IAF – INAF Astrophysics Fellowships builds on the success and experience acquired by INAF’s AstroFIt FP7 Cofund programme (G.A. 267251) and AstroFit-2 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Cofund action, Grant Agreement N. 664931. IAF is fully financed by INAF and is part of the funding initiatives “Finanziamento della Ricerca Fondamentale” (DD n.5 01.02.2022).
IAF consists in a single call for proposal offering from 6 to 10 fellowships of 24 or 36 months duration for experienced researchers.
The research activity will be carried out at INAF Research Centres and the applicant will have the possibility to choose one or more, in the case of interdisciplinary projects, among the following scientific areas: galaxies and cosmology; stars, stellar population and interstellar medium; sun and solar system; relativistic and particle astrophysics; advanced technology and instrumentation; any other astrophysics subject (e.g.: exoplanets, astrobiology, etc.), relevant for INAF scientific activities.
The applicant will have the possibility to choose the duration of the grant (24 or 36 months) according to the research program she/he is proposing. The fellow shall devote himself/herself full time to the project for the entire duration.
To be eligible, applicants shall fulfill the following requirements in order to participate to the selection:
- At the time of the deadline for submission of proposals:
- PhD degree or at least 3 years of research experience
- preferably a maximum of eight (8) years of full-time equivalent post-PhD research experience
- At the time of grant starting:
- Demonstrated equivalency of the university degree, not awarded by an Italian University, to an Italian degree (Support will be offered by INAF in the process).
IAF supports career development plans, with training provided also for non-scientific and complementary skills. Each fellowship will be fully integrated in a specific and dedicated mentoring and support scheme, which will include a supervisor.
The total amount of the grant is established in 50,000.00 EUR/year including social security charges.
The amount will include salary (40,000.00 EUR/year), social security charges and reimbursement of the registration to the Italian Public Health System to foreign citizens.
Research and training expenses for an amount of 8,000.00 EUR/year will be at the disposal of the fellow to be used for any expense needed to carry out the project and to contribute at the researcher career development. Item eligible to be covered under Research and Training expenses as those eligible in any other INAF-funded research program (computer, personal equipments, travels, congress fees, training courses, etc.).
The deadline for proposal submission is July 7, 2022.
The results have been published on February 28, 2023.