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In this section you will find the required templates for the application
These documents will be updated, please check you have the last version.
What do we offer?
Fellows in the ARISTOS program will carry out a research project in a CIBER group on a topic of their choice and receive career-enhancing measures such as research training, courses in research techniques, workshops for transferable skills, and access to international scientific and clinical networks. The program also promotes knowledge transfer and mobility between the public and private sectors.
When to apply?
The first call opens from the 1st of July 2023 until the 30th of September 2023 (11.59 pm Central European Summer Time- CEST).
Closed
1st Call (2023)
27ER positions offered
OPENING DATE: 1st July 2023
DEADLINE: 30th September 2023
Future
1st Call (2024)
OPENING DATE: 1st July 2024
DEADLINE: 30th September 2024
Eligibility Criteria
Candidates of any age and nationality are eligible to apply; however, each candidate is allowed to submit only one application. It is essential for candidates to meet the following eligibility criteria by the call deadline:
Research Experience: Applicants must be holding a Ph.D. degree on the date of the call deadline.
Mobility Rule: Researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the call deadline. The rule of mobility will have exceptions if they are duly justified in the proposal (e.g. long term sick leave).
Publication track record: Have at least three publications in internationally peer-reviewed journals at the time of the call deadline.
Secondment: All applicants must incorporate elements of cross-sectoral mobility and interdisciplinarity in their applications. This can be achieved through the inclusion of an intersectoral secondment, ranging from three to six months, with a company that aligns with your research focus (Please, check a list of companies in How to apply/Scondments).
Timeline and Selection Procedure
The selection procedure will be open, transparent, merit-based, international and peer-reviewed.
The Eligibility Check of the submitted applicants will be made by the Program Manager and validated by the Recruitment Committee followed by a 10-days period to submit missing documents and 10 days for redress. If any misstatement is found, the application will be withdrawn.
Incomplete and ineligible applications will also be discarded at this stage. Non-eligible applicants will be notified of the results of the eligibility check within the 1st month after the call deadline. Eligible applicants will receive confirmation that they have passed the eligibility check and will be informed if their application will undergo an in-depth review.
The admitted and eligible research project proposals along with the applicants’ CVs will be then sent for evaluation to an External Evaluation Agency. Each proposal will be evaluated by three external referees who will score and rank applications according to the ARISTOS Evaluation Criteria. Priority in case of proposals with the same score (ex aequo) defined in the table.
Evaluation results and proposals ranking will be announced in January 2024 and January 2025 followed by a 15 days redress period. Among proposals with equal total score, those with better evaluation results in the section of Excellence (followed by the section of Impact) will be prioritized. All applicants in this ranking list with a score over 70% threshold will be called to an interview.
Evaluation Criteria
Excellence
Quality, creativity, innovative aspects and credibility of the research objectives (including multidisciplinary aspects benefiting from CIBER interdisciplinarity) Intersectoral aspects of the research objective (academic, industry, societal) specific to the aims of the Program. Suitability of the selected seconding company. Quality of the academic track record of the applicant relative to the research proposed (e.g. patents, publications, research stays, projects) Compliance of the proposal with the Open Science principles.
Impact
Consistency of the research project with the hosting research group. Effectiveness of the proposed communication, exploitation and dissemination plan relative to the research field. Fellows’ potential to establish a leadership role in the proposal field, apt to their experience level, in Spain/internationally and in academia/ industry. Potential for increased impact of research via industry/clinical collaboration.
Implementation
Overall coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, including appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources, and the contingency plan. Opportunity to enhance research, via appropriate international collaboration with relevant industry & clinical sectors; potential development of proof of concepts. Match of the host group’s infrastructure with the project scope
An overall threshold of 70% will be applied to the total weighted score
An overall threshold of 70% must be met for the application to be placed in the ranking lists and be invited to interview. Interviews will be held in English, either in person or via videoconference.
Candidates will be called by the interview panel through an online secured platform.
