EMBO Long-Term Fellowships for exchanges between EMBC Member States are co-funded by the European Commission FP7 (Marie Curie Actions, EMBOCOFUNDFP7, GA-2008-229685) beginning with the autumn selection 2009.
About
The EMBO Long-Term Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughout Europe and the world. International exchange is a key feature in the application process. All fellowships must involve movement between countries and one of those countries must be an EMBC Member State. Only candidates who have had a career break for at least one year for child-care reasons will be given special consideration when applying to stay within the same country.
Eligibility
Applicants must hold a doctorate degree or equivalent before the start of the fellowship but not necessarily when applying.
Applicants must have at least one first author publication in press or published in an international peer reviewed journal at the time of application.
Candidates can only submit applications for one project at one host laboratory at each round of selection.
Applications are only considered from candidates with a maximum of three years postdoctoral experience. Exceptions are made for applicants with career breaks due to military service or childcare.
- Candidates who have had a career break for at least one year for child-care reasons will be given special consideration when applying to stay within the same country.
All applications must involve movement between countries. The laboratory of origin or the receiving institute or the applicant’s nationality must be from one of the EMBC Member States.
PhD nationality
Occasionally the nationality of an applicant is not the same as the country in which the work for the PhD was performed. This gives rise to the notion of "PhD nationality". The above movements can, therefore, be interpreted using either the applicant’s member state nationality or his/her PhD nationality. This concept will be used in a way which is most favourable to the applicant while ensuring that the overriding principle of mobility is maintained. Please note: non-Member States nationals with a PhD from a Member State will not be eligible for a fellowship in a non-Member State.Applications for long term fellowships to be held in the laboratory, institute or department in which the candidate obtained his or her PhD, or to work again with the candidate's PhD supervisor, no matter where the latter is located, are not considered.
Application
Applications and supporting documentation are only accepted via the online application system.
Please read the Helpful notes for applicants before applying online.
Deadlines are twice a year 15 August and 15 February.
Selection
The application is examined at the EMBO Fellowship office to ensure that it is complete and eligible. All eligible applications are then sent to the Fellowships Committee for a pre-screening and approximately 50% of all applications are selected for an interview.
For selected applicants resident in Member States, an interviewer, who is expert in the area of the application, will be selected from among the EMBO Members and both the applicant and the interviewer will be informed. The interviewer will then endeavor to arrange the interview at the earliest mutually convenient date (see separate note on interviews). When it is not possible to arrange an interview for practical reasons, in particular when the applicant resides outside the Member States, the candidate's dossier is sent for written review to an expert in the relevant area of research.
All dossiers are then considered by an international selection committee of EMBO Members, who are leading European molecular biologists. Each application is scored independently and the scores forwarded for compilation to the Fellowship office.
Committee members will score applications according the following criteria:
- Previous scientific achievements of the applicant
- Novelty and biological significance of proposed research
- Appropriateness of the host laboratory for the proposed research and for the training of the applicant.
The Selection Committee then meets to consider together the applications and the scores. Typically the outcome of the selection is known approximately 14-16 weeks after the closing date and is provided on the EMBO website immediately after the meeting of the selection committee. The fellowships can be started without any further significant delay.
Note the following when submitting your long term fellowship application.
- Interviews normally take place within six weeks of the closing date for applications. The interview may take place outside the applicant's own country; therefore, applicants must have a valid passport.
- Candidates may be requested to give a seminar as part of the interview procedure.
- The interview should take place at the interviewer's convenience.
- Interview expenses will be reimbursed by EMBO. A claim form will be issued. Please return, together with receipts, to the EMBO Fellowship office in Heidelberg.
Candidates are expected to travel by second class rail for journey of up to 12 hours. Otherwise travel by economy class air will be refunded. Subsistence expenses are refunded up to the standard rate of a EMBO Short-Term Fellowship.
Benefits
Duration of support
The fellowship may be awarded for a period of up to 24 months, depending on a positive interim request from the supervisor (nine month after the starting date). The reviewing committee may also award a shorter period than requested.
It is possible to apply while the applicant is currently at the receiving institute (for a maximum of 19 month within the EMBC Member States and 7 month in non-Member State at the relevant closing date for application).
Fellowship must be started within one calendar year from the relevant closing date for applications.
Exception will be made to those who are simultaneously offered a Marie Curie Fellowship, where this requirement could be waived.
Travel costs and stipend
Travel costs and a stipend for the long-term fellow and his/her family are provided.
If the applicant is already at the receiving institute at the time of application, travel is not paid. The stipend rates depend on the country being visited, marital status, number of children under 18 years of age and other sources of income.
In the event of early termination of the fellowship, any payments made after the date of termination will have to be repaid as will the return portion of the travel money. When the fellowship is accepted for a very brief period, the entire travel allowance will have to be returned.
Parental leave
Fellows are entitled to 3 months maternity leave during their fellowship. Fellows who take maternity leave during the fellowship are entitled to an extension of their fellowship for a period of up to 3 months.
Please send a request together with the copy of the birth certificate to the Fellowship Office to request the extension.
Part-time work
For childcare reasons it is also possible to work part-time during the fellowship. The maximum time (full-time plus part-time) shall not exceed 36 months at the same laboratory.
Childcare cost support
All fellows receive a dependent allowance for children under the age of 18 in their household.
Fellows with children under the age of six years are entitled to additional funds in support of child-care costs.
Fellows network
All recipient of a EMBO Long-Term Fellowship are part of the EMBO Fellows network and can register to EMBO fellowsNet 
, a web-based resource to highlight their profile and publication records, communicate with other EMBO Fellows, and stay connected with the EMBO community.
At the end of their fellowships, all fellows are invited to the Fellows Meeting and can attend a Laboratory Management Course for postdocs free of charge.