Kiel Training for Excellence

ongoing

Kiel University is a mid-sized and research-intensive university offering the full spectrum of academic disciplines, which at the same time has pursued a path of internal differentiation. The concentration and interconnection of disciplinary knowledge spaces has given rise to four interdisciplinary Priority Research Areas (PRAs): Nano, Surface and Interface Science; Life Science; Marine Science; and Societal, Environmental and Cultural Change. Their trans-faculty research cultures integrate knowledge from different fields and actors to study complex challenges and contribute to their solution. Kiel University is convinced that knowledge at interfaces will shape future generations of researchers. The KiTE fellowship programme offers an excellent training programme with the highest standards of research integrity in the truly interdisciplinary environments of the PRAs to 16 experienced, internationally mobile researchers post their doctorate. Fellows will be recruited in open topic calls applying merit-based criteria, gender-fair and transparent selection procedures. Chosen according to the interdisciplinary potential of their project and their individual excellence, they will find competitive working conditions and excellent infrastructure in Kiel. The fellows will be awarded a three-year full-time employment contract with a training programme that will broaden their skills through hands-on research experience and integration within the university’s international and intersectoral networks. They will each complete two secondments of three months at partner institutions from the PRAs' networks to gather new work experience inside and outside academia. Accompanied by an advanced training programme to broaden their transferable skills, they will be given outstanding opportunities to develop their careers further. KiTE will set new standards for and thus transform postdoc training at Kiel University, and as a best-practice example enrich the European Research Area.