New Junior Leader Programme of “la Caixa” Foundation: Postdoctoral Fellowship call opened

30 postdoctoral fellowships at Universities and Research Centres of Spain, including the CBGP (UPM-INIA), are offered through this programme.

The new postdoctoral fellowships programme, Junior Leader “la Caixa”, is aimed at hiring excellent researchers—of any nationality—who wish to continue their research career in Spanish territory on any discipline. Sponsored by Obra Social ”la Caixa”, the objectives of this programme are to foster high-quality, innovative research in Spain and to support the best scientific talents by providing them with an attractive, competitive environment in which to conduct excellent research. Eligible researchers should have earned their doctoral degree three to six years prior to the deadline for applications (2nd, October 2017).

The Junior Leader programme is divided into two different frames:

• “la Caixa” Junior Leader – Incoming: 20 postdoctoral fellowships for researchers of all nationalities that must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline. They will be offered a three-year employment contract to conduct a research project at accredited centres with the Severo Ochoa or María de Maeztu distinction of excellence.
• “la Caixa” Junior Leader – Retaining: 10 postdoctoral fellowships for researchers of all nationalities that must have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline, to carry out research at any university or research centre in Spain.

By means of a complementary training programme, these fellowships are intended to consolidate research skills and to foster an independent scientific career as an option for the future.

Researchers in the Junior Leader “la Caixa” programme will have a three-year contract with a very competitive stipend and a complementary training and mentoring programme. By means of this programme, these fellowships are intended to consolidate research skills and to foster an independent scientific career as an option for the future.
CBGP will be happy to host postdoctoral researchers from the program in these research areas (19615891600.pdf  and Scientific Information). If you have any questions or if there are particular issues you would like to discuss regarding your potential postdoc project, you can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

You can read all the details about this call and apply at the “la Caixa” Foundation Junior Leader Programme” website.
The call for applications opened on 10th July 2017 and closes on 2nd October 2017 at 2:00 p.m. (Central European Time – CET).

About the Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas (CBGP, UPM-INIA)

The Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas (CBGP) is a joint research centre of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA). CBGP (UPM-INIA) has been recently recognized by the Spanish Research Agency with the “Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence” award, which acknowledges the Center’s cutting-edge research, scientific leadership and impact at global level, as well as its active collaboration in the social and business environment.

The strategic objectives of the CBGP (UPM-INIA) are the generation of fundamental knowledge on the genetic and molecular bases of key biological and physiological processes in plants and plant-interacting organisms, and on genomics of plants and plant-interacting organisms. The Centre also aims to develop new computational Biology technologies for the functional analysis of plants/microorganisms.

CBGP (UPM-INIA) scientists are grouped into three main Research Areas/Themes: Plant Development (7 groups); Interactions of Plants with Environment (9 groups) and Biotechnology and Bioinformatics (5 groups; see Scientific Information). CBGP has attracted talented scientists since its foundation, including 11 Tenure-track positions and 3 ERC starting grants. CBGP has a remarkable Translational Biology activity in the innovation ecosystem of the International Campus of Excellence of Montegancedo-UPM. This activity has resulted in the foundation of CBGP based spin-offs enterprises and the development of new products/processes for the bioeconomy productive sectors.

About “la Caixa” Banking Foundation

"la Caixa” Banking Foundation is a Spanish non-profit organisation whose mission is to contribute towards the progress of people and society. Its main lines of action are to provide opportunities for the most vulnerable groups; to support progress through educational, scientific and cultural activities; to contribute towards greater understanding and improvement of the environment; to promote research in the fields of life sciences, healthcare, social sciences and humanities; and to foster the dissemination of science and technology.

Since 1982, "la Caixa” Banking Foundation has offered its fellowships programmes—through which more than 4,000 talented young people have received fellowships to take up postgraduate studies or begin their research careers in Spain and abroad. The "la Caixa” fellowship programmes enjoy great recognition thanks to their prestige, to the reliability and rigour of the selection processes, to the fellows’ excellent academic level and the impact that the fellowship has on their future academic or professional careers

If you are interested in getting more information on the history and mission of "la Caixa” Banking Foundation, please visit the following page: www.fundacionbancarialacaixa.org/informacioncorporativa/informacioncorporativa_en.html