Applying to be an AMBER postdoc fellow
The AMBER programme for postdoctoral fellows provides an exceptional opportunity for you to explore and exploit advanced methods relevant for multiscale biological imaging within interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international research and R&D.
AMBER postdocs will have the chance to conduct cutting-edge research in their field, taking advantage of state of the art tools that will bring to attractive future job opportunities in academia or industry.
13 postdocs will be recruited in the first call, with each fellowship lasting 36 months. The deadline of the first call is the 31ᵗʰ of March 2024.
This page contains an APPLICATION CHECKLIST - the most important part of the guide for applicants - and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section further down after the checklist, which will be populated as questions come in.
It also contains links to all templates needed to complete a full application package, under “DOWNLOADS“.
The full guide for applicants can be downloaded here:
https://www.ambercofund.eu/s/AMBER-Applicants-guide-version-1-20240118.pdf
LINK TO FIRST CALL
This is the link to the EURAXESS call page, the central point from which all applications start:
https://www.euraxess.se/jobs/178170
AMBER APPLICATION CHECKLIST
If you want to apply for an AMBER position, the checklist below is the most important to read and complete.
You can always e-mail and ask the AMBER management questions at: amber@linxs.lu.se. Questions to the management are only seen by the management, not the Principal Investigators (PIs) of the position. Please read this checklist as well as the FAQ below before you send us any questions, as they might already be answered there.
Check the formal announcement on the EURAXESS website. This is the central point from which to start the application/applications: https://www.euraxess.se/jobs/178170. You can at maximum apply for three different postdoctoral positions in this call.
To stay informed, it is very important that you sign up to the AMBER e-mail list, here: https://www.ambercofund.eu/contact. If you have LinkedIn, you can also follow the AMBER LinkedIn page here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amber-postdoctoral-programme/. All public updates on details of position, procedures, number of applicants, overall (anonymous) evaluation results, etc., will be sent to the e-mail list, and posted on LinkedIn.
Please read the announcements of the individual positions that you are interested in carefully. Make sure you understand:
Where the position is hosted, i.e. which country and organisation.
Who the PI hosting the position is and the subject of the postdoctoral position.
What salary expectations are relevant for the positions. Links to further information on take-home salary and expected living costs for the hosting country and position are provided in the Frequently Asked Questions section further down on this page.
Each position will involve at least one secondment at a different organisation. The position will typically have suggestions lined up, but you can suggest your own.
Please ensure that you fulfill the minimum requirements of the position/positions. If you do not fulfill these, you are not eligible for the position, and will be taken out of the application process in the beginning. The minimum requirements per position are:
A candidate needs to have a maximum 8 years after a doctoral degree (PhD), as required by the Commission, in accordance with the Horizon-Europe MSCA cofund project Grant Agreement.
At least one original publication in a peer-reviewed journal (co-author OK).
A background in the relevant methods for the specific position.
A complete application package to submitted through the AMBER portal (these are the links provided in the EURAXESS announcement), and finally;
Strict compliance with the MSCA mobility rule that the researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the host organisation's country for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the call deadline.
Each project will have additional specific requirements that candidates have to fulfill, be sure to check what these are before you apply.
More information on COFUND postdoctoral programmes can be found here: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/cofund.
There are a few exceptions to the MSCA mobility rules if you have refugee status or in a situation designated by the EU as special. Please contact us at amber@linxs.lu.se if you need to check that this applies to you.
Please check what you will need to provide for a full application. See under the heading “Application package” in the full guide for applicants provided in “DOWNLOADS“ on this page.
Are you applying for more than one position? If so, please be aware that:
You can apply for a maximum of three positions for each AMBER call.
You will have to make a separate application with a full application package for each position, following the link for that position in the EURAXESS announcement.
You will have to submit a separate research plan for each position.
You are allowed to highlight different parts of your previous qualifications and experiences on your EUROPASS CV, as long as it is clear that the CV belongs to the same person for all positions applied for.
Finally, you must e-mail a list of your order of preference for the positions no later than a day after the call deadline to the AMBER management at: amber@linxs.lu.se. This is in case you are shortlisted for more than one of the positions applied for. Your preferences will be confidential. Title the e-mail “Order of preference for positions applied for”, and make sure you use the same e-mail indicated in your CV. A template for your order of preference can be found under “DOWNLOADS“ at the top of this page.
Please check the additional specific requirements for the position/positions you intend to apply for? These can be both eligibility requirements and things that are “of merit”. If you do not fulfill eligibility requirements you will not be considered for the position. It is important to be very clear in your application how you fulfill these requirements, and to be aware that you will partially be ranked on how well you fulfill the “of merit” requirements.
