Postdoctoral Fellowships in quantum science and engineering

The EPFL Center for Quantum Science and Engineering has launched its second call for QSE postdoctoral Fellowships in early December 2024, with a submission deadline of 18 March 2025 (17:00 CET)

This Fellowship offers outstanding and motivated young researchers from Switzerland and abroad the opportunity to carry out their research in collaboration with the thriving EPFL QSE community on cutting-edge topics in quantum science and quantum engineering.

The second call is open to post-doctoral researchers who wish to work at EPFL in any area linked to quantum science and engineering, but the QSE Center highly encourages and prioritizes applicants who plan to carry out their quantum research at one of the laboratories of the IC School.

Main eligibility criteria

Please read carefully ALL eligibility criteria in the Guide for Applicants.

The Fellowships are open to post-doctoral researchers:

• Who have successfully defended their thesis (i.e., defense was unconditional) at the submission deadline, in a field relevant to the broad area of quantum science and engineering (e.g., Physics, Engineering, Computer Science);
• Who have not been employed at an EPFL lab for more than 12 months at the call deadline;
• Who have at the submission deadline a net academic age of maximum 3 years after the award date of PhD; to calculate your net academic age (e.g., career breaks, illness) please follow these guidelines;
• Who have obtained an EPFL host support letter, signed by the head of the EPFL laboratory or unit.

Funding and duration

• The Fellowship will cover the full salary of the fellow (incl. social security charges and salary increase) over a maximum of 2 years; the EPFL host lab commits to cover all other costs for the good implementation of the fellowship;
• The fellow must be employed at a minimum of 80% FTE;
• The duration of the fellowships is between 12 and 24 months.

Application process

• Please read carefully the Guide for Applicants;
• Applications must be submitted via our online platform by the time of the submission deadline, 18.03.2025;
• The application templates that must be used for the application, and the link to the submission platform are available upon request via email.

Documents required

• CV and Track-Record (template must be used)
• Research proposal (template must be used)
• EPFL host support letter (signed by head of the host lab) (template must be used)
• Proof of successful PhD defense
• Names of 3 potential reviewers (without Conflict of Interest)
• One recommendation letter

Evaluation criteria

• Scientific excellence of the researcher
• Scientific excellence of the research project
  • Scientific relevance and originality
  • Suitability of methods, feasibility, implementation
  • Collaboration with EPFL host lab/unit
  • Potential for collaboration with research groups in quantum science and engineering fields at EPFL
  • Impact

Timeline

• Call opening: 02.12.2024
• Submission deadline: 18.03.2025 (17:00 CET)
• Communication decision: Early July 2025
• Earliest project start: August 2025

Contact

For more information, contact us.