We are pleased to inform you that the call for doctorate INPhINIT fellowships of the la Caixa Foundation is now open (deadline: 4th February 2020 for Incoming fellowships and 26th February 2020 for Retaining fellowships; both at 14:00h CET).

For the Incoming fellowships, the candidates should select among the 10 VHIR groups that this year offer PhD positions for the INPhINIT Incoming call. You can find information about the positions here: https://hosts.lacaixafellowships.org/finder#1 by selecting our research centre "Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR)". After the candidates select one of these positions, there will be matching of offered positions and PhD candidates.

a.      Objective: hiring excellent early stage researchers—of any nationality— who wish to develop their career:

-          In all areas of knowledge.

-          At any university or research center in Spain or Portugal.

Furthermore, these fellowships are intended to provide researchers with additional training skills that will expand their possibilities for development in their professional careers, not only in the academia, but also in industry and entrepreneurship.

b.     Eligibility criteria for the candidates:

·        Candidates of any nationality are eligible to apply.

·        Candidates who wish to join a Spanish center or university must have resided or have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the deadline for applications. Short stays, such as vacations, will not be taken into account.

·        At the call deadline, applicants must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree (nor being in a position to apply for it.). The candidates should not have previously been enrolled in the doctoral studies applied for (before academic year 2020-2021).

·        Must have completed the studies that lead to an official university degree adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) awarding 300 ECTS credits, of which at least 60 correspond to master level. If the degree is obtained outside from EHEA, it should be equivalent to level required for access to doctoral studies. The verification of the level of studies will be made by the university, at the admission.

·        Candidates must have a demonstrable level of English (B2 or higher).

a.       Duration: 3 years.

b.      Number of fellowships offered: 30

c.       Fellowship amount:

The maximum payment amount will be 122.592€, as broken down below:

·        Three maximum annual payments of 34.800€.

·        Costs for conferences, courses etc. 3.564€ per year.

·        Prize of 7.500€ for students who deposit their thesis within 6 months after the end of 3-year period of the fellowship.

d.      Application:

·       Candidates should apply by registering and using the online application platform available in the “Fellowships” section on the Obra Social ”la Caixa” website.

·       The application must be completed in English.

·       Candidates must indicate their preferred predoctoral fellowship position among the 10 VHIR groups’ positions that are offered.

·       Documents required:

-   Academic certificate of studies carried out inside the EHEA.

-   Candidates with studies pursued outside EHEA should provide transcript of academic records and an explanatory document to verify that the studies they got make them eligible for a doctoral programme in the country where they took up these studies.

-   Three to five reference letters (in English).

e.      Important Deadlines of la Caixa:

Official deadline: 26th February 2020 at 2:00 p.m. (Central European Time-CET).

Deadline for submitting the language certificate: 11th March 2020.

Preselection results and call for interviews: 22nd May 2020.

Interviews in Barcelona: From 17th and 18th June 2020.

Announcement of final results: 30th June 2020.

Expected start of the fellowship: between September and November 2020.

f.        More information:

·        “la Caixa” INPhINIT – Retaining doctoral fellowship programme website

·         ”la Caixa” INPhINIT Retaining Doctoral Fellowship – Call for applications – (attached document)

Please, do not hesitate to contact VHIR’s Research Grant Office if you need any help for the application.