Become a Fellow

As a research fellow in the Scientia Fellows II programme you work in excellent dynamic research environments. See important information about the different steps of the application process and how to apply below. 

Calls are now closed for applications.

Description of the application process to become a Fellow:

1. Read the eligibility criteria below and make sure you are eligible for a chosen fellowship scheme. You can get further acquainted with the application requirements in the Guide for applicants (PDF). 

2. Choose the thematic area of interest and the Host (the list of Hosts who are participating in the Call is available on the website, together with the contact details and the research area in focus). You must contact the Host to establish common interests and grounds for the application. See the Complete list of thematic areas with their Hosts.

3. Familiarise yourself with the different steps in the application process by reading thoroughly the section "How to apply" below

Shortcuts

Guide for Applicants (pdf)

Thematic areas in the call

Required attachments

What does Scientia Fellows II offer?

  • Full-time employment contracts for 12-36* months (*in Call 4 fellowship duration: 24 months)
  • Work in excellent dynamic research environments
  • Enhanced networking and internationalisation of your research
  • Access to extensive transferable skills courses such as the Postdoctoral programme and School of Health Innovation.
  • Cross-sectoral cooperation. Support for secondments/study visits out of academia (collaboration on research with industry, public and SME-sectors)
  • Marie Skłodowska-Curie status – a quality stamp for your CV

Fellowship scheme

Incoming

  1. You want to conduct your research work at the University of Oslo for a period of 12-36* months (*in Call 4: maximum 24 months) in the area offered in the Call.
  2. You have not resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Norway for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately prior to the Call deadline.
  3. The Host organisation for incoming mobility scheme is UiO.

Who is eligible?

In order to submit an eligible proposal, the applicant and the project proposal must adhere to the three eligibility criteria:

  1. Experience
    • You must possess a PhD degree or have at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience since obtaining your university diploma, with reference date being the call deadline. In the latter case, the research experience is measured from the time when the researcher obtained a degree allowing them to embark on a doctorate. This experience must be documented by the employment contracts or equivalent. 
  2. Mobility
    • Mobility requirements depend on the chosen fellowship scheme. In both cases, in order to be eligible you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Norway for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately prior to the Call deadline.
  3.  Complete application

Note: Be reminded that Applicants may be asked to present proof of the above, such as certificate of residence or other evidence.

Thematic areas

Complete list of thematic areas in each call.

How to apply?

Picture of call-4 timeline. Call opens for fellow applications 1 February until 30 April. Then the applications goes through an eligibility check and evaluation before the selection committee concludes in July. Also explained in text

Scientia Fellows II Call 4 is closed.  

The application must be submitted through the JobbNorge application portal.

For an application to be eligible, the Candidate must submit a complete set of documents via the Jobbnorge portal. Templates are available for downloading at the top of this page. 

A complete application consists of the 4 components and supporting documents:

Please save and upload all attachments with your surname in the file name, e.g. SURNAME_Att.3, SURNAME_Att.4.

The application portal "JobbNorge" has a field for 'application text' and a standard 'CV'. We ask you not to fill in any application text in the portal (you may type your chosen thematic area in order to get to the next step), and to only fill in your personal details in the CV stage. Your attached CV and other documents listed above will form the basis for the evaluation process.

Please note that before commencing the preparation of a research proposal, the Applicant must contact the Host to discuss the thematic area and possibilities of cooperation.

Application steps

1. Get acquainted with the Guide for applicants. Read the application requirements and make sure you are eligible for the chosen fellowship scheme. 

2. Choose the thematic area of interest and the Host (the list of Hosts who are participating in the Call is available on the website, together with the contact details and the research area in focus).

3. Contact the Host. For the outgoing fellowships; remember to contact both Hosts enlisted for the two phases of the fellowship: in and out of Norway. You can contact your Host by sending your expression of interest in a fellowship, résumé, etc. Later, you can also schedule an online meeting or use any other convenient form of communication. You and the Host are free to discuss the concept of your research proposal and common interests, as well as cooperation possibilities, plans and expectations before starting to prepare your application.

4. When the chosen Hosts accepts your candidacy, they need to fill in attachment 3 of the “Application Package” – Confirmation statement from the Host. Remember to save this attachment and upload it with the remaining documents, as it is an integral part of the application.

5. You can submit the application at any date from the date Call opens, until midnight at 24:00 of the deadline date. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Evaluation process

The evaluation and selection process will take place within a period of 3 months following the proposal submission deadline.

