Closed call 2021-09-01: Up to six postdoc fellows in technologies for digital transformation

Digital Futures postdoc fellowships aim to support talented early-career researchers in pursuing their research ideas in a new research group and institution. The funding programme aims to provide networking opportunities and career development, which will boost successful postdoc fellows’ future careers. The call is targeted towards applicants who have recently completed or who soon will complete their doctoral degree (between March 2019 and March 2022). It is a mobility programme.

Digital Futures is a cross-disciplinary research centre that explores and develops digital technologies. We bring solutions to great societal challenges in Sweden and globally. We generate knowledge, innovations, and future leaders of high industrial relevance and strategic importance. Digital Futures is jointly established by KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. Digital Futures awards funding to strategic research projects and individuals to support a specific action or project that furthers the vision of Digital Futures. Find out more about Digital Futures here.

The core research themes in Digital Futures are “Trust”, “Learn”, and “Cooperate”, cutting across four prioritized societal contexts — “Smart Society”, “Digitalized Industry”, “Rich and Healthy Life”, and “Educational Transformation”.

Digital Futures consists of researchers from all schools at KTH, Stockholm University, RISE and external partners. Digital Futures’ physical location is in the award-winning building of the Architecture school at KTH Campus, and Professor Karl H Johansson leads the centre.

What the call offers

• Funding to pursue research ideas and conduct research in a new research group at a leading university or institute within the Digital Futures environment creates knowledge and expertise for a sustainable future. The funding includes salary costs for two years for each employed postdoc fellow.
• An international workplace and environment.
• Access to Digital Futures’ resources, its network of academic and industrial partners, infrastructure and testbeds, events and happenings.
• Mentorship and support in career development and research leadership education.

Application process

Link to submission site: https://hotcrp.dsv.su.se

PLEASE NOTE: When registering with the submission site for the first time you will receive a temporary password. Do check your junk/spam folder if it doesn’t arrive in your inbox.

The last day for submission is 1^st September 2021. The application should include:

1. Abstract: provide a brief overview suitable for the general public and describe the proposed research activities, objectives, methods, and potential results (less than 300 words).
2. Proposal of research activities including a statement of how the research responds to an intersection of the Digital Futures Research Matrix. Applicants can find more information about the research matrix here. (max 1 page).
3. CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge (max. 2 pages).
4. Research statement describing past and current research (max 1 page).
5. Copy of diplomas and transcripts from doctoral studies. If a candidate is yet to obtain a doctoral degree, include diplomas and transcripts from Master studies. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents have not been issued in any of these languages.

Eligibility

A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree obtained between March 2019 and March 2022. Digital Futures can extend the time window of eligibility for special reasons such as periods of illness or parental leave, kindly indicate if such reason exists in your CV. The applicant must have received a doctoral degree before commencing the proposed postdoc fellowship, and all proposed fellowships in this round are expected to commence no later than April 2022.

Nomination and Review Process

• Stage 1 – Nomination

To reach Stage 2 review and ranking, a postdoc application must have been nominated by two researchers within the Digital Futures environment – one Digital Futures’ faculty member as the main supervisor and a second co-supervisor. When a faculty member nominates an applicant, they will supervise the postdoc fellow, should the postdoc application be successful. In this call, only Digital Futures faculty at KTH and Stockholm University can act as main supervisors. Digital Futures faculty at KTH, Stockholm University or RISE Digital Systems division can act as postdoc co-supervisors.

In this first phase of the nomination and review process, all Digital Futures faculty will be invited to nominate postdoc fellows among the submissions to Stage 2 review and ranking. Digital Futures faculty members can only nominate one postdoc application as the main supervisor and one postdoc application as a co-supervisor. We therefore highly recommend that postdoc applicants contact and discuss their applications with potential supervisors before the submission deadline.

Only the nominated postdoc candidates and their projects will pass to Stage 2.

• Stage 2 – Review and Ranking

The nominated candidates and their respective projects will be evaluated by a committee composed of KTH and Stockholm University faculty and RISE Digital Systems Division researchers. The evaluation process will adhere to and follow national and international standards based on the skills and merits of the candidate and the strength, originality, feasibility, and relevance of the proposed project as well as added value of the candidate and the project to Digital Futures.

When the submissions are ranked, those approved for funding will be transferred to the final stage. All candidates will be informed about the outcome of Stage 2. We expect to communicate the outcomes of this call by the end of October 2021.

• Stage 3 – Announcing positions and employment

In Stage 3, the respective hosts (KTH and Stockholm University) will announce several postdoc positions connected to the evaluated submissions. To be eligible to apply for a position, the candidate must have passed Stage 1 and 2. If a candidate has reached this stage, he/she will be asked to submit a CV and a personal letter to the official recruitment systems for the host organisation to process the final stage, which is employment at either KTH or Stockholm University.

Information

All submitted proposals, including documents and personal data, will be handled following national and international regulations regarding such data and will only be shared within a limited circle. Information will be made accessible for appointed employees at KTH, Stockholm University and RISE who participate in nomination (Stage 1) or evaluation (Stage 2) of the postdoc fellowship submissions. The processing of your personal data is necessary for Digital Futures to be able to evaluate your submission. Stockholm University will store the submitted proposal, documents, and personal data for no longer than 6 months from the submission deadline date. At any point in time, the candidate has the right to withdraw from the application procedure and all data submitted along with it.

Questions? Please contact Fabian Wingfors (Operations team, Digital Futures) or Madeline Balaam (Associate Director Mobility, Digital Futures) postdoc-call@digitalfutures.kth.se.

Information for Digital Futures researchers, who would like to nominate candidates and their project

If you are interested in supervising a postdoctoral fellow and are not currently a Digital Futures faculty member, please read more about how to become a Digital Futures faculty member here: https://www.digitalfutures.kth.se/about/governance/digital-futures-faculty/.