The Marie Curie Fellowship programme gives researchers the opportunity to recruit highly-qualified, self-reliant and talented researchers from abroad, says Professor Robert Fenton, who himself started as a Marie Curie Fellow at Aarhus University 17 years ago.

2022.01.13 | Jakob Binderup Christensen

If you as a research group leader lack highly-qualified help with a large project, then it may be a good idea to recruit a research talent from abroad who can contribute with new skills and independently undertake major tasks.

Fortunately, there is a programme that is designed to support the exchange of the most promising researchers between universities; The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship programme.

Robert Fenton, Professor at the Department of Biomedicine, has applied for and received a scholarship from the programme on several occasions. The first time, 17 years ago, he travelled from the USA to Aarhus to take the next step in a promising research career. And when he needed help with a research project many years later, he knew where to apply for funding to recruit a talented international researcher.

"I was a Marie Curie fellow myself, so I’d known about the programme for years and that it was a great opportunity to find good researchers and find funding outside of the normal national channels," says the Englishman.

Supports talented researchers

The purpose of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship programme is to support talented researchers who wish to develop their careers by learning new skills and disciplines at universities abroad.

But the programme is not only a golden opportunity for ambitious and adventurous researchers with talent to match. Robert Fenton also views it as a unique opportunity for research directors to recruit from the very top shelf abroad.

He has a background in molecular biology, cell biology and physiology, and when faced with putting together a team for a research project in 2014, he applied to become a mentor for a fellow through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie programme. There were several reasons behind this, as he explains.

"Applying to Marie Curie was an opportunity for a strong postdoc to get an internationally recognised fellowship that would have a major impact on his or her career. For me, it was also an opportunity to recruit a strong researcher with a single application. And once the candidate had received a fellowship and thus their own grant, I was in a situation where I could recruit yet another excellent postdoc for my project," explains Robert Fenton.

Needed researcher with different background

Early in the process, he defined the competences he wanted from the researcher. It had to be someone with a completely different background than his own and the rest of the research team.

"I knew that we were strong in some areas, but lacked knowledge in others, so I wanted to find a postdoc who had the unique competences that we needed," says Robert Fenton.

He had to wait nine months before he found a candidate with the right expertise and enough stature to help the research project.

"I found Qi Wu, who had just completed his PhD degree at the Dalian Institute in China. His background in chemical analysis meant he had competences that were very different from those we already had at the laboratory."

Applied twice

In 2014, Qi Wu had a strong CV that included having his name on around thirty scientific articles.

The Chinese researcher accepted Robert Fenton's offer of a postdoc position, and together they applied for a fellowship through the Marie Curie programme.

After a rejection in 2014, they succeeded in securing a grant with their second attempt. This turned out to be crucial for both Robert Fenton's research and Qi Wu's career.

"Qi contributed with completely different skills in areas where I had very limited practical experience. We needed his skills within proteomics and bioinformatics because they could elevate our research and produce better results," explains Robert Fenton.

After his two-year fellowship, Qi Wu decided to stay in Aarhus and continue his career at the university. Today, he is affiliated with the Department of Biomedicine as an assistant professor.

Creates optimal research environment

Robert Fenton now encourages his research colleagues to consider recruiting talented researchers from abroad. And he believes that the time it takes to apply for a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship can be a very good investment for both research talents and mentors.

"People from other countries have a different approach to research, and their experience and skills are often different from Danish researchers. I believe that a combination of Danish and non-Danish researchers creates an optimal research environment," he says.

 

Three tips:

• Make sure that the candidate is highly qualified. The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship is very popular, and only the very best make it through the eye of the needle.
• Look for a candidate who can contribute with new and different skills and who can take on responsibility for parts of the research project.
• Be aware that the time from the processing of the application to the disbursement of any grant can be long and that there is a risk of the candidate dropping out before the process is complete.

 

About the Marie Sklodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship

The objective of the fellowship is to support researchers’ careers and foster excellence in research. The Postdoctoral Fellowships action targets researchers holding a PhD who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers. The fellowship helps researchers gain experience in other countries, disciplines and non-academic sectors.

Interested researchers submit an application together with a host organisation, which can be a university, research institution, business, SME or other organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. All disciplines are eligible for Postdoctoral Fellowships, including research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme. 

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