Vilnius University (VU) invites motivated researchers with a strong track record to prepare joint applications for 2025 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF) call with a deadline on September 10, 2025. MSCA PF are among the flagship, most prestigious research fellowships in Europe to support researchers’ careers, enhance their creative and innovative potential, and foster excellence in research. 

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe (12-24 months).
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries (12-24 months outgoing phase in a non-associated Third Country & 12 months mandatory return phase to a host organisation in Europe).
• Extra funding opportunity! If you apply for the European Postdoctoral Fellowship with the host institution located in a widening country (Lithuania), and in case your proposal is not funded under the MSCA PF call due to a lack of budget, it will be automatically resubmitted to ERA Fellowships call and will have one more opportunity to get funding.

HOST INSTITUTION AND RESEARCH GROUP

Founded in 1579 VU is one of the oldest higher education institutions in Eastern and Central Europe. With its 15 academic units, the earliest academic Library in the Baltics, the Astronomical Observatory, the Botanical Garden and 2 university hospitals, VU is the largest university in the country. Research and teaching at VU is carried out by more than 3400 academic staff.VU tops the ranking as the number one university in Lithuania and leads the country in education, a broad spectrum of fundamental and applied research, training and retraining programs, and consultancy services. VU offers a dynamic research and training environment and is well-integrated into a collaborative network of international universities.

Vilnius University Laser Research Center (VU LRC) is a leading laser research institute in Lithuania. The candidate would work in VU LRC Ultrafast Nonlinear Optics group in the Parametric light phenomena laboratory where modern laser equipment and related facilities will be available.

SUPERVISOR

The main research interests of Vilnius University associate professor / senior researcher Dr. Julius Vengelis are laser physics and nonlinear optics: investigation of supercontinuum generation in various nonlinear media and development of femtosecond and subnanosecond tunable frequency laser systems and their components and their characterization. He is the head of the Parametric phenomena laboratory at the Vilnius University Laser Research Center. Dr Julius Vengelis has published 36 research papers (28 of which in the journals indexed in WoS Clarivate Analytics), he has also given invited talks at conferences and is the author/co-author of 32 international conference presentations. By actively participating in SPIE and Optica organisations and also being a member of the Lindau Alumni Network and Lithuanian Physical Society, he has gained a lot of experience both in international expert activities and in professional networking. Dr Julius Vengelis is active in research projects and teaching activities: he gives lectures to Vilnius University students, is a member of the laser physics and optical technologies study programme committee at Vilnius University, and participates in various educational initiatives for the popularisation of science and studies in natural sciences. Dr Julius Vengelis has been awarded grants, for the three research projects he is leading and participated in multiple research project as primary implementer. Since 2024 he is a member of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Young Academy and since 2025 he is a vice chairman of this organisation. 

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL SKILLS

The supervisor is looking for a candidate with a strong background in laser physics and hands-on experience in femtosecond laser development, i.e., practical skills and knowledge of femtosecond mode-locked oscillator construction. Data handling (e.g., Matlab) and experimental automation (e.g., LabView) skills are also required. A combination of supervisor's expertise in nonlinear optics and candidate’s experience in laser physics will be a key combination to successful implementation of the suggested research topic. 

POSSIBLE RESEARCH TOPICS

Development of high repetition rate and high average power optical parametric amplifiers pumped by femtosecond lasers in the mid-IR (1.5 micrometer wavelength or longer). 

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

• Supported fellows must be in possession of PhD at the call deadline (September 10, 2025).
• Have up to 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research from the date of award of the doctoral degree at the call deadline.
• Fellows 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 before the call deadline

Detailed information on the eligibility can be found on p. 120-122 of the MSCA Work Programme 2023-2025.

HOW TO APPLY?

• Contact the supervisor Dr. Julius Vengelis (julius.vengelis@ff.vu.lt) directly to express your interest in making a joint application based on your research interests. Do not forget to provide the following documents (cc to research@cr.vu.lt):

  - curriculum vitae

  - list of publications

  - proposal summary

• Request a letter from your supervisor endorsing you as a candidate and send it to the Research Projects Office (research@cr.vu.lt). Candidates who submit their signed endorsement letters by May 16, 2025, will have the opportunity to be selected to attend a practical training course on preparing MSCA PF applications.
• After receiving your supervisor’s endorsement, you can start preparing your MSCA PF project proposal. Please note that in order to prepare and submit your application on time (by September 10, 2025), you can seek support from VU Research Projects Office (research@cr.vu.lt). 

For more information follow the link.