MSCA POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS AT VU ŠIAULIAI ACADEMY (bioaerosol, modelling of airborne particles distribution, airborne allergenic pollen, urban green spaces)

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 Environmental Research Group of VU Šiauliai Academy focuses on interdisciplinary collaboration in environmental research and has developed international leadership in aerobiology. The group specialises in assessing and modelling the role of atmospheric bioaerosols in ecosystems and their impact on human health. The group is also involved in research on plant communities that benefit biodiversity and the well-being of people living in urban areas. The research team comprises scientists from various disciplines, including botany, geography, ecology, chemistry, and programming. This allows the candidate to obtain advice from a wider range of experts than his/her supervisor. The laboratories are equipped with modern research facilities and provide a supportive working environment with comfortable personal workstations. There are also opportunities to collaborate on high-level international research projects.

SUPERVISOR

Prof. Ingrida Šaulienė leads the Environmental Research Group and has over 20 years of experience investigating the behaviour of allergenic pollen in the atmosphere. She is an internationally recognised scientist, having served as President of the European Aerobiology Society from 2016 to 2020 and in 2024 she organises and acts as Chair of the World Aerobiology Symposium in Vilnius. She coordinates the aerobiological monitoring network in Lithuania. Integrating scientific knowledge into practice has led to the development of innovative products for society's needs. Under her leadership, the international team of scientists implemented the COPERNICUS R&D contract and developed the personal allergy risk forecasting system "PASYFO". Current research activities include work on the international Horizon Europe projects EO4EU and SYLVA, as well as the EUMETNET programme AutoPollen.

Prof. Šaulienė has established a research team for bioaerosol research and is expanding scientific activities by contributing to research on the optimisation and adaptation of urban green spaces for public use. She welcomes researchers interested in advancing their scientific activities and provides opportunities to achieve ambitious goals in an international research career.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL SKILLS

• Candidate must have a PhD degree in biology, landscape architecture, bioaerosol, modelling of airborne particles distribution, airborne allergenic pollen, urban green spaces or a related field and an above-average level of academic performance.
• Research interests should be in line with pollen dispersion studies, or the impact of pollen allergens on public health, or the characterisation of the allergenic potential of green spaces to improve urban ecosystem services, or the biodiversity of urban green spaces as a contribution to ecosystem services. 
• Candidates may also have PhD degree in Information Technology (programming) and be prepared to develop innovative scientific solutions for monitoring airborne particles and modelling its transportation.
• He/she must have skills in designing and implementing experiments, knowledge of statistical analysis and an interest in applied research.
• The successful candidate should be highly ambitious and dedicated, have a strong research motivation, be able to work diligently and independently and be interested in cooperation within an international team.

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. Ingrida Šaulienė (ingrida.sauliene@sa.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.