Independent postdoc fellowships in Europe

Here is a list of independent postdoc fellowships in Europe that aren't institute-specific or are multi-institute, and encompass a broad range of astro research fields. Some of these are for junior group leader positions, which are more like 4-6 year fixed-term faculty in that you often get funding for a grad student and/or postdoc. Some of the fellowships listed below have nationality requirements, and most (if not all) require you to have established contact with your proposed host institute by the time you apply.

For project-specific postdoc positions, look at the EAS Job Directory and AAS Job Register. Please do not link institute-specific fellowships on this page, instead post them to the EAS and/or AAS job listings!

Multiple locations/anywhere:

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship
• ESA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program (Madrid, Spain; Noordwijk, Netherlands; Baltimore, USA)

France

• CNES post-doctoral research grants

Germany

• Emmy Noether Programme
• ESO fellowship scheme (Garching bei Muenchen, Germany; Santiago, Chile)
• Humboldt Research Fellowship
• Margarete von Wrangell habilitation fellowship (for women, to be hosted in the Baden-Wuerttemberg state of Germany)
• Sofja Kovalevskaja Award (from abroad to Germany; currently not open)

Italy

• Fellini fellowship (for research related to multi-messenger astronomy)

Netherlands

• NWO Veni
• NWO Vidi (now requires tenure-track commitment from host institute)

Switzerland

• Ambizione grants

United Kingdom

• Ernest Rutherford Fellowship
• RAS fellowships
• Royal Society fellowships and grants
• Many other STFC fellowships, including some for returning to research after time as a primary caregiver or in industry