be invited to contact their prospective group leaders and will be given four weeks to write a maximum 8-page research project proposal. University of Murcia will make available on its web page a template for the project proposal.
• Evaluation of projects: by two external reviewers, of which at least one will be an international expert, selected for their competence in the scientific area of the proposal.
• Oral interviews: Selected candidates will be invited to University of Murcia for a two-day interview. The evaluation will be based on an individual presentation by each candidate to the members of the committee. This presentation will focus on the candidate’s research project and interests.
• Notification to candidates: The five top candidates will be offered an U-IMPACT contract and will be invited to sign an acceptance letter.

For more imformation, please contact the organization at u-impact@um.es or visit the ORIGINAL WEBSITE HERE.