The "la Caixa" Foundation is offering 20 three-year postdoctoral fellowships to recruit experienced researchers to carry out their projects at any university or research centre of Spain or Portugal. The research must be carried out in the research areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), including Bio and Health Sciences.

For Spanish institutions, candidates must have resided in Spain more than 12 months in the last 3 years.

Requirements for applicants:

• Nationality: Postdoctoral researchers of any nationality are eligible to apply for the Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship-Retaining programme.
• Research training:Those who obtained their doctoral degree (PhD) two to seven years prior to the application deadline are eligible. For such purposes, candidates must have obtained their doctoral degree between 25th September 2018 and 25th September 2023, both inclusive.
• Mobility: 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 application deadline.
• International stays: For candidates applying to carry out the research in a Spanish university or research centre, the candidate must have carried out research stays at non-Spanish research centres or universities during their doctorate or postdoctorate, whether of a continuous or discontinuous nature for at least six months prior to the deadline for applications.

Candidates must apply using the online application platform available in the "Fellowships" section on the "la Caixa" Foundation website.

• The application must be completed entirely in English.
• Candidates must submit a personal statement with the project proposal that they wish to carry out if they are granted the fellowship. The personal statement must contain the following information:
  1) Research career directly related to the project proposal, stating the main line of research that the candidate has carried out and specifying the main achievements to date (maximum of 3 pages).
  2) Summary of the proposed research project (maximum of 5 pages).
• Using the online application platform, candidates must also obtain, prior to the application deadline, at least two reference letters from university professors, researchers or other appropriate individuals with whom they have had contact either academically or professionally. The reference letters must be written in English.
• Candidates must attach a copy of their doctoral diploma or academic certificate showing the date on which the doctoral degree was obtained.
• Candidates must attach an ethics table pointing out the ethical aspects of the project proposal. A template for the ethics table will be provided in the online application platform.
• Candidates who wish to avail themselves of the extended mobility rule due to inactivity in research, as contemplated in point 5.3, must provide the relevant supporting documents.
• If the documents uploaded in the online application platform were issued in a language other than English, a translation (which can be done by the candidate) into English must be attached.

In case of interest, please contact the Research Management and Promotion Department before September 18, 2025.