Please create a EUROPASS CV. The PDF CV submitted with an application should be in the EUROPASS format. You need to create an account and follow the instructions on the EUROPASS site, here: https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv. When you have done this, you can export your CV as a PDF. You can tailor certain sections of you CV for the specific position you are applying for. The applications portals might require you to add CV information in their electronic system, you should copy and paste from your EUROPASS CV as much as possible if this is the case. Should questions arise on how to do this, the answers will be posted in the “Frequently Asked Questions“ section further down on this page.
Please complete a research plan/plans for the project/projects applied for. See under the heading “Application package” in the full guide for applicants provided under “DOWNLOADS“ at the top of this page. Note that what should be included in the section of your research plan which discusses ethics issues depends on your ethics self-assessment checklist (see item 10 about “additional documents“, fifth sub-point below).
Please prepare the additional documents to be provided. These are:
(optional) Any Letters of Commitment from partners with which you want to propose yourself for a secondment. The position will typically already have possible secondments suggested by the PI. No secondments are binding at the application stage.
(mandatory) Evidence of English proficiency, minimum equivalent to CEFR B2, which can be checked here: https://www.efset.org/cefr/b2/ . This will also be verified at interview.
(mandatory) A draft Individual Career Development Plan (ICDP). The template of which can be found under “DOWNLOADS“ on this page. The template contains instructions for how to do it the first time, which can be done very quickly. The ICDP will be continuously updated by you and your PI together during your employment.
(mandatory) Two Reference Letters.
(mandatory) Ethical questionnaire and ethics commitment. (Horizon Europe ethics self-assessment checklist + research ethics commitment) links to template and instructions are provided in the “DOWNLOADS“ section at the top of this page.
Last but not least, any additional documentation required in the portal for the individual position. This can e.g. be cover letters, diplomas, and other documentation and certificates.
Please submit all the required material in the portals for each position you want to apply for before the deadline. We urge you to have the material prepared and submitted in good time before the deadline if possible. We cannot guarantee that you will be allowed to resubmit or come in with additional information if there are issues with the portals on the final date and time.
After you have submitted your application/applications you should receive a receipt of submission from the individual portals for each project.
About a week or two after the deadline you will receive an email with a link to where you can record a personal video presenting yourself with instructions on how to make this video based on answers to a questionnaire. When you have done this your application is complete and you will go forward to the evaluation.
You will receive such a link to make a video presentation, or you will receive a notification that you have been deemed not eligible for the position. Depending on the exact reason for ineligibility there might be a way to respond to this, if done quickly.
Frequently Asked QuestionS
This is a FAQ where we collect answers to questions from applicants.
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When we update information on the main EURAXESS page, it can take a while for the page to come up again, since adjustments have to be approved by the EURAXESS admin staff. It will be up again soon.
Any major changes will be communicated to the AMBER e-mail list. If the page is down for more than two working days, don’t hesitate to contact us.
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Completing the Ethics self-assessment checklist and committing to a code of conduct is mandated by the Commission, and so required by the funder. This is why the procedure is heavily prescribed.
First of all, an application requires that you pledge to adhere to the code of conduct, that is why a signature and date is required in the template.
Second, if you have any suspicion that your project plan might involve research on sensitive issues, it is wise to complete the ethics self-assessment before you complete your research plan.
Subjects included in the Ethics self-assessent are: Human embyonic stem cells, human subjects, human cells or tissues, personal data, animals, non EU-countries, environment, health and safety, artificial intelligence (AI), “other issues”, and misuse of results.
It is likely that your proposed research will touch at least some of these.
Completing the self-assessment checklist is very useful and saves time, because it will show you what is absolutely not allowed, and otherwise tell you how to explain how you will address potential issues.
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This is always a good idea. The more you understand about the PI’s research intention and the work environment the better the application.
They are busy people, and many candidates might be vying for the same position, so please contact them in good time, and be clear that you are contacting them because you are considering applying to the position.
Note that there are two stages to the evaluation of candidates. No PIs are involved in the first stage. More information can be had in the full guide for applicants available under “DOWNLOADS“ at the top of this webpage.
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Again, it is mandated and has to do with how your results and training are followed up in the project. All PIs and their AMBER postdoctoral fellows are required to update the ICDP together at least once a year.
The information you need to fill in for the applications should be minimal (see the yellow highighted text in the provided template). It is there to make your potential PI understand what your career ambitions are so that they can help you move toward your goals as early as possible. It also helps the rest of the people in the AMBER project to understand exactly what training, experience, networking and other activities need to be mobilised to help our AMBER fellows reach their full potential.
