Program Overview

INSPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme

The INSPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme is a research-focused initiative that provides experienced researchers with the opportunity to pursue their research interests in a dynamic and interdisciplinary environment.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the INSPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Applicants may be of any nationality.
• Applicants must be experienced researchers (ER) with a doctoral degree or at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience.
• Applicants must comply with the relevant mobility rules, having not resided or carried out their main activity in Ireland for more than 12 months in the previous 3 years.

Project Eligibility

The research project must:

• Align with the programme's research themes and the research interests of the academic supervisor.
• Be relevant to one of the APC's four core research areas: Microbes to Molecules, Diet and Microbes, Gut-Brain Microbe Axis, and Host-Microbe Dialogue.
• Address a societal challenge in the spheres of health and/or food.
• Be implemented during a two-year period.
• Adhere to the ethical standards as stated in the programme documentation.
• Include a secondment in the non-academic sector.

Supervisor Eligibility

• Before submitting an application, applicants must contact an eligible supervisor who shares an aligned research interest with the applicant's research topic.
• Applications are not eligible without the support of an academic supervisor.
• Supervisors who are open to supporting applicants will be confirmed at the call date.

Secondment Eligibility

• A secondment is mandatory for the fellow.
• Eligible secondment hosts are non-academic organisations located anywhere in the world, including Ireland.
• The mandatory intersectoral secondment must be relevant to the fellow's research project and to their own career development.
• Secondments must be a minimum of 3 months duration and a maximum of 6 months.
• Secondments can be a single period or split into short stays.
• Secondments to multiple organisations are eligible, provided they fit the developmental needs of the ER and the research.

EU Funding

This project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie SkodowskaCurie Grant agreement.