If you are an early career researcher with high potential and ambition, you are invited to apply for this support programme to develop your proposal in close collaboration with the centre director, Associate Professor Klarissa Lueg, who will act as supervisor in your project.

About the Centre

The Centre for Organizing Social Sustainability is an interdisciplinary forum for research into social cohesion in organizations and society. It is a vibrant environment gathering scholars within cultural sociology, organizational research, (intercultural) communication, diversity management, and more. Your project idea must fall within the research areas of the Centre.

The Centre’s research foci include:

• Discourse and policies on qualified migration
• Migration management and intercultural communication
• Corporate museums and cultural heritage
• Cultural production (arts, music) and social changes
• Regional development and border regions
• New antisemitism, its emergence and organisation

About the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

The MSCA-PF is one of the most prestigious schemes of the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Research & Innovation programme. It aims at enhancing the potential and career development of researchers in Europe through funding of excellent and ambitious projects, international mobility and advanced training. The grants cover the fellow’s salary, a mobility allowance, research costs and overhead for the host institution.

There are two types of postdoctoral grants:

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships for researchers of any nationality, coming from any country in the world, applying with University of Southern Denmark as host institution. Secondments in other research or industrial organisations are possible. The standard duration is 12 to 24 months.
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships for European nationals or long-term residents applying with University of Southern Denmark as host institution, but with an outgoing phase of minimum 12 and maximum 24 months at an institution outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries, and a mandatory 12-month return phase to the University of Southern Denmark.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant must have successfully defended their doctoral thesis before the MSCA-PF call deadline 9 September 2026.
• Maximum 8 years (full-time equivalent) experience in research, from the date of the award of their PhD degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks will not count towards the above maximum, nor will years of experience in research in third countries, for nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to Europe.
• The applicant must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Denmark (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships) or the country of the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 out of the last 36 months immediately before the call deadline.
• Only one proposal per applicant is eligible. Beware that applicants who have applied to the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship 2025 call and received an evaluation below 80% are not eligible to apply in 2026.

About the University of Southern Denmark

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is a leading research institution renowned for its international environment. The university works strategically to obtain EU funding, which means applicants receive excellent support throughout the application process.

SDU works to increase diversity in academic positions and management through ambitious initiatives such as mentoring programmes and networks. We foster a culture in which diversity is not only tolerated but appreciated as an asset.

SDU has been awarded the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ by the European Commission, meaning that the university fosters good working conditions and career development for researchers.

The Centre for Organizing Social Sustainability is located at SDU’s Sønderborg Campus. Read more about what it is like to live in Denmark and work at SDU.