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The applications are in principle open to everyone. However, the respective migration authorities in the countries hosting the fellowships might have formal or technical issues with applicants from specific countries.
We want to highlight the fact that the likelihood of the candidate being available to take up the position in good time is a factor in the evaluation and can cause a candidate to be ranked lower if there is a significant risk that the candidate might not get a visa in good time. If you want to apply but you suspect that obtaining a visa might be a serious issue for you, please try to find out how difficult it will be to obtain a visa.
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Applying for a position based at the LISCB in the UK has two main things you need to be aware of that are different to the others:
There are 2 positions availabe at LISCB in this call.
There are 5 possible projects to choose from.
The applicant needs to select which project of these five to apply for in their application.
What about the max three application rule?
The maximum of three applications in this call still applies, you can apply for up to three of these five, if you think you have the background and experience to be highly ranked for several types of project, or you can apply for one or two of these and other non-UK based ones in the call, up until the total of three if you wish.
How will this be evaluated?
The selection panel working with the topics connected to the UK will rank the applications as usual based on the criteria described in the Applicant’s guide. Since there is a project plan for each application, they will as a matter of course be evaluated on this. The candidates that are top ranked will determine which projects are awarded a postdoctoral fellowship. Enough people will be shortlisted for the second stage to ensure that 2 disparate projects get funded.
Many PIs are listed for these projects, why?
One of the PIs is the lead PI, based at the LISCB, and this is the main PI responsible. The others are listed because the project can involve collaboration with them and their respective groups. Consider gathering information on the other PIs as well, and/or contact them as a group, to find out more about their intentions for the project. The lead PI is should always be targeted as the main correspondent.
Is there anything special about the participation of a UK partner?
LISCB is participating under a UKRI scheme which allowed UK partners to participate in Horizon Europe proposals, and have their participation funded separately. This is why the total amount co-funded in AMBER is 42 + 5 postdoctoral fellowships, where the extra 5 are from the UK.
The scheme was in place before the UK officially joined Horizon Europe.
We are very pleased about the participation of LISCB and grateful to the UKRI, both for the excellence our UK partners bring and the continuity at the European level afforded by the funding scheme.
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Applying for more than one position (up to three in total) is an option given to applicants, but definitely not a requirement.
Each application will be evaluated individually based on its merits.
However, it can be harder to justify that you are the most excellent candidate for several disparate positions, especially if these have very different profiles and requirements.
It is also a lot more work, since you have to prepare a whole application package for each position you want to apply for. Even if you can recycle some material, a lot of the material on which you will be ranked will have to be tailored for the position.
Therefore we would advise caution before you apply for more than one position, think carefully, and consider if it’s worth the extra effort.
If you apply for more than one position in this call, don’t forget to read Point 6 in the application checklist and make sure you follow it.
Confidentiality
The AMT will make efforts to not make the PIs aware of which candidates have applied for several positions, especially for the purposes of the initial ranking. We cannot, however, as a matter of principle guarantee that this information will be strictly confidential at all times. There are evaluation outcomes in which it will become clear if a candidate applied for several positions, for instance if the same candidate is ranked highly for several positions and their preference list will have to come into effect.
Also, in Sweden and other countries, applications to university positions can be subject to freedom of information requests and similar legislation. Applications are therefore not in prinicple confidential, and you should not expect them to be.
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Due to administrative issues, these have been moved into the next call which will open in June 2024. If you have signed up to the e-mail list or follow us on LinkedIn, you will be notified when the call opens.
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The gross salary will vary by country and placement (department) depending on employers' costs and exchange rates, but should be in the range of €3200 - €3900 per month.
Here we have gathered some useful links to help you estimate what the cost of living might be in the destination countries. These are mostly links to external pages, and we cannot guarantee that they are 100% accurate.
You can find out how much a given salary is in the local currency here:
https://www.xe.com
You can calculate the estimated net salary (after tax) for Sweden here:
https://salaryaftertax.com/salary-calculator/sweden
(click "advanced options" and choose "Lund" or other city)
You can calculate an estimated net salary (after tax) for Poland using these links:
https://pl.talent.com/en/tax-calculator
https://www.podatki.gov.pl/en/residents/personal-income-tax-rates/For the cost of living in Poland, see here:
https://welcome.uw.edu.pl/before-you-arrive/living-costs/
Here is the Lund unviersity guide for employees coming from abroad:
https://www.staff.lu.se/employment/working-lund-university/new-employees
Link for international comparison of cost of living
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Lund
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Warsaw -
Yes, research costs are included. The average monthly research cost range is about €400-€600. However, for a given position and project, this can vary. If you foresee that the research costs will be substantially above the quoted range, feel free to contact us for more accurate information.