European Respiratory society is inviting applications for ERS/EU RESPIRE 2 Postdoctoral Research Fellowships. These are co-funded by the European Union (EU) under the PEOPLE Marie Curie Actions COFUND programme of the EU’s Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7). Fellowships are offered for researchers to carry out advanced research projects (24 months) of scientific excellence in the area of respiratory medicine and science in a European country other than the candidate’s own, within a certified RESPIRE 2 Host Centre. Fellowships are open to all nationalities. The application deadline is 31st October 2014.
Study Subject(s): Fellowships are awarded in the area of respiratory medicine and science.
Course Level: RESPIRE 2 Fellowships are offered for researchers to carry out advanced research projects (24 months) of scientific excellence.
Scholarship Provider: This fellowship programme RESPIRE 2 is co-financed by the European Union through the Marie Curie
Action “Co-funding of regional, national and international programmes (COFUND)”.
Scholarship can be taken at: Fellowship is to be undertaken in a European country other than the candidate’s own, within a certified RESPIRE 2 Host Centre (Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, UK, Portugal, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Germany, France and Belgium)

Eligibility:
-Applicants will be accepted only if they are in the possession of a doctoral degree (PhD holders) at the time of application or demonstrate having at least the equivalent of 4 years full-time research experience at the time of application (*full-time equivalent research experience is measured from the date when a researcher obtained the degree which would formally entitle him or her to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the researcher is recruited or seconded, irrespective of whether or not a doctorate is or was ever envisaged).
-Applicants must have as a minimum, at least 1 first-author publication having been published (or having already been accepted for publishing) in an international peer-reviewed journal at the time of application.
-Experienced researchers from any discipline are welcome, even those not traditionally associated with respiratory research, so long as a clear benefit to the broad domain of respiratory science is established in the application. RESPIRE 2 covers and welcomes all disciplines of respiratory science/medicine and beyond to domains incl. immunology, modelling and systems biology, pharmacology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, biophysics, mathematics, engineering, etc.
-The proposed research should be cutting-edge science and have high impact to the broad domain of respiratory science, while serving the goal of promoting the ERS Roadmap and efforts on chronic disease across all disciplines. The fellowships are intended to support clinical research, translational research and basic science projects.
-Candidates should possess appropriate scientific, medical qualifications (academic) and/or experience (professional), and/or be engaged in research/science/practice that is relevant to the specific fellowship project/topic applied for.
-The programme is open to ERS members and non-members. Candidates under 35 years are encouraged to benefit from the “Under 35 Silver” ERS membership which is free of charge and offers an advantageous package of ERS resources and benefits
-RESPIRE 2 is open to candidates of all nationalities, whether based in Europe or not, however the fellowship is to be carried out in Europe and exclusively in one of the eligible RESPIRE 2 Host Centres
-Candidates must have adequate fluency in a language that permits effective communication at the Host Institute.
-When applying the candidate’s application must already involve an agreement with the Host Centre, where the fellowship project will be carried out.

Scholarship Open for International Students: Applicants of any country can apply for these postdoctoral research fellowships.

Scholarship Description: The ERS is pleased to present the ERS/EU RESPIRE 2 Post-doctoral Research Fellowships Programme co-funded by the European Union (EU) under the PEOPLE Marie Curie Actions COFUND programme of the EU’s Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7). Grant number: RESPIRE 2, PCOFUNDGA-2012-600368, Respiratory Science Promoted by International Research Exchanges 2.

Number of award(s): Not Known

Duration of award(s): The fellowship duration is 24 months exactly (may not be reduced nor split).

What does it cover? 
- Attractive compensation to fellows (€50,000 per fellow-year)
- Allowing for travel, mobility & career development costs during the fellowship (€14,600 per fellow-year)
- Career development oriented host institution requirements
- Training events in scientific and non-scientific skills
- Scientific and admin/process mentoring
- Encouraging return from a career break – pre-evaluation review of applications
- Specific post scheme network in a large scientific society

Selection Criteria: Each application will be graded by a panel of at least 5 experts from the ERS College of Experts who are selected by the Research Director as being experienced in their respective fields while avoiding conflicts of interest. The scoring is undertaken according to 3 weighted criteria:
-Merits of candidate/Quality of the candidate (30%)
-Quality of research project/Technical quality (30%)
-Quality and availability of Host Supervisor and Host Unit for the project/Ability and
-adequacy of the specific host lab, mentors and group (40%)
A median score for all criteria is then calculated and will provide the overall score used by the ERS College of Experts as an aid for the ranking of the applications.

Notification: Candidates will be informed if they are selected for an interview by mid-January 2015.

Online Application: Applicants can apply online.

Scholarship Application Deadline: The application deadline is 31st October 2014.