After the deadline of the Call, the following steps are involved:

  1. Eligibility check

SF Office at the University of Oslo will check that each application fulfills all the eligibility criteria.

  1. Expert Panels

Independent international expert evaluators organized into Panels assess all eligible applications. 

At least three experts will assess each proposal independently. The composition of Expert Panels will be in line with the "European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their Recruitment", especially in terms of diverse competence, gender balance, and inclusion of members from different countries. Experts will perform evaluations on a personal basis, not as representatives of their employer, country or any other entity. They will be independent, impartial and objective, and behave throughout in a professional manner.

  1. Selection

Candidates will be evaluated based on 1) excellence of the candidate, proposal and transfer of knowledge during the fellowship, 2) implementation of the project, and  3) impact of the fellowship on fellow’s career prospects and scientific aspects.

Once the evaluators have completed their individual remote assessment, they will have a remote consensus meeting, managed by the Panel Chair, in order to agree on the final marks. Subsequently, an evaluation report will be drawn up and delivered to the SF Office. The Selection committee drafts the final ranking list.

For more detailed information on the evaluation criteria, please see "Guide for applicants".

Terms and conditions

A Fellow of the Scientia Fellows programme will be appointed under a fixed term employment contract with the University of Oslo. The place of work will depend on the Host institution’s location.

Starting salary 534 400 NOK/year gross (with living and mobility allowances already included) depending on qualifications in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352) or Researcher (position code 1109/1108). The net salary will be paid after the deductions of tax, when applicable. For information on the Norwegian tax system, please read more at the ISMO webpages. 

In addition, there will be research costs support amounting to 54 600 NOK per fellowship year. This amount can cover costs related to your research (for example lab consumables), but also support participation at conferences, network meetings, courses and other activities to enhance your career prospects.

For further information related to moving and settling in Norway, please visit the website of the International Staff Mobility Office (ISMO). If you receive and accept an employment contract with UiO, you may contact ISMO who supports incoming international staff, PhD candidates, guest researchers and their families with relocation to UiO.

Career development

Career development is a central part of Scientia Fellows. As a fellow, you have an access to the Faculty of Medicine's Postdoctoral programme and School of Health Innovation.

  • The Postdoctoral programme provides structured and tailored support for career development.
  • The School of Health Innovation connects researchers with businesses and teach them practical innovation and entrepreneurship skills.
  • Career Development Plan (CDP): During the first two weeks after the start of employment, the Hosts and Fellow need to have a ‘fellowship start-up meeting’, during which they discuss the planned work, the integration of the Fellow in the group, progress monitoring approach and draft a CDP.
  • Secondments and Short visits: During the fellowships, fellows may undertake:
    - secondment 1-6 months: A longer research stay with an organisation preferably from a different than academia (i.e. company, industry, international organisation, government etc.), with an assigned local supervisor. An academic secondment abroad is also possible.
    *The secondment phase can be a single period or can be divided into shorter mobility periods. It can take place at one or more organisations, which can be located in the same country as the Host. The duration depends on the duration of fellowship. For fellowships shorter than 18 months, max duration of secondment is 3 months. For those longer than 18 months, the secondment can last up to 6 months.
    - short visit up to 14 days: Research stay in a different organisation than the Host organization, with or without a change of sector.
    Details of both will be agreed with the Hosts and Scientia Fellows Office.

Ethics

Scientia Fellows aims to secure high ethical standards and the Programme adheres to the European Commission’s ethical principles of Horizon 2020.  All research projects in the programme must abide with EU and national/local ethics regulations of the Host organizations, both for outgoing and incoming mobility.

The Ethics Issues table (attachment 4) is an integral part of applications. With the assistance of the Host, an Applicant should identify and abide by any appropriate national regulations concerning ethical issues in research.

Applicants and Hosts are responsible to request all necessary ethics approvals for the research projects. If a proposal raises any ethical issues, the applicant has to present a plan and expected timing for obtaining any required permissions or documentation.

A Scientia Fellow with her host in the laboratory
Scientia Fellow Nolwenn Briand together with her host, professor Philippe Collas. Read about Briand`s Scientia Fellows experience in this interview. Photo: Øystein Horgmo/UiO

EU-flag

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Grant agreement No 801133

Published May 19, 2014 2:15 PM - Last modified Feb. 12, 2024 8:55 AM