SPbU is the first university of Russia to introduce a postdoctoral programme (postdoctoral grants). Launched in 2013, the programme has been a success. It aims to provide young researchers with an opportunity to work under the supervision of SPbU principal investigators. The programme welcomes Russian and international postdocs. So far the programme has attracted young researchers from Germany, Spain, Canada, China, Lithuania, Morocco, Ukraine, and France.
Starting from the year 2017 postdocs have conducted teaching and research within the priority areas set in the SPbU Development Programme 2020.
- nanotechnology and materials science;
- biomedicine and human health;
- information systems and technology;
- ecology and nature management;
- social research and technologies;
- human resource management and technologies;
Prospective supervisors of postdocs shall meet qualification requirements: a degree (candidate or doctoral), external funding (no less than 1 mln. rubles in the last five years), no fewer than 5 scholarly works published in Web of Science and/or Scopus-indexed journals in the last five years, etc.
Requirements for postdocs:
- an academic degree of Candidate of Sciences, PhD or its equivalent granted no earlier than six years before 1 January of the year of the grant competition;
- no current involvement with SPbU as a student, no employment contracts with SPbU for two years before the call for grant applications;
SPbU provides postdocs with a salary of 60,000 rubles a month. Besides, principal investigators can offer postdocs additional monetary benefits obtained from grants.
Postdocs are allocated a teaching load of up to 100 hours per year. They are required to supervise graduation theses, develop and update the content of training courses.
Postdocs are employed for two years. A one-year extension is possible. The employment contract is renewed for the third year depending on the results of teaching and research work conducted by the postdoc in the last two years and the feedback from the principal investigator and SPbU Vice Rector for Research.
Basic requirements for the number of SPbU-affiliated publications prepared by the postdoc and published in Web of Science and/or Scopus-indexed journals: 3 publications in two years, 5 publications in three years in the case of a contract renewal.
Postdocs take up the position of a research scientist upon the results of the competition for postdoctoral positions.