EPFL Fellows

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Read about the EPFL Fellows co‐funded by Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships at the EPFL Rules and Regulations

Find all the documentation related to applications in the Application Package

Pre Award Documents

1. Cover page

The cover page contains general information about the applicant and the Principal Investigator (EPFL). This form will be generated automatically by the on-line submission platform; it is the last step of your application. This document should be printed and signed by the applicant and then uploaded on the platform.

2. Research plan

Detailed description of the research plan, including abstract, state of the art, research objectives and plan, importance of the proposed research, project time table, relevance for personal career development, choice of the host, planned publications, literature list.

3. CV candidate

Complete Curriculum Vitae of the candidate including the publication list. Candidates with career breaks or variations in the chronological sequence of their career steps are welcome to apply.

4. CV host professor

Short curriculum vitae of the host professor (two pages).

5. Career plan

Description of the professional and scientific career plan of the candidate.

6. Host letter

Confirmation letter of the host institution and an original signature of the head of the institution or host professor which state clearly that the necessary co-funding and infrastructure is available for the duration of the fellowship (Institutional Statement).

7. References

The contact details of a minimum of two referees should be submitted. The electronic submission contains only the names and contact details (e-mail) of the referees. After validation of the submission by the candidate, an e-mail is automatically sent to the registered referees informing them about the submitted applications and asking them to provide a recommendation letter for the candidate. This e-mail contains the link that will allow the referees to interact with the application in IS – Academia®. Reference letters should be submitted within one week of the deadline of October 1^st. These documents will be available only to the international evaluation panel and the EPFL Research Commission.

8. Diplomas

Copies of the diplomas of the candidate.

9. Ethical issues

Candidates whose research proposals pose ethical concerns must indicate this on the ‘Ethical Issues form’ which can be downloaded via the EPFL Fellows web-page. The ‘Ethical Issues form’ must be uploaded on the submission platform as part of the application.

10. Other annexes

The candidate can add supplementary documents, such as reprints of publications or additional information that is relevant to the application.

Post Award Documents

11. Mid-term scientific report

The EPFL Fellows should prepare a mid-term scientific report after one year. This report should arrive at the EPFL Research Office no later than eight weeks after the first year of the fellowship.

12. Final scientific report

EPFL Fellows should prepare a final report after the completion of their fellowship. This report should be received at the EPFL Research Office no later than eight weeks after the end of the fellowship.

Applications for EPFL Fellows should be submitted via the on-line submission platform.

The on-line submission platform will open on 1 July 2016. The deadline for the submission of applications is 1 October 2016 (17:00 hr CET).

Applications should be made jointly with a Principal Investigator (PI), an EPFL Professor who is responsible for the research field. Applicants should arrange in advance a research plan with their Principal Investigator.

As soon as you have negotiated with a Principal Investigator at the EPFL the possibility of a postdoctoral stay, you should log-in to the EPFL Fellows online application platform. For authentication, you can use your EPFL computer account (username and GASPAR password), or create a temporary account. This authentication allows you to go back to your own form to complete your application or to check the status of your candidacy. You will need to enter all the necessary information in the electronic application form and you can upload the required documents.

For the description of the research project and the CV, the templates should be used that can be downloaded from the EPFL Fellows web-site. You will also find the ‘Ethical Issues’ form on this site which needs to be completed.

As part of your application, two reference letters must be provided. The applicant provides the contact details of two or three referees (two references are required, the third reference is optional). These referees will be contacted automatically after the application has been validated in the on-line submission system by the applicant. The referees will then be asked by EPFL to provide a recommendation letter. The referees will submit their letters electronically via the on-line submission platform. The applicants will be able to see if the referees have submitted their recommendation letters.

Applications cannot be updated after the submission.

Candidates are informed approximately four months after the submission deadline whether they will be granted an EPFL Fellows postdoctoral fellowship or not.

The selected Fellows can start immediately after they have received the decision letter and the formal requirements for their contract have been organized. EPFL Fellows should start at the latest six months after receipt of the decision letter. In exceptional cases, the start of the fellowship can be postponed. In such cases, the host professor should inform the EPFL Research Office about the reasons for this delay.

EPFL Fellows should provide a mid-term report (after one year) and a final scientific report to the EPFL Research Office no later than eight weeks after the end of the fellowship. Templates for the mid-term and final report can be obtained from the Research Office.

EPFL Fellows I (FP7 grant agreement no. 291771, call 2013 and 2014)

The EPFL Fellows fellowship consists of an annual contribution of 40’454 Euro to the salary of the postdoc at EPFL. The remaining part of the salary is provided by the hosting Professor. It is therefore important that the research plan is developed in cooperation with the Principal Investigator at EPFL. You should contact the Human Resources of the hosting research department to inquire about the basic salary level, which includes social benefits such as AVS (pension scheme), and AC (unemployment insurance) and family allocations.

EPFL Fellows II (H2020 grant agreement no. 665667, call 2015 and 2016)

The EPFL Fellows fellowship consists of a monthly contribution of 2’625 Euro to the salary of the post-doc at EPFL. The remaining part of the salary is provided by the hosting Professor. It is therefore important that the research plan is developed in cooperation with the Principal Investigator at EPFL. You should contact the Human Resources of the hosting research department to inquire about the basic salary level, which includes social benefits such as AVS (pension scheme), and AC (unemployment insurance) and family allocations.

The duration of an EPFL Fellows fellowship is 24 months and cannot be prolonged. Employment after the initially granted time must be financed from other sources.

Practical information about living in Switzerland can be found on the web-site ‘Just Joined EPFL’.

The EPFL is situated in the French-speaking part of Switzerland where French is the language of daily interaction and of most undergraduate teaching. EPFL is also a high-level international institution: a large proportion of our research and our Master and (post) PhD level courses are conducted in English. EPFL Fellows do not need to be able to speak French in order to begin a postdoctoral stay at EPFL, but for convenience and personal enrichment it is strongly encouraged to learn the language. A language center on the EPFL campus offer language courses in French. Courses are also offered to improve written and spoken English to the high standards required in international research. Courses in two of Switzerland’s other national languages, Italian and German, are also available.

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