A talented, foreign postdoc for two years – free of charge. That is what the EU is offering. But very few researchers at Health utilise the scheme.

2019.12.10 | Mette Louise Ohana

Søren Paludan from the Department of Biomedicine has twice had a postdoc funded by the EU. Photo: Aarhus University.

Sonia Assil is currently a Marie Curie fellow in Søren Paludan’s research group. She comes from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon in France. Photo: Private.

Professor Søren Paludan from the Department of Biomedicine is one of the few research directors at Health who has received funding for a Marie Curie fellowship. He is also one of the few to have even applied in the first place. He has twice added a young and talented fellow to his research group – currently in the shape of Sonia Assil who comes from France and the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon. She has been working in Søren Paludan’s laboratory since 2018.

”Sonia is specialised in infections and vesicle transport and these were competences we lacked in my research group. I originally ran into her in Lyon when I was there giving a lecture. Later she came to AU as a postdoc and then we applied for a Marie Curie fellowship to extend her stay here. We could do this because she hadn’t been in Denmark for so long," says Søren Paludan.

EU applications have a bad reputation

For some people, EU applications scream bureaucracy and convoluted applications. While this is partially true, according to Søren Paludan things really are not that bad:

“There is more work involved than applying to the Danish programmes. But as with so many other things, the first time is the most difficult. Once you’ve written that first application, it lowers your barriers for applying for funding from the EU in other contexts, so the effort you put in is well spent,” says Søren Paludan.

He does not think there is any need to be reluctant about applying for funding for a postdoc via the EU.

“Perhaps some people associate the EU with a low success rate. But let’s face it, the number of Danish postdoc programmes is pretty limited, so I thought we might as well try. And now we've been successful twice out of the three or four times we've applied. You get a dedicated contribution from a researcher for two years, while you at the same time help them progress in their research career and also gain access to their network," says Søren Paludan, who adds that a Marie Curie fellowship also serves as a seal of approval for the research group that has hosted the fellow.

Applicants do not just turn up

Researchers from abroad are not necessarily familiar with the Marie Curie fellowships. So it is up to the supervisors to give potential applicants a little nudge if they want to make use of the opportunity.

"Keep your eyes open when you’re abroad, and you’ll also be contacted regularly. Of course, it can be difficult to assess whether people are suitable or not if you just meet them at a conference. But if you’re in doubt, the Research Support Office can help to assess them based on a CV," says Søren Paludan.

The Marie Curie fellowships fall under Horizon 2020 and are open to researchers from both inside and outside the EU. This also applies even though the applicant is already in Denmark, as long as they have not been here for more than one year. However, it is an advantage if they have already found a supervisor when they apply.

Better chance if there is collaboration on applications

When the supervisor and applicant collaborate on the application they have a better chance of securing a fellowship, because this qualifies the application. For Søren Paludan, the process was manageable. The majority of the work was done by Sonia Assil herself as she wrote eighty per cent of the application, partly with inspiration from a previous application by Søren Paludan. He then acted as a consultant on her application.

"The applicant also gets good help from the Research Support Office. For example, they hold a masterclass in Aarhus for potential applicants and here they help them with the actual application. They also know about all the formalities in EU applications," says Søren Paludan.

About Marie Curie fellowships

• Applicants must have a PhD degree or four years of research experience.
• The applicant must not have resided or carried out her/his main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Denmark for more than 12 months in the three years immediately before the call deadline in September 2020.    
• Health will hold a three-day masterclass in mid-May for potential applicants, at which they can meet their supervisor, get help with the application and get an impression of AU and Denmark in general. All expenses will be paid.
• The application deadline for Health's masterclass is 15 March 2020.
• The Marie Curie fellowships are open for applications until the middle of September 2020. Applicants will be notified in February 2021.

Read more about Marie Curie Fellowships

Contact

Adviser Henry Andreasen
Dean’s Secretariat, Health
Mobile: (+45) 2033 8578
Email: ha@au.dk