ARISE2 Postdoctoral Fellowship 2026 Call for Applications

The life sciences increasingly depend on advanced services offered by core facilities synchrotrons data services and other research infrastructures creating a need for highly-skilled professionals who can operate improve and expand these scientific services.

EMBLs ARISE2 programme offers over 20 fully funded three-year postdoctoral fellowships for researchers with STEM backgrounds who are interested in advancing their careers in research infrastructures in academia or industry.

Your role

ARISE2 fellows will:

• Develop a method or development within EMBLs areas of expertise with potential for broader service application
• Receive structured training in the operation and management of research infrastructures including service provision project and staff management innovation science policy FAIR principals and AI.
• Build professional networks through secondment and job shadowing at EMBL and ARISE2 partner organisations

ARISE2 projects should align with EMBLs research areassuch as genomics structural biology imaging cell and tissue biology environmental research and translational applicationswhile contributing to the development of services that support the wider life science community.

You may develop projects in fields including:

• Data and computational science: Bioinformatics AI/ML computational modelling software engineering data management data science.
• Imaging and optical engineering: Imaging and image analysis optical engineering detector development microscopy X-ray optics
• Structural Biology and Mechanical Engineering: Automation high-precision mechanics microfluidics robotics X-ray crystallography
• Biotechnology: (Bio)chemical engineering chemistry or chemical biology omics technologies.

You have

• A Ph.D. at the time of the call deadline (September 30 2026). Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet been formally awarded the degree are eligible to apply.
• A university degree in a relevant STEM discipline (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics)
• Experience in technology development experience can be from academia and/or industry and should be relevant to the research fields of our groups and teams that are participating in the programme.
• Strong research potential that can be illustrated by a diverse set of research outputs (e.g. publications software data sets patents technical documentation contribution to technology development or other innovative research etc.)
• The ability to work independently and in a collaborative settings
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English
• Good organisational and time-management skills

You might also have

• Experience in the improvement or development of methods techniques or technology for service provision.

ARISE2 receives funding from HorizonEurope under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie action COFUND (grant agreement No ).

Why join us

EMBL is Europes flagship research laboratory for the life sciences an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology physics chemistry and computer science. We are an international laboratory with more than 2000 employees from many nations operating across six sites in Heidelberg (HQ) Barcelona Hinxton near Cambridge Hamburg Grenoble and Rome. One of our missions is to provide access to advanced technologies and engage in technology transfer activities.

EMBL is a curiosity-driven community-oriented and international organisation. As an inclusive equal opportunity employer we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation. We operate by our values of: openness inclusion integrity transparency fairness.

At EMBL as per our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy we actively encourage applications from people who are currently underrepresented in science. We also welcome applications from researchers at risk and applicants with disabilities and offer consultations during the selection process to ensure individual needs are taken into account.

We value our collegial and family-friendly working environment and offer excellent health insurance pension contributions flexible hybrid working arrangements family allowances diverse training opportunities and other social benefits.

Salaries and allowances offered to ARISE2 fellows are competitive. The entry-level gross salary (excluding employers social contributions) varies by EMBL host site and currently ranges from 322838 to 411845 EUR per month. EMBL fellows are exempt from national taxes due to EMBLs intergovernmental status but contribute to EMBLs social security system. The first year salaries across the EMBL sites are: 4.11845 for EMBL Heidelberg and Hamburg Germany; 3.64624 for EMBL Grenoble France; 3.22838 for EMBL Rome Italy; 3.29123 for EMBL Barcelona Spain and 3.38352 for EMBL-EBI located outside of Cambridge UK.

Our working language is English.

What else you need to know

You will need to select the group you wish to join and prepare the short project proposal which you would like to do in the group. We strongly encourage you to contact the groups before applying to inform them about your interest and learn about their future plans.

For details on how to apply please visit the ARISE2 website where you will find the application and project template forms. To apply please click the Apply button above and upload a pdf version of the application form and project proposal (including ethics self-assessment form) in the section My Experience under CV Cover Letter.

• We accept applications from 30 June - 30 September (23:59 CEST) 2026.
• Interviews of top candidates are planned for November 25-27th 2026 by Zoom .
• Start of the fellowship: between January-April 2027.

Please contact the ARISE2 team () if you have any questions.

EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here