FAQ & Contacts

Applicants must hold a doctoral degree awarded within the last three years or have successfully defended their thesis at the time of application. Additionally, they must meet the MSCA mobility requirement, which stipulates that applicants cannot have lived or worked in Sweden for more than 12 months in the past three years. Applicants are responsible for selecting their own research topic, host organization, and supervisor. Details about and support for the application process will be posted during October/November 2024.

The first call for 24 postdoc positions will open on January 7, 2025, followed by a second call for another 24 postdoc positions in January 2026. All PULSE applications must be submitted through a central application portal. More information on the call will be provided in November/December 2024.

The postdoc choose the host supervisor most suitable for their project. To support candidates to establish contacts with prospective hosting labs, a binder will be published on this website in November. In this binder some of the potential hosting PI:s and their labs, including description of areas where the PI:s seek collaboration with a PULSE postdoc, will be presented. The applicant may also contact a potential host supervisor (SciLifeLab Group Leader) free of choice and vice versa. No previous project collaboration between the applicant and the supervisor is allowed.

The main host for a PULSE postdoc should be a SciLifeLab Group Leader (PI) at one of the Implementing partners GU, KI, KTH, LiU, LU, SU, UmU, UU and ÖrU (PI:s at Chalmers University of Technology and Malmö University cannot be primary host). Co-hosts can be researchers affiliated with any of the PULSE academic, industry, or infrastructure partners. A PI who recruits a PULSE postdoc will receive a “COFUND allowance”, totalling 136,404 EUR for three years at full time activity. If you are interested in being a PULSE postdoc host or co-host, please contact pulse@scilifelab.se for further information.

Supervisors should not be involved in drafting the proposal. Though, the applicant may contact the supervisor during the application process, but an rationale for the contact should be specified (e.g. for scientific advise, to discuss the research being proposed, to visit the lab facilities and meet the research team)

Please find the webinar presentation here

We will provide matchmaking opportunities for both calls (2025 and 2026), and also an additional opportunity for the first call (in mid February 2025) for new SciLifeLab Group Leaders.

The PCDP (Personal Career Development Plan) will be created by the PI host together with the postdoc and the PULSE training coordinator.

A primary HR contact is needed for questions from candidates that may appear during the recruitment period, e.g. in matters related to relocation to Sweden, visa application process, and information on Swedish administrative and social security systems, and also as Ombudsman for the postdoc throughout the program, should that be necessary. As soon as a postdoc is recruited, the HR for the corresponding host department will be their contact for HR-related issues, except for the role as Ombudsman.

It is the postdoc candidate that is the driver of PULSE projects, and their task to choose a suitable hosting lab and secondment host. Secondments can be decided later, for the selected PULSE projects. An Associated partner can contact potential PULSE PIs to discuss possible areas for collaboration, but the project itself will come with the candidate.

Nomination is not mandatory but appreciated, since this will help the postdoc finding a suitable secondment host for their project proposal. Though, secondments can also be decided and agreed upon at a later stage during the program.

Yes, the funding can be used for all types of costs, as long as the postdoc salary is minimum SEK 38,000 per month.

Yes, co-funding is required, with approximately 50% of the salary + research running costs, etc. Note, other EU-funding can not be used for co-funding.

Other EU-funding or KAW DDLS-funding can not be used for co-financing. For potential use of other KAW-funding, this depends on the terms of conditions for the particular grant.

This is under investigation, but one suggestion that has been discussed is to use an average exchange rate from the last three years. Note, the postdoc salary should not be affected by the exchange rate.