Application
PULSE postdoc applicants have the opportunity to choose between an academic or an entrepreneurial track. Both fellowship tracks will include advanced training in research and transferable skills, integrating international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral elements to foster collaborations and career development towards future leadership in molecular life sciences.
48 postdocs will be recruited in total, of which 24 in the first call, 16 for the academic track and 8 for the entrepreneurial track. In the second call, opening in January 2026, another 24 postdocs will be recruited, 16 for the academic track and 8 for the entrepreneurial track.
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Important dates ahead
Eligibility
Proposal
Additional information
Important dates ahead
- January 7, 2025: 1st Call opens
- March 31, 2025: 1st Call closes
- April – May, 2025: Evaluation and selection phase
- June, 2025: Decision
- June – September, 2025: Appointment and contractual phase
- October 1, 2025: Start of postdoc fellowship employment
Eligibility
Applicants must comply with the MSCA mobility rule. This means that the candidate can come from any country in the world, but may not apply if resided or carried out his/her/their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Sweden for more than 12 months during the 3 years preceding the call deadline, unless as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention (Scholars at risk). Eligibility time calculator
Furthermore:
Applicants must be in possession of a doctoral degree, awarded no more than 3 years before the application deadline (with accepted exemptions for deducible time, e.g. compulsory national service, medical and parental leaves of absences, time expended obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention) Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply.
Postdoc should be available for employment, ready to start at or near the announced start date, which is October 1, 2025.
Proposal
Matchmaking
Applicants are obliged to have a suitable SciLifeLab Group Leader (Principal Investigator, PI) as main host for their fellowship project. A selection of the excellent milieus offered by these PI:s will be shown on this page in mid November. Applicants need to contact the PI they wish to collaborate with and get their approval of partnership for the project proposal.
Applicants should in their application include suggestions for mandatory secondments (3-6 months) and optional research visits (up to 4 weeks) that would be of value for their project. PULSE secondment partners will be listed on this page in mid November. Applicants are encouraged to contact secondment hosts they find interesting for their project proposal.
Project
Postdoc candidates apply with an individually-designed project within any topic. If applying for the academic track the proposal should fit within the broad SciLifeLab research fields of cell & molecular biology, precision medicine & diagnostics, evolution & biodiversity/planetary biology, and/or epidemiology & infection biology/pandemic laboratory preparedness. Candidates applying for the entrepreneurial track should propose a project compatible with promoting SciLifeLab DDD drug discovery in machine learning, therapeutic oligonucleotides, display and selection technologies, and/or proximity inducing agents. Proposed projects at the intersection of, or that combine any of these areas, are welcome.
Application content
See complete list of required elements in the drop-down below.
- Cover letter with motivation for application and expected benefit from PULSE and the chosen track, and also describing why the proposed hosting institution/s (main and secondment) represent a good fit (1 page)
- Research proposal, directed for either the academic or the entrepreneurial track (max. 10 pages)
- Ethics self-assessment in digital form (if ethical approval needed, this should be stated in application)
- Description of how the project aligns with the MSCA Green charter (up to 1 page)
- Abstract (half a page) and 3-5 predefined keywords + 3-5 free keywords
- 2 reference letters (1 page each)
- Curriculum vitae in the Europass format, including list of publications (max. 5 pages)
- Name of PULSE PI who has approved to act as main host including Letter of Commitment.
- Suggestions for secondments and research visits at one or several of the PULSE Partners
Additional information
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
To reach its full potential and in line with Swedish law, PULSE will take the gender dimension, diversity aspects and unconscious bias into account throughout all parts of the project, including call dissemination, evaluation and selection.
The PULSE partners are committed to welcoming exceptional postdocs regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, disability, origin (social or national), religion, sexual orientation, language, political opinion or economic condition, and to follow the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. In addition, SciLifeLab hosts a community-driven and highly active Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee (SciLifeLab DEI), and has also established a Code of Conduct to emphasize the importance of a healthy and safe work environment for productivity and success.
Applicants with special needs
Applications from candidates with special needs are welcome. The MSCA special needs allowance will be applied for if required by the postdoc in case of recruitment.
N.B. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.