Erwin Schrödinger Fellowships

Expanding your research profile in a new environment of excellence is essential for sustainable professional development. One key to success is mobility: The Erwin Schrödinger program gives highly qualified postdocs the opportunity to pursue career-enhancing stays at internationally renowned research institutions, and also provides them with support after their return to Austria.

Target group

This program is aimed at highly qualified postdocs of all disciplines in the early stages of their research career.

Funding Goals

The Erwin Schrödinger program promotes career development by giving junior researchers the opportunity to conduct an independent research project.

Key objectives are:

• The opportunity to work on projects at research institutions abroad, gaining valuable international experience in the postdoc phase (strengthening career prospects)
• Opening up new fields of research, new approaches, methods, procedures, and techniques
• Contributing to the development of research in Austria
• Knowledge transfer back to the Austrian research community

Funding period and funding amount

• Funding period:
  • Abroad phase: 10 to 24 months
  • Return phase: up to 12 months (depending on the requested duration of the abroad phase)
• Funding amount
  • Variable basic fellowship for principal investigators (fellowship rates depend on country)
  • Allowance of €300 per month available for career-development measures
  • Where applicable: Principal investigator’s salary (current senior postdoc rate) and project-specific costs (flat rate) depending on the duration of the return phase (maximum €12,000) 

Prerequisites

• The applicant must have the academic qualifications needed to lead the proposed research project.
• Completed doctorate
• Fulfillment of the territoriality principle
• Support of the principal investigator by the host (= host supervisor) at an excellent research institution abroad
• Invitation from the host research institution abroad
• Option to return to an Austrian research institution
• For further details, please see the application guidelines.

Approval

• Decided by the FWF Scientific Board based on an international review process
• Five approval meetings per year

Application information

Rolling submissions using the online application portal elane

Funding institution

Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and, if applicable, other funding agencies