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.

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.

A complete application to the Moritz Schlick early career programme includes the following:

1. Scientific CV incl. publication list [Template available here]
2. Research statement
3. PhD certificate (or equivalent) incl. date of defensio or documentation verifying the exceptions to the PhD deadline
4. 2 reference letters from established researchers in your field
5. Completed web form
6. 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.

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.

The following positions are open to applicants in the 2022 Moritz Schlick call.