SAFE as Host Institute

The Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE regularly participates in different funding programs that offer postdoctoral researchers a great opportunity to work at the institute alongside its researchers. The postdoc candidates will be able to join a vibrant research group and will have the opportunity to acquire new skills in the field of finance.

SAFE invites postdoctoral researchers around the world to express their interest to apply for one of the following programs jointly with SAFE as host institution.

Marie Skłodowska Curie Action (MSCA): is a program of the European Commission to encourage mobility among young researchers. The new postdoctoral fellowship program under Horizon Europe has been officially announced. More information can be found here. The European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in research projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe. The standard duration of these fellowships is between 12 and 24 months.

ERC Starting Grant: the program supports excellent young researchers to lead their own independent research project as Principal Investigator. The program is very ambitious, and applicants must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal. The grant has a duration of five years. Researchers are eligible to apply up to seven year after obtaining a PhD. The program is open to any nationality. More information can be found here.

Leibniz Junior Research Group: is part of the Leibniz Competition offered by the Leibniz Association. The program allows postdoctoral researchers to pursue an own research project for a period of five years. Postdocs are eligible to apply up to five years after completing their PhD.

DFG – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: is the major research funding organization in Germany. It offers different funding programs tailored towards postdoctoral researchers at different stages in their career.

  • The Walter Benjamin Program is a program for early-stage postdocs to conduct an own research project at a host institute for a duration of two years.
  • The Emmy Noether Program targets postdocs with an excellent track record to pursue an own research projects for a period of up to six years. As a rule of thumb, postdocs should have between two and four years of postdoc experience.
  • The Heisenberg Program can help you to get prepared for a future senior academic role. You can pursue your high-quality research under different schemes.

The Freigeist Fellowship by Volkswagen Foundation offers the opportunity for outstanding researchers to conduct their own research as a Junior Professor. The program consists of two phases for a total period of 8 years. The focus of the program is on junior researchers with up to four years of postdoctoral experience, who are working at a cross-disciplinary field of research. More information can be found here.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please check the different research departments of SAFE to see if there is a match with your research profile. You can submit your expression of interest by sending your CV, a motivation letter and a short outline of your ideas for a research proposal to Lut De Moor. The research proposal outline (max. 1 page) should include: a provisional title, a short description of the aims and ambitions of your research, your key questions and how you plan to address these.