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.
In an increasingly volatile global landscape, the challenges facing modern industry, infrastructure, and society are no longer isolated; they are deeply interconnected nodes within a vast, dynamic system. Complexity science provides the essential lens to decode these interdependencies, moving beyond linear models to understand how shifts in global supply chains, the evolution of digital ecosystems, and the transformation of mobility directly impact environmental resilience and social cohesion. By analyzing these cross-sectoral links, our research aims to bridge the gap between technological innovation and systemic stability. We provide the data-driven foresight required to navigate cascading risks and design robust frameworks for a sustainable, inclusive, and sovereign future. Prospective researchers will work at this critical intersection, turning complex data into actionable insights for long-term societal resilience.
Priority research areas for the current call include:
Key technology sectors and innovation, supply chain intelligence, systemic risk analysis, applied AI, integrated transportation networks, sustainable mobility, sustainable cities, socio-ecological modeling and green resilience, impacts of climate change, social cohesion, and tools/methods for handling and analyzing large datasets.
Program Goals
Our PostDoc 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 CSH PostDoc 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 an annual 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 institutions, 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 & government
- citizen science
Timeline & Milestones
The current call is for a one-year appointment. Extensions will be considered, pending progress and available funding. Upon arrival, each postdoctoral fellow will assemble and work with their advisory team to develop a training plan and associated milestones. Postdoctoral fellows will complete training in research leadership and supported to submit 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 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, engineering, or mathematics.
Applicants should be interested in topics related to the priority research areas for the current call and eager to pursue collaborations with existing groups at the Complexity Science Hub. Applicants with more foundational backgrounds should make clear how their work could be applied to questions or problems in one of the above-noted areas. The current call will not support foundational research that lacks a clearly articulated connection to real-world questions.
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.
The solutions to society’s pressing challenges require a diversity of perspectives. Researchers working towards these solutions must reflect our society as a whole. The current call prioritizes candidates whose participation will help us achieve greater representation of women in complexity science. We do not restrict applicants based on gender or any other protected characteristic. Selection decisions are based on merit and qualifications.
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.
- 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 PostDoc Program has a limited number of fully funded opportunities for exceptional early-career researchers to develop their research program at the Complexity Science Hub. Early-stage postdoctoral fellows receive an annual salary of EUR 66532 (before withholdings). Health insurance and pension is included. The initial commitment is for one year. Postdoctoral fellows will receive guidance and support as they apply for third-party grants and fellowships, such as MSCA, FWF ESPRIT, and others, and will be considered for prolongation of PostDoc Program support if funds are available.
How to Apply
There are a maximum of three positions available in the current PostDoc Program call. Applications will be accepted until positions are filled.
- Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We aim to complete reviews within 6 weeks of application receipt.
- Applicants should be available to begin their appointment by 1 July 2026 – or in exceptional cases, by 1 August 2026.
- Application materials must be submitted exclusively in English through our online application portal linked here.
- Letters of recommendation must be sent directly to . We cannot accept letters sent by applicants.
- A complete application includes:
- curriculum vitae (CV) including research products / publications
- description of your scientific vision, proposed research program, and training goals, and how these align with the strengths of CSH (max. 4 pages) – upload to Cover Letter
- two letters of recommendation from established researchers who know the candidate’s research well, sent directly by the recommender to
Subject: CSH PostDoc – FirstName LastName (of the applicant)
- Incomplete applications cannot be reviewed.
Contact
Vito Servedio and Daniela Meier lead the PostDoc Program and support fellows with all aspects of their training. Please contact 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 Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure | Bundesministerium für Innovation, Mobilität und Infrastruktur
* 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