Postdoc Abroad

08 AGenT Postdoctoral Programme in Barcelona, Spain

July 8, 2023

Designation/Position- AGenT Postdoctoral Programme

Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG; Barcelona). invites applications for AGenT Postdoctoral Programme from eligible and interested candidates

About- The AGenT (Agricultural Genomics Transversal) postdoctoral programme is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Programme (H2020 Grant Agreement No. 945043) at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG; Barcelona).

Research/Job Area-

AGenT is an international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral programme that can be summarized as an orthogonal grid that combines the four scientific programmes at CRAG (Plant Development and Signal Transduction; Plant Responses to Stress; Plant Metabolism and Metabolic Engineering; and Plant and Animal Genomics) with three priority lines that are specifically supported by the three different types of partner organizations of the AGenT programme. These are:

Collaborative international projects of research excellence. Partner institutions include many of the best research Centers in plant sciences in Europe: Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ, Germany); John Innes Center (JIC, UK); National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA, France); Umeå Plant Science Center (UPSC, Sweden); The Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University (SLCU, UK), and Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica (IPMB, Taiwan).
Application of frontier technologies to plant science research and development (e.g., advanced materials, nanosciences, and photonics). Partner organizations are: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO, Barcelona); Catalan Institute of Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies (ICN2, Barcelona); Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), and Center for Research in Mathematics (CRM, Barcelona), all of which are also “Severo Ochoa” programme Centers of Excellence.
From research to products. Partner organizations are private companies: Rijk Zwaan (RZ); Fitó Seeds; Sequentia Biotech; Vytrus Biotech; OpenNatur; and Enlighting Technologies (ET).

Location-

Eligibility/Qualification–

The eligibility criteria must be fulfilled at the time of the call deadline. If it becomes clear before, during or after the evaluation phase that one or more of the eligibility criteria have not been fulfilled, the proposal will be declared ineligible and it will be withdrawn:

Applicants must be Recognised Researchers (R2), based on the research profile descriptors of the European Commission, i.e. researchers who hold a doctorate degree (PhD) but have not yet established a significant level of independence. Recognised Researchers must be in possession of a PhD or have accumulated at least 4 years of full time equivalent postgraduate research experience prior to the call deadline.
Applicants are eligible for a period of 5 years following successful completion of their PhD at the date of the call deadline*. Exceptions to the 5-year rule are allowed for applicants whose academic career has been interrupted for parental leave, for industrial job experience, or other special circumstances such as mandatory military service or illness. These circumstances will be indicated in the application form in the field «Additional Notes» and must be documented. Extensions will be up to one year per child in case of parental leave and up to two years for industrial breaks. The extension in the case of illness or mandatory military service will depend on its duration.
Applicants must not have resided or carried out her/his main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the call deadline. Short stays, such as holidays, will not be considered. Exceptions to the mobility rule will be considered in duly justified cases, like for researchers undergoing a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.
Researchers from any nationality may apply.

Job/Position Description-

The programme offers twenty (20) two-year postdoctoral fellowships in four calls and is focused on: training both in specific research areas and in transferable and transversal skills; secondments and research collaborations; and networking activities in both the academic and the industrial sectors; all in order to enrich the training of the fellows and enhance their professional development while conducting projects of research excellence.

Appointment conditions of researchers

2-year full time employment contract (Gross Salary approx. 35,300€/year)
Family allowance: 100 Euro/month. The family status of a researcher will be determined at the date of deadline of the call and will be revised during the lifetime of the action only if fellows change their status in terms of dependent children.
Relocation allowance: a single payment of 1,992 Euros at the beginning of the appointment for researchers with residence out of the Barcelona area at the time of signing the AGenT contract (the 1,992€ is the total amount, taxes will be deducted depending on the personal situation of each AGenT fellow).

How to Apply-

Applications should be submitted through CRAGjobs (it requires generating a password-protected user account). The application must be complete and include all obligatory information and documents.

As applicant you will have to provide the following information via CRAGjobs (templates for some of the documents requested are available at Call Documents & Templates):

Cover letter, introducing yourself and highlighting the most relevant aspects of your CV;
Curriculum Vitae;
PhD certificate or official notification of the award (if applicable);
Documents accrediting research activities counting towards the total full-time postgraduate research experience (if applicable);
Statement of Research interests, including a short proposal of a prospective research project to be carried out at CRAG in collaboration with a Partner Organization. You have to indicate the Host group of your interest and the corresponding Principal Investigator (as applicant you are required to include elements of interdisciplinarity, cross-sectoral and/or international mobility in their research proposal);
Mobility Declaration;
Ethics Declaration, indicating any ethical issue related to their project.

In addition, as applicant you must ensure the submission of at least two reference letters from scientists with whom you have studied or worked. Letters should be sent directly by the referees to agent@cragenomica.es, and should also be received by the application deadline. Instructions about how to write a letter of reference to support a candidate is available at Call Documents & Templates. The letters must be as informative as possible and should refer clearly and objectively to the professional, technical and academic abilities of the candidate.