MSCA POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS AT VU FACULTY OF HISTORY, DEPARTMENT OF MODERN HISTORY (Soviet studies, History of Catholicism, Censorship, Authoritarian landscapes, Vatican)

Vilnius University (VU) invites motivated researchers with a strong track record to prepare joint applications for 2024 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF) call with a deadline on September 11, 2024. MSCA PF are among the flagship, most prestigious research fellowships in Europe, with the objective of supporting researchers’ careers, enhancing their creative and innovative potential, and fostering excellence in research.

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe (12-24 months).
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries (12-24 months outgoing phase in a non-associated Third Country & 12 months mandatory return phase to a host organisation in Europe).
• Extra funding opportunity! If you apply for the European Postdoctoral Fellowship with the host institution located in a widening country (Lithuania), and in case your proposal is not funded under the MSCA PF call due to a lack of budget, it will be automatically resubmitted to ERA Fellowships call and will have one more opportunity to get funding.

HOST INSTITUTION AND RESEARCH GROUP

VU is one of the oldest higher education institutions in Eastern and Central Europe. It tops the ranking as the number one university in Lithuania and leads the country in education, a broad spectrum of fundamental and applied research, training and retraining programs, and consultancy services and provides research and development services to a wide range of businesses. VU offers dynamic research and training environment and is well integrated into a collaborative network of international universities.

The Department of Modern History of the Faculty of History of Vilnius University is an academic unit which deals with studying and lecturing problems of history of the 19th-the 21st centuries. Researchers of the Department go deep into the themes of history of the period of twenty years of Independence (interwar) and the Soviet era, research teams investigating these fields have been formed. Economic, social and political public processes, international relations and cultural development are in the focus of our research.

SUPERVISOR

Dr. Arūnas Streikus is Professor of history at the Department of Modern History since 2018. He has more than twenty years of research experience, has published five monographs, several source publications, several dozens of research articles in Lithuanian and foreign peer-reviewed journals. His main research interests include contemporary history of Catholicism, study of Soviet society and culture. He has published several important publications on those topics, including an edited monograph "Unknown war: anti-Soviet armed resistance in Lithuania and its legacies" (Routledge, 2022). He also has experience of international research collaboration, was a member of international research teams in several international projects. Since 2023 he is the head of interdisciplinary research center "(Post)authoritarian Landscapes".

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

• Supported fellows must be in possession of PhD at the call deadline (September 11, 2024).
• Have up to 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research from the date of award of the doctoral degree at the call deadline.
• Fellows must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months before the call deadline

Detailed information on the eligibility can be found on p. 91-94 of the MSCA Work Programme 2023-2024.

HOW TO APPLY?

• Contact the supervisor Prof. Dr. Arūnas Streikus (arunas.streikus@if.vu.lt) directly to express your interest in making a joint application based on your research interests. Do not forget to provide the following documents (cc to research@cr.vu.lt):
  - curriculum vitae
  - list of publications
  - proposal summary
• Request a letter from your supervisor endorsing you as a candidate, and send it to the Research Projects Office (research@cr.vu.lt). The candidates who wish to participate in VU MSCA PF Webinar are kindly requested to submit their endorsement letters by May 31, 2024.
• After receiving your supervisor’s endorsement, you can start preparing your MSCA PF project proposal. Please note that in order to prepare and submit your application on time (by September 11, 2024), you can seek support from VU Research Projects Office (research@cr.vu.lt).

For more information follow the link.