FAQ & Contacts

This page is provides answers to frequently asked questions and also contact information to key functions for the PULSE program.

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FAQ

For Applicants

Applicants must hold a doctoral degree awarded within the last three years or have successfully defended their thesis at the time of application (deducible time include eg compulsory national service, medical and parental leaves of absences, but not time in employment). Additionally, they must meet the MSCA mobility requirement, which stipulates that applicants cannot have lived or worked in Sweden for more than 12 months in the past three years (all nationalities are welcome to apply). There is no candidate age limit.
Applicants are responsible for selecting their own research topic, host organization, and supervisor. The applicant cannot previously have been employed by the main PULSE supervisor PI lab.

The first call for 24 postdoc positions will open on January 7, 2025, followed by a second call for another 24 postdoc positions in January 2026. All PULSE applications must be submitted through a central application portal.

There is no specific format. One suggestion is to send an email with e.g. this content:

  • A brief introduction about yourself and your scientific background (you may also attach a short CV).
  • A few lines outlining your research idea and how it aligns with eg the PI’s expertise, infrastructure, research environment.
  • A clear explanation of why you believe their lab would be an ideal host for your proposed project.

Each applicant can only submit one proposal per call. If the application is not granted funding in the 2025 call, the candidate is welcome to submit a new application in the 2026 call (as long as the eligibility requirements are still met).

The information and supporting documentation that must be included in a PULSE application are outlined HERE. PULSE applications can only be submitted through the Anubis portal. It is very important that the applicants take note of and carefully follow instructions given for content, extent and formatting of proposal sections in the portal and for the templates.

Depending on the type of research planned to be carried out in the PULSE project, it will fit either within the academic or the entrepreneurial track (cross-functional proposals are welcome, but applicants are asked to indicate their main track and describe the broader nature of their project in the proposal). Independent of the track chosen, the postdoc will take part in program-wide activities, eg transferable skills training and networking. For the academic track, secondments can be with any partner of the PULSE consortium, but for the entrepreneural track, a secondment with an industry partner is required.

The postdoc choose the host supervisor most suitable for their project (one main PI per PULSE project). To support candidates to establish contacts with a prospective hosting lab, a PI portfolio with some of the potential hosting PI:s and their labs, including description of areas where the PI:s seek collaboration with a PULSE postdoc and contact information, has been published. The PIs expect candidate postdocs to get in touch via email. The applicant may also contact another SciLifeLab Group Leader about the possibility to be main PI host for their project. Please note, the candidate cannot have previously been employed by the proposed PULSE PI lab.

Each PULSE project includes a mandatory 3-6 month secondment at one of the PULSE partners (the secondment can also be split into shorter time periods if needed). For the application, the candidate should include suggestions for secondments, but they may be finally decided at the start of the project. For the entrepreneurial track, the secondment should be carried out with an industry partner. To support candidates to establish contacts with prospective secondment labs, a matchmaking portfolio with PULSE associated partners has been published, including descriptions of areas where the PI:s seek collaboration with a PULSE postdoc.

SciLifeLab PULSE does not provide special funding support to postdocs with families, however, as an employee the postdoc will benefit from the generous support for parents through the Swedish social insurance, including parental leave and allowance, opportunity to work part-time, and subsidised childcare.

SciLifeLab PULSE offers 3-year employment contracts (not scholarships). Please read about the employment conditions for PULSE postdocs HERE.

Please find the recording HERE.

At the beginning of each PULSE project, a more detailed project plan will be developed as needed by the postdoc and their supervisors.

The evaluation criteria and the evaluation timeline are described in the downloadable document Evaluation timeline and process.

In Sweden, the researcher owns their research results. Read more HERE.

For Supervisors

Supervisors should not be involved in drafting the proposal. Though, the applicant may contact the supervisor during the application process, but a rationale for the contact should be specified (e.g. for scientific advise, to discuss the research being proposed, to visit the lab facilities and meet the research team).

Please find the webinar presentation here.

We will provide matchmaking opportunities through a PI portfolio for both calls (2025 and 2026), and also an additional opportunity for the first call (in mid February 2025) for new SciLifeLab Group Leaders.

A PI can support two applications in the PULSE call. This also entails committing to co-funding of both projects (salary and running costs), if they are granted funding.

The Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP) will be set up by the PI main host together with the postdoc and the PULSE training coordinator.

For Partners

A primary HR contact is needed for questions from candidates that may appear during the recruitment period, e.g. in matters related to relocation to Sweden, visa application process, and information on Swedish administrative and social security systems, and also as Ombudsman for the postdoc throughout the program, should that be necessary. As soon as a postdoc is recruited, the HR for the corresponding host department will be their contact for HR-related issues, except for the role as Ombudsman.

It is the postdoc candidate that is the driver of PULSE projects, and their task to choose a suitable hosting lab and secondment host. Secondments can be decided later, for the selected PULSE projects. An Associated partner can contact potential PULSE PIs to discuss possible areas for collaboration, but the project itself will be designed by the postdoc candidate.

Registration is not mandatory but appreciated, since this will help the postdoc finding a suitable secondment host for their project proposal. Though, secondments can also be decided and agreed upon at a later stage during the program. If you are interested in being a PULSE postdoc secondment co-host supervisor, please contact pulse@scilifelab.se for further information.

Economy

Yes, the funding can be used for all types of costs, as long as the postdoc salary is minimum SEK 38,000 per month.

Yes, co-funding is required, with approximately 50% of the salary + research running costs, etc.

Other EU-funding or KAW DDLS-funding cannot be used for co-financing. For potential use of other KAW-funding, this depends on the terms of conditions for the particular grant.

This is under investigation, but one suggestion that has been discussed is to use an average exchange rate from the last three years. Note, the postdoc salary should not be affected by the exchange rate.


N.B. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Last updated: 2025-01-29

Content Responsible: Karin Nedler(karin.nedler@scilifelab.se)