Call for expressions of interest: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship 2026
The Institute for the History of Science (iHC) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) invites researchers to apply for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research for a period of two years. Applicants will be invited to develop the full competitive application with the support of iHC’s researchers and the research administration staff at UAB.
With a strong interdisciplinary and international character, the iHC has a leading role in the humanistic study of science. We approach the history of science as a dynamic, global discipline that critically analyses the foundations of our contemporary crisis. We mainly focus on the history of science in the 18th , 19th and 20th centuries, from diverse perspectives: science, politics and power; audiences as active agents in the construction of knowledge; the material, spatial and urban dimensions of science; the nature of technoscience, the environmental crisis, and the relation between science, health and gender.
The iHC research is structured around three lines: “Nature and Power” (crossing history of science and environmental history, we develop new understandings of nature as a sociocultural construction shaped by power, in our relationship with nature); “Technology and Politics” (building on an internationally updated historiography of technology, we critically assess the complex entanglements among experts, activists and objects as knowledge producers), and “Bodies and Subjectivities” (interweaving history of medicine and psychology, human sciences, and gender studies, here we focus on the ways human nature and its boundaries have been conceptualized, policed and contested).
Deadlines
Deadline for the candidates to submit their expression of interest to the iHC: 27/04/2026, 24h (CET)
Period for the iHC to confirm or reject the proposals: from 04/05/2026 to 12/05/2026
Period for the candidates to submit their proposals to the European Comission: from 09/04/2026 to 09/09/2026 17:00 CEST.
Requirements
Candidates must meet the following requirements:
- Hold a PhD degree on the closing date for applications. (Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree are also eligible to apply.)
- Have a maximum of eight years of experience in research from the date of the award of the PhD degree – the following experience will not be counted towards this maximum:
- years of experience outside research and career breaks
- years of experience in research in third countries, for nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to Europe
- Comply with mobility rules: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline
Some exceptions and specific conditions apply.
Documentation
Please send the following documents to Laia Torres Casas (laia.torres.casas@uab.cat) with the subject "MSCA postdoctoral fellowship application":
- PhD certificate (according to the call dates).
- CV, including track record and selected list of publications (5 pages max.).
- Description of the research proposal (2 pages max., excluding references).
- Motivation letter (1 page max.)
Decision
The Institute for the History of Science will evaluate all the received proposals according with the research lines and scientific interests of the iHC and will communicate the result in due time, allowing enough time for the application procedure.
Further information / Useful links
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call: 6 steps to prepare your application