Pre-award Research Support Centre

The University of Rijeka (UNIRI), a modern European University, is looking for motivated postdoctoral researchers (Postdocs) for the Marie-Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) applications in 2025.  With 16 academic units and 13 specialized research centres including 160 study programs, UNIRI represents a research, science, and education-oriented university that supports social and economic development in its community. UNIRI has over 1 970 employees, over 16 000 students, more than 1 400 researchers, and has conducted over 300 EU-funded projects within the last 10 years.

MSCA is the European Union’s flagship funding programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training of researchers. It provides funding for researchers to conduct their research project at a host institution in Europe or beyond. The fellowship promotes international mobility, interdisciplinary research, and the acquisition of new skills, offering a unique opportunity for researchers to advance their careers and contribute to scientific excellence. For official information about the MSCA PF (basic details, Guidelines, etc) please see Funding & Tenders Portal.

HOW TO APPLY

We are looking for researchers who:

• are ready for a Postdoctoral Fellowship that will boost their international career,
• are ready to enhance their knowledge and skills within young and vibrant environments,
• want to network with internationally recognized researchers,
• comply with the MSCA PF eligibility requirements (see below).

Prospective candidates should send a Motivation Letter and their CV to the chosen supervisor directly, and include the Pre-Award Research Support Centre (cpp@uniri.hr) in copy of the e-mail, with the subject line ‘MSCA-PF-2025 candidate name’.

Curriculum Vitae (CV) should include complete contact details, a comprehensive list of publications, projects, and other relevant academic endeavours. The Motivation Letter should include specific research and career interests and objectives, and an outline of the project idea, demonstrating alignment with potential supervisor’s research topics.

UNIRI supervisors have expressed their interest for Postdoctoral Fellows. The offers are listed below. Postdoctoral candidates can also identify potential supervisors by exploring University of Rijeka Faculties and Departments.

Expressions of interest by UNIRI researchers

Short list preview of all potential mentors at UNIRI is available here. By clicking on the selected researcher, you will be diverted to their full profile.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (4)

Faculty of Physics (1)

Faculty of Mathematics (4)

Faculty of Civil Engineering (7)

Faculty of Medicine (2)

Faculty of Maritime Studies (1)

Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development (4)

Faculty of Engineering (4)

Faculty of Law (3)

Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management (2)

UNIRI Institute for Future (1)

ADDITIONAL FINANCING FOR MSCA PF INSTITUTIONAL UNIRI WORKSHOP

We are offering additional financing for institutional visits (to UNIRI) prior to applying to the MSCA Call, with the goal of providing an opportunity to connect with mentors and to participate in the UNIRI workshop with the goal of developing an MSCA application. The MSCA PF institutional UNIRI workshop is scheduled for June 24-26, 2025.

Hence, the UNIRI has published a Call for institutional financing of internationalisation of science and arts through projects of inbound mobility for established researchers, artists and academic teaching personnel. This Call offers an opportunity for short term, middle term and long-term mobility. Potential MSCA Postdoc applicants may consider applying for a short visit at the UNIRI chosen institution.

The Call may cover travel costs, accommodation (up to 40 euro/day), and allowance (up to 15 euro/day) with an overall maximum total amount of 1.000 euro.

The application deadline for this Call is May 9, 2025, and must be submitted by the mentor. We recommend that all interested postdoctoral researchers allow ample time to connect with their mentor and plan their visit to the UNIRI institution.

For more information, please contact the CPP (cpp@uniri.hr).

Interested researchers must fulfil the MSCA PF eligibility requirements

• They must have a PhD at the time of the application deadline (10 September 2025.).
• They must have a maximum of eight years of experience in research, from the date of the award of their PhD.
• They should comply with mobility rules: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.

Interested researchers apply jointly with a host organisation, i.e. a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector. In this case, researchers apply with a UNIRI organization. All disciplines are eligible for Postdoctoral Fellowships, including research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme. The list of interested UNIRI supervisors is available above (in section How to apply).

MSCA PF – FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Contribution for the recruited researcher per person – month (PM)

The beneficiary receiving EU funding needs to recruit a researcher for the total period of the fellowship.

The EU provides support for the recruited researcher in the form of:

• a living allowance: 5.990 EUR (for Croatia country correction coefficient is 80,1 %)

• a mobility allowance: 710 EUR
• if applicable, family, long-term leave, and special needs allowances: 660 EUR

A country correction coefficient applies to the living allowance to ensure equal treatment and purchasing power parity for all researchers. For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, this coefficient is the one applicable to the country of the beneficiary.

Institutional unit contributions per person-month

• research, training and networking activities: 1.000 EUR
• management and indirect costs: 650 EUR

INDICATIVE TIMELINE

• 8 May 2025: Launch of the call for proposals
• 10 September 2025: Deadline for submitting proposals
• February 2026: Notification of call results to applicants (TBC)
• April 2026: Grant agreement signature for successful projects (TBC)
• April 2026: First EU-funded projects start (TBC)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Call for proposals “Seal of Excellence under the Synergies program” by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Youth

The subject of the Call is to provide funding for high-quality projects that received the Seal of Excellence certificate under Horizon Europe call MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF). You can find more information about the Call on the DIGIT official website.

Project Reading Room is a CPP activity organized at the UNIRI Rectorate (Trg braće Mažuranića 10). All UNIRI researchers are welcome to read project proposals accepted for financing by the Croatian Science Foundation’s programmes Research Projects and Installation Research Projects, from all scientific fields. The CPP will ensure that there are project proposals from all scientific areas available so that all UNIRI researchers can use this opportunity, no matter which faculty or research area they come from.

The goal of the Project Reading Room is to help researchers prepare their own project proposals for future Croatian Science Foundation Calls. Furthermore, it aims at motivating researchers for submitting their own project proposals as well as at providing an insight into what potentially makes them successful.

The Project Reading Room Concept:

Project proposals will be made available in a specific time slot of researchers’ choosing, between 9:00 and 14:30 h. Researchers will have 90 min at their disposal for reading the project proposals available. One time slot may include up to 5 researchers. Support by the CPP team members will be provided to all users during the Project Reading Room open hours.

The Project Reading Room Rules:

1. Project proposals must not be photographed, copied or in any way and manner distributed outside the premises.
2. Available project proposals were written following the regulations proposed by the Call they were submitted to. Future calls may not follow the same regulations and may therefore be changed; hence the available project proposals should be treated as case studies.
3. The authors (PIs) of available project proposals have willingly given them for reading for the purposes described above. Please treat them respectfully.

Researchers who were awarded UNIRI Research Fellows as PIs of competitive scientific projects, and researchers with relevant experience in preparing and conducting projects, are available as advisors to all potential applicants to Horizon Europe and Croatian Science Foundation Calls.

The support in writing research project proposals offers a unique opportunity for potential applicants to connect with experienced PIs. It was established with the goal of strengthening the participation of UNIRI researchers in competitive research project calls.

This unique cooperation between a tutor and an applicant provides a framework of support with a potential to improve project proposal quality based on constructive commentary and helpful suggestions.

Participation in this specific activity is completely voluntary. We advise all applicants to prepare the proposal and contact the tutors in due course. Please find the list of researchers – tutors here .