Education
PostDoc Program
Do you want to lead complexity science into the future? Are you excited to build your independent research program on the foundations of real-world data? Join the Complexity Science Hub to advance your career as a postdoctoral fellow.
The world holds immense opportunities and challenges that are so complex that they require new methodologies and research philosophies. Complexity science combines enormous amounts of real-world data with powerful tools, theories, and models from diverse disciplines. Complexity science, in turn, needs future leaders who can address both the methodological and theoretical gaps in extracting meaning from big data and who will apply these state-of-the-art tools to important emerging questions for society and the planet. The Complexity Science Hub offers a singular research environment for postdoctoral fellows who want to undertake bold research projects that will have major impacts in the real world. Join us and lead complexity science into the future.
Program Goals
Our Postdoctoral Program seeks scholars who are eager to become intellectual leaders in transdisciplinary complex systems research and who share our commitment to the betterment of society and our planet through science. We support early-career researchers who are taking their initial steps toward leading a complexity science research group, and who desire not only research experience but also professional skills to enhance their future careers. CSH is particularly committed to the importance of reproducible and accessible research through state-of-the-art data curation, and we instill postdoctoral fellows with the skills to be effective partners in open science.
Our postdoctoral program enables fellows to:
- Develop an ambitious research program that leverages complexity science to address important technical and topical questions
- Enhance their data competency by employing unique datasets and data curation structures
- Strategically apply their deep domain expertise to transdisciplinary projects and collaborations
- Expand their professional network and their visibility in the global scientific community
- Build leadership capacity across a variety of professional competencies tailored to their goals
- Ensure long-term integrity of research products for the benefit of scientific progress
Structure
- The Postdoctoral Program consists of:
- development of an independent research program
- individualized guidance from an international team of advisors
- scientific leadership and professional development workshops
- practical experience aligned with career goals in academia, government, or industry
- training in ethical and technical facets of working with real-world data
Postdoctoral fellows develop a research program according to their own interests and goals and intersecting with ongoing CSH research themes. Collaboration is highly encouraged. Postdoctoral fellows are assisted in their efforts to expand their scientific networks during their time at CSH, including access to a EUR 3000 travel budget to support conference attendance and research visits. Each postdoctoral fellow will assemble an advisory team, comprising faculty from CSH and external members, that will guide the fellow as they develop their research program, connect them with new collaborators and colleagues, and advise on professional development priorities. The postdoctoral program office supports scholars through all aspects of their time at CSH.
CSH aims to equip future scientific leaders with skills to help them succeed. All postdoctoral fellows are expected to complete a series of foundational professional development modules, and to choose topic-specific, stand-alone modules that will help them gain competencies specific to their career goals. CSH’s foundational professional development modules include:
- research leadership [research strategy, project development, grant-writing, project management]
- scientific communication [data visualization, public platforms, funders and governments]
- data ethics & reproducibility [research ethics, open science, data curation, data privacy, database design]
Elective modules include:
- teaching & mentoring
- entrepreneurship
- policy
- citizen science
Timeline & Milestones
The CSH postdoctoral program is a two-year appointment, with optional extension contingent on progress and funding. Accepted scholars are welcome to begin the program throughout the year. Upon arrival, each postdoctoral fellow will assemble and worth with their advisory team to develop a training plan and associated milestones. Within the first year of the fellowship, postdoctoral fellows will complete training in research leadership, culminating in applications for independent funding. All postdoctoral fellows will develop skills in scientific communication and will complete training in research ethics and reproducibility – cornerstones of CSH’s vision to build robust practices that will ensure the utility and accessibility of our research far into the future. By the end of the two-year fellowship, postdoctoral fellows will have had numerous opportunities to gain skills and practical experience to facilitate advancement to the next phase of their career.
Audience
We look for candidates who are passionate about addressing important challenges in complexity science, whether those be technical gaps related to the study of multi-part evolving systems, or topical questions about particular systems that underlie our world.
Postdoctoral candidates should have a doctoral (Ph.D. or equivalent) degree in the natural or social sciences or mathematics, awarded within the past five years*, and a strong foundation in quantitative approaches. Applicants should be interested in topics aligned with the research themes of the Complexity Science Hub and eager to pursue collaborations with existing groups.
The program is designed for researchers who want to be at the forefront of complexity science, whether their future career goals are in academia, government, or industry. Competitive applicants will have demonstrated their excellent scholarship through successful past projects and impactful publications in which they have played a leading role.
Candidates of any nationality are welcome to apply. We encourage applications from women and persons from groups that have been historically excluded from the sciences. This is an in-person program; accepted fellows must be willing to relocate to Vienna, Austria, which is continually ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities.
Eligibility Requirements
- Doctoral (PhD, Doctor, or equivalent) degree in the natural, physical, or social sciences, mathematics, computer science, engineering, or related disciplines with a strong quantitative foundation; awarded within the last 5 years, or to be awarded within 3 months of beginning the postdoctoral fellowship at CSH.
- Evidence of successful research productivity – journal articles, books/chapters, conference presentations, computational packages, databases or dashboards etc. – as specific to your discipline.
- Proficiency in English*
Funding
The postdoctoral program has a limited number of fully funded opportunities for exceptional early-career researchers to develop their research program at the Complexity Science Hub. Postdoctoral fellows receive an annual salary of EUR 66532 (before tax and social security withholding) and an annual scientific travel allowance. Health insurance and pension is included. The initial commitment is for two years. It is expected that fellows will become self-funded within that time; they will receive guidance and support as they apply for third-party grants and fellowships, such as MSCA, FWF ESPRIT, and others.
How to Apply
Postdoctoral Program fellows are selected through a competitive application process in response to one call per year. The first call will open on October 1, 2024. Applications will proceed through our online portal, linked here during the application window.
Applicants will provide: (1) biographical information including curriculum vitae; (2) complete list of research products, including a selection of two to spotlight and a brief explanation of their significance; (3) description of your scientific vision, proposed research program, and training goals, and how these align with the strengths of CSH; and (4) three letters of recommendation from researchers familiar with your potential as an independent researcher (to be submitted directly by the recommenders to applications@csh.ac.at)
Contact
Carrie Cowan and Daniela Meier lead the postdoctoral program office, which supports fellows with all aspects of their training. Please contact grad@csh.ac.at with any questions.
About the Complexity Science Hub
The Complexity Science Hub is the leading European research institute for the study of complex systems. Complexity science links mathematics, computational modelling, and data and network science with fundamental questions from a range of disciplines – medicine, economics, ecology, social sciences – to achieve a deep understanding of systemic risks, resilience, efficiency, and the requirements for sustainable innovation and creativity.
The PostDoc Program is funded by the Austrian Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology | Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie
* The working language of the Complexity Science Hub is English. German language skills are not required, but German instruction is available on site for interested individuals