Support in career choices and applications
(NOTE - click on "Read more" for links)
In the recommendations to K2 following the Research Council's evaluation in 2024, the committee writes the following: “The committee recommends developing a leadership programme in which junior and senior staff jointly take on leadership of different organisational tasks”. This is advice we should try to follow up on in the coming year. In this context, it is relevant to recall what career support already exists for PhD candidates and early career researchers at our faculty.
UiB Ferd Career Centre for Young Researchers offers a range of services to support career development both within and outside the university. The centre targets PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows, researchers and associate professors at UiB. Ferd organises courses and events for researcher development and career learning, and also offers individual conversations with professional career advisors. Examples of offers include externships with job shadowing in the private or public sector. Ferd also offers e-courses that can be taken at your convenience, such as: FERD100: Creating an Academic CV and Navigating the Funding Landscape.
The Postdoctoral Program at the Faculty of Medicine aims to support postdoctoral fellows in developing a successful academic career, build a community of early-career researchers, and make the faculty an attractive place to work for postdoctoral fellows. The program starts a new round every two years. It is aimed at those who are in “postdoctoral” or “researcher” positions with an affiliation to a research group at the Faculty of Medicine. The next round will start in September 2026, with space for 20 participants.
The Research and Innovation Department (FIA) at UiB is developing a range of sessions with application readings, including ERC, MSCA and collaborative projects in Horizon Europe. This can provide good insight into how such applications can be designed.
UiB also has the more competitive Momentum program, which supports the career development of selected early-career researchers. The application deadline for the 2025/26 round was in March this year. In addition to a series of seminars, each participant receives a grant of NOK 100,000 for mentoring, travel, networking, research stays, conferences and other career-enhancing activities. Marta Kaminska from K2 is participating in the current period.
Finally, I would like to welcome everyone to the Institute's Day in Bikuben, Monday, September 8, 11:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