All interviews will last 45 minutes, starting with a 10 minutes presentation of the project, followed by a scientific discussion, for the overall assessment of the non-scientific personal skills.
All interviews must have been completed by the end of March 2024 (March 2025 of the reserve call) and the resulting evaluations will be sent to the Recruitment Committee.
Candidates will be finally ranked according to their total evaluation scores in 13 ranking lists (one per panel – CIBER Thematic Areas) and will be granted in descending order, provided they are above the threshold. If equal scores, priority will be given to parity, so that the men / women employed by the program will be circa 50%, followed by a priority to returnees from parental or sick leave. If the number of candidates exceeding the threshold is higher than the number of foreseen positions in each panel, reserve lists will be created.
All applicants will receive their individual evaluation report (also available through the website Personal Area) and will have a 10-day period to fill a complaint.
The short list will become public in the website (April 2024, April 2025). Admitted Fellows will be then contacted by ARISTOS Program Manager for the initiation of the hiring process. The selected Fellows will have to communicate the acceptance of the fellowship through a Researcher Declaration within a maximum period of 2 weeks, counting from the date of notification, and must be available to join the program within the following 5 months.
Reserve List
If an appointed researcher refuses the offer, the position will be offered to the first candidate on the reserve list for the same panel, and so on. Vacancies not filled in the 1st call for proposals will be included in the 2nd call (open July-September 2024), and all contracts are estimated to initiate in April-May 2025 the latest.
Appointments
It is expected that successful candidates will start the fellowship at their earliest convenience, April-May 2024 at earliest and taking into consideration any periods required to get permission to work in Spain.
Support
CIBER will offer personalized assistance to all appointed candidates in order to get their work permits, visa and other required documents.
Equal Opportunities
CIBER traditionally promotes gender equality, applying equal-opportunities and rights policies in order: 1) to obtain a more balanced presence of men and women in the Consortium; 2) to improve working policies towards better reconciliation of work with family life, 3) to prevent discrimination, workplace harassment and gender violence, and 4) to guarantee equal access to job positions and promotions within CIBER.
Female groups of researchers will be reached during the dissemination of the call(s), CIBER Program decision making committees will be gender balanced and all Fellows will receive a training on gender dimension and gender equality. If alas situations of gender imbalance were to arise during the ARISTOS selection procedure, actions would be taken to correct this imbalance, for instance, equally scored candidates will be ranked in such a way so that men to women parity can be achieved.
In a similar manner, priority will be given to returnees from parental or sick leave. Besides, researchers with disabilities will be truly supported by ARISTOS: in the case that researchers with long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments disabilities are to be recruited, they will be informed about the financial support provided by the MSCA Special Needs Allowance.
Employment Conditions
This call offers 27 postdoctoral positions for researchers who will be designated as Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellows and hired under a 3-year full-time employment contract, in compliance with Spanish legislation for research projects.
Fellows will receive a range of benefits, including access to maternity/paternity full pay (16 weeks for each parent), pension rights, sick leave, as well as public healthcare coverage and medical assistance.
The research costs awarded to the fellows will include a living allowance covering salaries, social security contributions, taxes, and other costs, a mobility allowance for relocation, and a family allowance for dependent children.
Full time contract
36 months
Living allowance
39.840 €/year
Basic month salary and social security contributions, taxes and other costs foreseen by the law
Mobility allowance
3.600 €/year
Compensate the costs that arise due to relocation
Family allowance
Maximum of 3.600 €/year
In case the recruited Fellow has family obligations
Travel allowance
An average of 900 €/year
Covers no research-related travel expenses during the fellowship
Special Needs Allowance
(if needed)
Research costs
8.400 €/year
Covers research services, consumables
Training
3.000 €/year
Covers expenses related to the Fellows’ participation in training activities registration fees, travel expenses for meetings, conferences and ARISTOS Program workshops.
Download area
In this section you will find the required templates for the application
These documents will be updated, please check you have the last version.