Research promotion

Interested candidates should first consult the regulations of the funding agencies and, second, contact a potential mentor (that is, an elected professor) within the institutes of the department well ahead of time (at least two months prior the official deadlines set by the funding agencies).

Once the prospective candidate has identified a potential mentor, she or he will be first interviewed by the host institute. The mentor will provide relevant additional information and will organize the interview at the institute level. 

As soon as the host institute has decided to support the candidate, she or he will be interviewed by the faculty of the department during a dedicated meeting. The interview includes a 30-​minute scientific presentation, which should be addressed to a broad audience and in which both the achievements accomplished and the proposed future scientific activities should be explained. The talk will be followed by a 30-​minute discussion on various aspects of the proposed activity, but also about career perspectives of the candidate.

Two weeks prior to the interview by the department faculty the candidate must submit to Dr. Sebastian Huber () the following documents as pdf files:

1. CV and publication list;
2. scientific proposal as it will be submitted to the funding agency (SNSF or ERC).

The award is open to female postdoctoral researchers in the Department of Physics at ETH Zurich who desire support in their careers during the early years of motherhood, or for the early years of a second or third child. It can be applied for during pregnancy.

A postdoctoral researcher already holding such an award will not become eligible for a second award until two years into the PhD position associated with the running award.

This fellowship will provide funding to support a four-year PhD position in the Department of Physics.

The fellowship will allow the post-doctoral mother to gain experience by co-supervising the student, while being supported by the professor leading the research group.

The fellowship involves release of the post-doctoral mother from non-research departmental teaching duties for one year, starting from the date that the mother returns from maternity leave.

The supervising professor should send a supporting statement covering the following points:

• The supervising professor should commit to employing the post-doctoral mother for more than one year beyond the date of return from maternity leave, and indicate the expected duration of the stay of the post-doctoral mother in the research group.
• The supervising professor will pay the salary of the PhD student that goes beyond the standard four-year period.
• The supervising professor must commit to providing the official supervision for the PhD position associated with the fellowship.
• The supervising professor will provide mentoring to the post-doctoral mother to support the postdoctoral researcher’s role in supervising the PhD student.

Applications for a fellowship should include the following:

• A description of the proposed research, including a plan for the full PhD period.
• A description of the intentions of the post-doctoral mother with regards future career plan, including the envisioned time spent in the research group of the host professor.
• A statement of support from the host professor, including a commitment along the lines indicated in the section “Commitment from the Professorial supervisor”.
• A full CV for the post-doctoral mother.