VIP³ is a postdoctoral fellowship program at the Vienna BioCenter (VBC) offering three – year fellowships that are open to candidates with backgrounds in life sciences, chemistry, physics, medicine, engineering, computer science, and bioinformatics.
The VIP³ program promotes interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects. The program operates under a three-mentor scheme, where each fellow conducts a joint research project between two VBC groups, guided by two host group leaders who provide infrastructure, mentorship, and career support. In addition, fellows select a third, external mentor from within the VBC networks - alumni, collaborators, or international associated partners - to gain cross-disciplinary insights and broaden their scientific and professional networks.
VIP³ recruits fellows whose projects have the potential to evolve into distinct research lines, serving as a steppingstone toward an independent career.
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Vienna BioCenter Fellowship
Aim and Benefits of Vienna BioCenter Fellowship
The Vienna BioCenter is an English-speaking campus with outstanding research infrastructure, equal opportunity support including health care benefits, pension contributions and a highly subsidized child-care center.
Benefits include:
Salary
- All VIP3 fellows will be hired under full-time employment contracts (40h) by one of the host institutions, following that institution’s salary scheme. The salary reference is the salary scheme of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austria's central funding organization for basic research.
Social Contributions
- All VIP3 employment contracts include a full health insurance plan that can be extended to children and unemployed partners.
- Social security includes fully paid maternity leave (eight weeks before birth and eight weeks thereafter), possibility of paid parental leave (up to 24 months), pension contribution, and accident insurance.
- Families receive additional support for each child (“Familienbeihilfe”) that ranges from 130 – 200 EUR per month per child, depending on the age of the child and the number of kids in the family.
- Tax deductions apply to single-income families.
Inclusive and supportive workplace
- The Vienna BioCenter is dedicated to fostering a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for everyone. Our facilities include gender-neutral restrooms, a private nursing room, a family room, and a dedicated maternity lab to support expecting and nursing mothers. Parents also benefit from convenient access to an on-campus childcare center. In addition, our partner institutes are designed to be barrier-free and fully accessible to researchers with disabilities.
Relocation Costs
- The VIP3 participating institutions have mechanisms in place to contribute to the relocation costs of the fellows.
Research Costs
- All the required research costs will be financed by the host groups / institutes.
Beyond offering an outstanding research environment, VIP3 provides a structured training and career development program that encompasses:
- Effective mentoring and career planning through three-mentor scheme
- Coaching and mentoring by the VIP3 Advisory Board (VAB)
- A broad training program on research-related and transferable skills
- Introduction of a secondment scheme in the postdoctoral training
- Introduction to a diverse network of renowned professionals
Requirements for Vienna BioCenter Fellowship Qualification
The VIP3 program aims at attracting talented early-stage scientists from around the world to our highly dynamic, collaborative and international campus to conduct interdisciplinary and innovative research.
Applicants must fulfil the following requirements:
- Hold a PhD degree by the application deadline in an area that is relevant to the research carried out at the VBC
- The proposed scientific project must be interdisciplinary by combining the expertise of two VBC research groups participating in the current VIP3 call.
- Applicants must have at least one (co-)first-author original research publication or preprint posted on one of the public servers.
- By the time of the call deadline applicants must fulfil the MSCA “mobility rule”, that is, they should not have resided in or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in Austria for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline.
Application Deadline
May 31, 2026How to Apply
All application material must be submitted by email to vip-3[at]vbc.ac.at. Please refer to the “Guide for Applicants” for more details and specific instructions. Applications will only be considered if they include all necessary information and documents.
- Personal information: name, contact details, current place of education / employment
- CV (up to 2 pages): education (transcripts, degree certificates), scientific training
- 5 keywords for the areas of the research proposal
- Description of major past achievements and impact (½ page)
- Statement of research motivation and interests (½ page)
- Abstract of the research proposal (max. ½ page)
- Research proposal bridging at least two of the research groups participating in the current call (max. 3 pages including reference list)
- Statement on the expected broader impact beyond the scientific output to the public (½ page)
- Contact details of two referees
- List of reviewers to be excluded (if applicable)
Download the application form.
Please combine all the documents including the filled application form in a single PDF file (ideally no more than 20 pages) using the file name “VIP3 2026 LASTNAME.pdf”.#
For more information, kindly visit Vienna BioCenter webpage.
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