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Are you a young researcher looking for a unique opportunity to grow your professional network and develop your research?
The Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) in Oslo is now accepting applications for the Young CAS Fellow programme for the period of August 2023 to June 2025. CAS’ mission is to further excellent, fundamental research. By providing our scholars with optimal working facilities and uninterrupted time for research, we pave the way for groundbreaking scientific results.
Application deadline: December 9, 2022
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The Young CAS Fellow programme is a collaboration between CAS, the Young Academy of Norway and The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The programme offers residential fellowship with the aim to support young, outstanding researchers with project development and network building. By giving them the opportunity to receive funding and support for their research projects, our Young CAS Fellows gain valuable experience as research leaders. Young CAS Fellows can invite colleagues from all over the world to join them at CAS and participate in group-based, independent fundamental research.
CAS provides funding, office space and administrative support. Read more about CAS here.
To be eligible as a Young CAS Fellow project, the research should be blue skies, curiosity-driven, challenge given truths and have the potential to advance the research front in the relevant field(s). Researchers in all fields can apply, but note that it is not possible to conduct laboratory-based research at CAS. A successful application will clearly describe how the Young CAS Fellow programme, with its gatherings and networking opportunities, will help realize the objectives of the project and benefit the applicant’s career.
CAS will select two Young CAS Fellows for the period of August 2023 to June 2025.
Read about the current Young CAS Fellow projects
Two-year programme
A Young CAS Fellow will receive a grant of up to NOK 750 000 over two years.
During the first year, the Fellow will arrange three intensive workshops.
Budget: up to NOK 250 000.
During the second year, the Fellow will gather a group from her/his network at CAS in Oslo. The group will work together on the candidate’s project for a period of two months.
Budget: up to NOK 500 000.
CAS will offer administrative support to the Young CAS Fellow throughout the two-year period. The Young Academy of Norway (AYF) will contribute to gatherings with discussions, advice on outreach and communications, and strategies for further project developments. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters offers its elegant venues for the final day of the last gathering and contributes to the reception.
Further details about materials and activities that may be covered by the budget are described in the ‘What can the budget cover?’ section below.
Detailed two-year programme
This is how the programme is structured:
Year 1 (August 2023 – June 2025):
• The first gathering will last for four to five days in August or September 2023 and may be held on CAS premises at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo or in another suitable location nearby. CAS offers offices and seminar rooms.
• The second gathering will last between three and five days and will preferably be held at the Fellow’s home institution in January or February 2024.
• For the third and final gathering in spring 2024, the Fellow will return to CAS for three to five days. This gathering will culminate with an open meeting and reception hosted in the beautiful conference room of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. DNVA will also contribute financially to refreshments during the reception.
Year 2 (January 2023 – December 2023):
The research stay in year 2 is designed to resemble an ordinary CAS project. The project leader will gather a core group of collaborators at CAS for two months of continuous work on the research project. This research stay, which normally takes place during the fall semester of the second year, provides a unique opportunity for specialisation and continuity.
The core group should consist of four to five participants (including the Fellow) at all times during the two-month period. The core group should preferably consist of scholars who have participated in one or more gatherings during the first year.
Each participant should stay for at least four weeks in total, but may split their stay in two. The Young CAS Fellow must be present to lead the group for the whole two-month period.
Who can apply?
To be eligible to apply you must:
• Be below the age of 40 at the application deadline. Extensions will be granted for leaves of absence, compulsory military or civilian service or sick leave. There are no age limits for other project participants.
• Have completed a Ph.D.
• Be employed in a full-time academic position* at one of CAS’ partner institutions during the entire period from August 2023 to June 2025. The position does not have to be permanent, and you may change affiliation as long as it is from one partner institution to another.
*An academic position entails research and/or teaching at the college or university level.
Are you currently employed in a temporary position?
You may still apply even though you may not know where you will be employed during the second year of the programme (August 2024 – June 2025).
Funding for the second year will, however, require that you are hired by one of our partner institutions when the second year begins. In that case, you must also provide a letter of support from your head of section at the new institution when your new affiliation is__.
What can the budget cover?
• Travel and accommodation expenses associated with the project’s gatherings and research stay at CAS.*
• Food expenses:
- Daily lunches for you and the project participants during the three gatherings and the research stay. A lunch can normally be budgeted with up to 150 NOK per person per day.
- Participants staying in a hotel can have their dinner expenses covered, but the amount must be agreed upon in advance. CAS adheres to the government’s fixed rates for dinner outings.**
• Buyouts that cover documentable teaching replacement costs which incur due to a participant’s stay at CAS in the second year. Estimated costs for buyouts must be specified in the budget with the name of the scholar, cost per scholar and the period for the buyout. As a Young CAS Fellow, you will keep your salary from your home institution and will therefore not need any buyout.
