The Postdoctoral Junior Leader fellowships programme is aimed at recruiting excellent researchers of any nationality who wish to continue their research career in Spain or Portugal in the areas of health and life sciences, technology, physics, engineering and mathematics. This programme aims to promote high quality, innovative research in Spain and Portugal and to support the best scientific talents who are offered an attractive and competitive environment in which to carry out excellent research.

Deadline: 03 October 2024

The Junior Leader postdoctoral fellowship programme targets PhD holders who have obtained the doctoral degree within the two to seven years before the call deadline. The fellowship duration is 3 years. The programme has two different frames:

• Incoming call
  20 postdoctoral fellowships for researchers of any nationality who are offered an employment contract to carry out a research project at Spanish centres accredited with the Severo Ochoa, María de Maeztu or Carlos III Health Institute seals of excellence, or at Portuguese centres evaluated as excellent by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia de Portugal – CESAM is one of these! To be eligible, candidates must have resided in the host country for less than 12 months in the last 3 years.

• Retaining call
  20 postdoctoral fellowships for researchers of all nationalities to carry out their research at any university or research centre in Spain or Portugal. To be eligible, candidates must have resided in the host country for more than 12 months in the last 3 years.

Funding

The maximum payment amount will be 320 100 €, in three maximum annual payments of €102 500 which include:

• Labor costs: a maximum of 64 000€ gross to cover the total labor costs of the university or research centre that contracts the fellow. The minimum annual gross salary to be offered to the fellow by the host institution must be 47 000€.
• Research costs: 38 500 € gross per year for expenses directly related to the Junior Leader project including consumables, equipment, hiring of personnel, registration for conferences or courses, research visits and intellectual copyright costs, among others.
• Annual family allowance:  1 200 € gross per year for each dependent child.
• Mobility: 5 400 € gross at the beginning of the fellowship for fellows who need to relocate to join the host institution (those who need to travel more than 50 km).

What includes

The Postdoctoral Junior Leader fellowships programme includes an interdisciplinary training programme (in two sessions) designed to enhance innovation and leadership for these fellows. This programme has been particularly designed by leading international companies in the sector.

To complement their research career, fellowship holders are required to carry out an international or intersectoral internship of up to 6 months at an institution of their choice, which will enable them to increase their multidimensional competencies.

The fellow may choose to be assigned a mentor from the ”La Caixa” Foundation Fellows Association, depending on his or her academic discipline or research area.

Those receiving a Postdoctoral Junior Leader fellowship will be able to participate in the different communication and dissemination initiatives set up by “La Caixa” Foundation to raise awareness of science in society as a whole.

They will also become part of the group of “La Caixa” Foundation Fellows, a world-renowned network of academic and professional talent.

Supporting information: Here you can find additional information as well as the answer to FAQ. If you want our support, please get in touch with us (cesam-gesciencia@ua.pt).