Young Universities for the Future of Europe - Postdoc programme

YUFE4Postdocs (Y4P) is an ambitious and novel postdoctoral training programme, launched by the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance in the context of its R&I Agenda. Under the overarching theme ‘Urban opportunities & challenges in the 4 YUFE Focus Areas’, two calls will result in the appointment of 51 excellent researchers across 10 universities. Stakeholder interactions, Open Science and interdisciplinarity run as a red thread throughout the programme, which is centered around community engagement.

Y4P offers attractive employment conditions, including 36-month appointments and competitive remuneration. Its selection process pilots a novel approach by assessing applicants on a broader and qualitative set of selection criteria, with extensive involvement of external stakeholders. The unique 3-pillar training programme features interactive stakeholder engagement seminars (Pillar 1), combined with a variety of joint transferable skills trainings (Pillar 2) and complementary partner courses (Pillar 3). A triple-I mobility scheme is set in place, covering 6-month intra-YUFE mobility, optional intersectoral secondments, and encouraged interdisciplinary cooperation. Each postdoc is supported by a triad of supervisors, with a Career Development Plan as their individual roadmap.

Under the coordination of UAntwerpen, the consortium unites the 10 YUFE Partners with 19 cities, regions and business organisations as Associated Partners, and can benefit from their extensive experience - in full synergy with YUFE’s existing project portfolio (incl. YUFERING, DIOSI and Inno4YUFE). Overall, Y4P will (1) empower future proof researchers, skilled to work in interdisciplinary environments and with access to various career pathways; (2) spur bottom-up bilateral and multilateral collaboration across the Alliance; (3) set a new standard for next generation postdoctoral research training; (4) accelerate the development of a true European (research) University.