Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 2022 – Call for Expression of Interest

CYENS Centre of Excellence (CoE) welcomes Expressions of Interest (EoI) from talented and ambitious post-doctoral international candidates, to apply jointly with a CYENS CoE supervisor, to the European Commission’s MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 Scheme.

About CYENS CoE

CYENS Centre of Excellence (CoE) has been set up through the prestigious H2020 Teaming Grant and it is a joint venture between the three public universities of Cyprus (University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, Open University of Cyprus), the Municipality of Nicosia, and two renowned international partners, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (Germany) and University College London (UK). Located in the Centre of the Nicosia, Cyprus’ capital city, CYENS CoE is designed to act as an integrator of academic research and innovation, towards the sustainable fueling of scientific, technological and economic growth of Cyprus and Europe, empowering knowledge and technology transfer in the region.

What does the MSCA-IF Fellowships entail?

The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships are offered to excellent researchers, undertaking international mobility either to, or between, EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, as well as to non-associated Third Countries.
The goal of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovation potential of researchers, holders of a PhD who wish to develop new skills through advanced training and international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility.
Eligibility criteria:

• should be holders of a PhD degree at the time of the deadline for applications (applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply),
• must have a maximum of eight years’ experience in research, from the date of the award of their PhD degree (years of experience outside research and career breaks will not count towards the above maximum, nor will years of experience in research in third countries, for nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to Europe),
• should comply with the following mobility rules: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.

Actions being supported
The actions we are supporting are two types of Postdoctoral Fellowships:
European Postdoctoral Fellowships
The European postdoctoral fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe or coming to Europe from another part of the world to pursue their research career. These fellowships take place in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and can last between 1 and 2 years. Researchers of any nationality are eligible to apply.
Global Postdoctoral Fellowships
The global postdoctoral fellowships fund the mobility of researchers outside Europe. The fellowship lasts between 2 to 3 years, of which the first 1 to 2 years will be spent in a non-associated Third Country, followed by a mandatory return phase of 1 year to an organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Only nationals or long-term residents of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries are eligible to apply.

Researcher Profile

Candidates are expected to be experienced researchers with a strong CV relative to their career stage and be able to demonstrate their high potential. The desired candidates are looking to give their career a boost by working abroad. The Individual Fellowships (IF) are a great option to find exciting new learning opportunities and a chance to enhance their career development.

What the Funding Covers

The grant provides an allowance to cover living, travel and family costs. In addition, the EU contributes to the training, networking, and research costs of the fellow, as well as to the management and indirect costs of the project.

Research Areas

By applying for an MSCA-IF at CYENS CoE, you will have the opportunity to carry out high level research at a wide range of exciting topics in the fields of:

1. Communication & Artificial Intelligence
2. Human Factors & Design
3. Visual Sciences.

By applying with CYENS CoE you can work with one of the Research Groups housed at the Centre in one of the following research topics:

• Virtual Reality and mobile applications for cognitive training and clinical interventions.
• Multimodal interaction and learning, emerging technologies for learning and entertainment.
• Exploration of interactive technologies and smart environment solutions for museums and heritage sites.
• Computer graphics, animation, and simulation of virtual humans and of 3D built environments.
• Biometrics, Computer Vision, Machine Learning.
• Computer Networks, Protocols for IoT and Multimedia Communications, 5G Technologies, Security, Edge/Fog and Mobile Cloud Computing, and Smart City Applications.
• Smart, Ubiquitous and Participatory Technologies for Healthcare Innovation.
• Machine learning, computational learning theory, natural language processing and generation, AI.
• Algorithmic accountability and transparency.
• Virtual Reality for well-being.
• Next generation of the image/video processing pipeline.
• Computer vision applications and use of deep learning for deploying smarter digital cameras.
• Computational intelligence and emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR).
• Simulations and analysis of life in virtual worlds.
• Learning Agents and Robots, reinforcement learning, deep learning, multiagent systems and computational intelligence methods.
• Visual Computing.

When working at CYENS CoE you will be able to utilize the prestigious partners of CYENS CoE including the Max Planck Institute of Informatics (MPI), the University College London, the University of Cyprus (UCY), the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) and the Open University of Cyprus (OUC). The partnership of CYENS with the Municipality of Nicosia provides the opportunity to implement your research in a real-life environment of a thriving business, cultural and social city center.

At CYENS CoE you will have access to state-of-the-art facilities and equipment and a fully functional makerspace providing you the opportunity to transform, share, test and perfect your ideas. Additionally, you will be supported in every step of the way by our experienced Research and Innovation Officers.

How to Apply

Please submit an application to the Centre’s Research Office, ([email protected]) by September 14^th 2022.

Your application documents must include:

1. A copy of your CV, including a full list of publications (max. 3 pages).
2. A 2-page outline of your research proposal.
3. Name of a potential Research Group (s) or specific mentor for the project from within the Centre. If more than one Research Groups is of interest rank them in a list in order of priority. CYENS CoE Research Groups can be found here.
4. Expressions of interest will be evaluated based on the quality of the research idea and the selected candidates will be invited to make a formal application to the scheme with their selected supervisor(s).

   Applicants are advised to study the Individual Fellowship Guide for Applicants and Call Text before they apply.