Moritz Schlick early career programme (MSECP)

The Moritz Schlick early-career programme (MSECP) at the University of Vienna supports early stage postdocs with high potential for an academic career. Participants in the programme receive outstanding financial support as well as training and mentoring to allow them to develop their full potential.
The first call for applicants and evaluation process was carried out in 2022, and 5 Moritz Schlick Fellows started at the University in 2023.
No future calls are planned at the moment.
Moritz Schlick (* April 14, 1882 in Berlin; † June 22, 1936 in Vienna) was a physicist and philosopher and one of the leading figures of the Vienna Circle.
The Moritz Schlick Programme at the University of Vienna supports early stage postdocs with high potential for an academic career. These postdocs are expected to be competitive candidates for an excellence-grant (especially an ERC Starting Grant, or FWF Start-Prize). Programme participants commit themselves to apply for one of these types of grants and will receive intensive support in this regard. If successful, the excellence grant opens access to a fast-track tenure track position and Schlick postdocs are therefore uniquely positioned to transition from early career scientist to professors at the University of Vienna.
The target group is early stage postdocs: Candidates have received their doctorate in 2020 or later. Parental leave as well as military or civilian service will not be counted towards the academic age. Applicants must have defended their PhD before the application deadline (October 31st, 2022) to be eligible. Internal and external candidates are equally eligible to apply for a Moritz Schlick position.

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Application to be a Moritz Schlick Host
The application is for professors and associate at the University of Vienna who would like to take part in the Moritz Schlick programme as a host.
Professors/Assoc. Professors who a hold 6-year postdoctoral position (e.g., from an appointment commitment) that is to be filled in the period from Nov. 1, 2022 - December 31, 2023 are eligible to apply.
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Applicant Profile & Eligibility Criteria
The Moritz Schlick early-career programme addresses outstanding postdocs of all disciplines from Austria and abroad at the beginning of their academic career.
Applicants are invited to apply for one of the open positions advertised below.
Moritz Schlick postdocs are expected to be competitive candidates for an excellence-grant; especially an ERC Starting Grant, or FWF Start-Prize. Programme participants commit themselves to apply for one of these types of grants and will receive intensive support in this regard. If successful, the excellence grant opens access to a fast-track tenure track position and Schlick postdocs are therefore uniquely positioned to transition from early career scientist to professors at the University of Vienna.
Applicants must hold a doctorate (PhD) or will complete their doctoral studies before the submission deadline (31.10.2022). Applicants to the MSECP must have obtained their doctorate in 2020 or later (date of examination or viva voce).
Exceptions to the doctorate limit include parental leave, military service and caregiver leave. For details about the exceptions please see the Guide for Applicants.
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Programme Benefits
Features of the Moritz Schlick early-career programme include:
- A 4 year postdoc position with the option to extend it for a further 2 years after a successful internal interim evaluation.
- In addition to a salary, a one-time financial contribution of 50k Euro will be made available to support the postdoc’s research. In experimental disciplines an additional 50k will be made available for material and consumables, in “computational” disciplines an additional 25k.
- Sabbatical, particularly to gain experience abroad, usually in the 3rd year. If no sabbatical is taking then regular teaching of 4 SWS (1 SWS = 45 minutes) will be performed.
- Support and freedom to develop an independent profile, as well as intensive mentoring and training for third-party funding and other areas of expertise (especially leadership skills) by mentors, the DLE FSNF and other DLEs at the University of Vienna.
Start dates for the positions may vary. Positions can start, at earliest, in February, 2023. The latest start date is December, 2023.
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Hosts for 2022 Call
The following researchers have positions available in the 2022 call:
Name Expertise -
Submission
A complete application to the Moritz Schlick early career programme includes the following:
- Scientific CV incl. publication list [Template available here]
- Research statement
- PhD certificate (or equivalent) incl. date of defensio or documentation verifying the exceptions to the PhD deadline
- 2 reference letters from established researchers in your field
- Completed web form
- Any additional documents as specified in the position description. All additional documents need to be uploaded as a single PDF
The submission deadline is 31.10.2022 @ 16:00 CET.
Please read the Guide for Applicants before beginning your submission.
You can start your application by clicking on the “Apply Now” button on the right side of the page.
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Evaluation Procedure
There are 3 stages to the evaluation process.
Stage 1: Formal Application Check
All applicants will initially undergo an eligibility check to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria. Eligible applicants will move forward to stage 2.
Stage 2: Shortlisting
The host and mentor for each of the open positions will review and evaluate all eligible applicants and shortlist 3 – 6 candidates who will be invited to stage 3.
Stage 3: Public Hearings & Interviews
Shortlisted candidates will take part in in-person hearings and interviews at the University of Vienna. Candidates will make a 10 - 15 minute presentation about their previous research experience and their future research goals. The presentation will be followed by a discussion. Individual interviews with panel members will also take place.
For each open position, after the hearings and interview the panel will rank the top 3 candidates who will be invited (in order of ranking) to become Moritz Schlick postdocs at the University of Vienna.
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Open Positions
The following positions are open to applicants in the 2022 Moritz Schlick call.
Position Name Department/Faculty Host Description Digital Political Communication Department of Communication Sophie Lecheler Description here Environmental Micropollutants Department of Environmental Geosciences Thilo Hofmann Description here Extragalactic Archeology with Population-Dynamical Models Department of Astrophysics Glenn (P.M.) van de Ven Description here Metaphysics, Ontology, and/or Philosophy of Language and Logic Department of Philosophy Benjamin Schnieder Description here Partial Differential Equations Department of Mathematics Adrian Constantin Description here Physical Chemistry: time resolved spectroscopy on condensed matter Department of Physical Chemistry Ellen Backus Description here Protein Chemistry Department of Biological Chemistry Christian Becker Description here Quantum Computing for excited state chemistry and chemical dynamics Department of Theoretical Chemistry Leticia González Description here
More Information
For more information, please contact postdoc.fsnf@univie.ac.at