*As a Young CAS Fellow based outside of the Oslo area you will get your accommodation expenses covered by CAS during the two months research stay, hence this cost does not need to be included in the project budget. CAS will book serviced apartments in the vicinity of CAS in Oslo for researchers staying for a longer period than 10 days. Researchers staying for a shorter period will be accommodated in hotels. The price per night for stays longer than 30 days is 600-800 NOK and the price per night for stays shorter than 30 days is approximately 1200 NOK.
**CAS does not provide a per diem allowance. Moreover, only food meals bought in restaurants can be reimbursed, as we cannot refund grocery shopping.
The budget draft must include information about the number of participants and an overview of the costs associated with travel, accommodations and meals for each gathering in year 1 and for the research stay in year 2. Potential buyouts during the research stay must also be included. Please include necessary explanations of the expenses.
CAS will cover the cost of venues for the gatherings, except for the second gathering held at the Young CAS Fellow's home institution. CAS will also provide office spaces and seminar rooms for the research stay in year 2. Thus, these costs should not be included in your budget draft.
The application must include:
• A description (3-4 pages) of the research project which must include clear hypotheses/research questions and objectives. The project will be assessed by a generalist panel and must be written in such a way that researchers from other subject areas can assess them. You should focus your project description specifically on what will be done during the fellowship. If you and/or members of the research group already serve as PIs of other projects with external funding, it must be explained how these can dovetail with the CAS project, how the different projects will be coordinated and how CAS funding would provide added value.
• A plan (1 page) for the implementation of the work during the project period. The plan must show how you will organize and lead the project in order to achieve its objectives, and how the gatherings and the research stay will contribute to their realization. The plan should also clearly explain how the stay will benefit your professional development and research. Neither the gatherings nor the research stay should be used to write applications. However, it will be considered an advantage if the project can be developed with the aim of applying for funding from other research funding bodies such as the Research Council of Norway and Horizon Europe.
• A list of 3-5 researchers who will belong to the ‘core group’. The list must include the participants’ academic titles and institutional affiliations. However, you do not need a letter of intent from the participants.
• A budget draft in accordance with the guidelines described above. Please use the budget template Download the template here.
• A brief ethical self-assessment no more than half a page) certifying that you are familiar with the relevant ethical guidelines. Please read CAS’ guidelines for ethics in research.
• A CV iincluding a publication list (no more than four pages). Please use the CV template. Download the template here.
• A letter of supportfor the period of January 2023 to December 2024 from the head of section at your home institution. As noted above, you can still apply even if you do not know where you will be employed during the second year of the programme.
The letter of support shall serve as a formal confirmation that:
- You will keep your salary and be exempt from other obligations during the periods of absence due to your Young CAS Fellow activities
- Your home institution will host the second gathering during the first year.
If the research requires pre-approval from the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics, or a similar body, this must be obtained before the start of the project. In the application, you must confirm that the necessary pre-approval will be obtained.
How to apply?
The application must be submitted electronically in UNIFOR’s electronic application system. All documents must be written in English and must be saved and uploaded as PDF files. Required templates are available in the application portal.
The application deadline is December 9, 2022
The selection process
A selection committee comprised of representatives from CAS, the CAS Board of Directors, and the Young Academy of Norway will present a shortlist to the CAS Board of Directors, which will ultimately select the two Young CAS Fellows in February, 2023.
The ranking will be based on the scientific quality of the project as well as on the applicant’s merits and experience. In order to succeed the project will also need to fit CAS’ mission and the criteria in this call.
Applications that do not meet the formal criteria will be rejected.
If you have any questions about the application process, please do not hesitate to contact adviser Julie Ellinor Frølich Dalseth (j.e.f.dalseth@cas.oslo.no)
About the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS)
The Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) is an independent foundation located at The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Drammensveien 78, 0271 Oslo, with a branch in Oslo Science Park (link).
We support research groups within and across the fields of natural science, social science and the humanities, and all our projects are initiated and chosen by the scholars themselves. CAS hosts established leading researchers through our Research Group Grant, as well as talented early career researchers through the Young CAS Fellow Grant.
A stay at CAS yields an intellectually stimulating experience in an international, interdisciplinary research environment.
The Young CAS Fellow programme was created in partnership with the Young Academy of Norway (AYF) in 2019/2020 to expand CAS’ reach to early-career researchers. The programme is supported by The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (DNVA) and CAS’ partner institutions.
