Education

Postdoctoral Program

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The goal of the Postdoctoral Program (PP) is to promote research excellence among postdoctoral fellows in the affective sciences. The program offers a number of training opportunities to develop their interdisciplinary skills and general academic competences. One of the major advantages of the program is the possibility to work in a multidisciplinary setting and engage in collaborative research with colleagues from different domains. ATTENTION: the program does not offer postdoctoral positions, only training and other benefits (see below) to researchers already holding a postdoctoral contract in a Swiss university.

 

Eligibility criteria

The Postdoctoral Program in Affective Sciences is open to all researchers with a postdoctoral contract at a Swiss university who are conducting research on affective phenomena and would like to expand their interdisciplinary competences in the broad domain of the affective sciences.

 

General structure

The Postdoctoral Program is one of the activities organized by the Education and Training Program of the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA). The  main purpose of the Postdoctoral Program is to provide a solid basis of interdisciplinary competences to postdoctoral scholars who are conducting research on affective phenomena at a Swiss institution. The typical duration of the Postdoctoral Program is 2 years (and up to 4). The official language of the Postdoctoral Program is English.

 

Benefits

The program does not offer a postdoctoral contract. The members of the Postdoctoral Program enjoy two main benefits: a varied program of training opportunities and a large academic network. In addition, the members are eligible to apply for funding to attend scientific events.

  • Training activities

Most of the training activities organized by the E&T Program are designed to fit the needs of the doctoral school and postdoctoral program. Except for a couple of them, these activities are voluntary for the members of the PP, although they are recommended. Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to suggest the organization of activities according to their needs. They are also eligible to request personal meetings with the invited speakers in the program activities.

  • Academic networking

All members of the PP are part of a mailing list where academic activities, jobs, calls and other events of interest are advertised. These provide regular opportunities to meet with the other postdocs and members of the Center. Once a year, the whole network meets on the occasion of the Annual Research Forum (ARF) for a couple of days of academic exchange. Additionally, the members of the doctoral school and postdoctoral program are invited to join the “Peers”, a group of researchers, self-managed by the members, to discuss work and to support each other in all matters relevant to academic life. The members of the Postdoctoral Program are also invited to participate as mentors to younger peers in the doctoral school.

  • Support for scientific travel

The members of the postdoctoral program are eligible to apply for funding to reimburse expenses associated to their participation in relevant scientific events. Applications will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis considering the profile of the applicant and the interest of the proposal while funds remain available. CISA reserves the right to grant only part of the sum requested. Requests should be addressed to the E&T Team at education-cisa(at)unige.ch   including (1) a description of the activity and an explanation of its relevance for the postdoc, (2) a budget, and (3) a letter from the postdoc’s advisor specifying the amount contributed as co-funding. The application should be submitted no later than a month before the scientific event in order to allow for sufficient processing time.

 

Commitments of the members

Each member of the Postdoctoral Program is expected to

  • attend with reasonable regularity the CISA lectures and other training activities organized by the E&T Program
  • be available to the fellow postdocs and graduate students for consultation and to share his/her expertise
  • be available for some knowledge transfer activities
  • attend the CISA Annual Research Forum
  • be available, if necessary, for collaboration in activities organized by the Center, like the summer school and the CISA Lecture Series (for example, chairing a session with a speaker in his/her field).
  • UNIGE members of the Postdoctoral Program should also upload a copy of their emotion-related publications to the Archive Ouverte of the UNIGE specifying research group "Affective Sciences" (more than one research group is possible).

 

Certificate

At the end of their enrollment, participants are entitled to the Postdoctoral Program in Affective Sciences Certificate. The Certificate will officially acknowledge that the postdoctoral researchers have successfully participated in the interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Program in Affective Sciences.

 

Postdoctoral Program researchers' representative

The community of researchers in the CISA postdoctoral program is represented by one of its members. The current representative is Dr. Ben Meuleman. The postdoc representative liaises with the head of Education & Training and is available to the other members of the postdoctoral program for questions or remarks concerning the program or life at the Center.

 

Application procedure

To apply, please send the following documents to the CISA Education & Training team at the address education-cisa(at)unige.ch:

  • a curriculum vitae,
  • a letter of motivation (explaining how your research related to emotion, and your motivation to join the postdoctoral program),
  • a letter of recommendation from your supervisor.

 

Contact

Dr. Cristina Soriano
Head of Education & Training
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences

Campus Biotech
CISA University of Geneva
Chemin des Mines 9
CH 1202 Genève
Cristina.Soriano(at)unige.ch