Pre-call for applications for “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Postdoctoral Fellowships”

The Institute for Mediterranean Studies / Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (IMS/FORTH) invites pre-applications for researchers who wish to apply, with a research supervisor from IMS/FORTH, to the “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Postdoctoral Fellowship” Programme (MSCA-PF-2025), funded by the European Commission. Researchers accepted for this type of fellowship will spend 12-24 months at IMS/FORTH, located in Rethymno, Crete (Greece), in order to conduct research, prepare publications, engage in knowledge transfer, and develop their professional networks. The Programme offers a competitive salary, research costs, mobility and family allowances. Applicants can be of any nationality but they must not have spent more than 12 months in Greece during the 36 months prior to the call deadline, which is September 10, 2025. The applicant will submit the project proposal together with IMS/FORTH. 

IMS/FORTH welcomes pre-applications for the following research fields: 

  • Ottoman History: preferably (but not exclusively) cultural, economic, political, and social Ottoman history. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in Ottoman literature or history and are expected to be well acquainted with historical sources of the Ottoman period.
  • Maritime History: maritime history in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, 17th-20th century. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in economic, social and/or cultural history and are expected to be acquainted with at least one language of the region.
  • Theatre Studies: theatre history in Europe, Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea, and the Balkans from 19th to 21st century. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in Theatre Studies.
  • Geoinformatics: vulnerabilities of archaeological heritage, methods of detection, mapping, and monitoring of cultural heritage (in particular the possibilities offered by AI) to the impact of coastal erosion, innovative applications of geoinformatics in archaeological landscape modelling.
  • Art History: mobility and exchanges of artworks, artistic models and techniques; Art donations as instrument of political influence; “Hybrid” Art styles; Interaction and exchange between Slavic and Greek traditions. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in Art history / History and Archaeology.
  • Ancient History: ancient slavery, ancient Greek historiography, ancient Greek political theory. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in Classics.
  • Mediterranean and Global Economic and Social History: Social history of the 19th and 20th centuries, preferably in Mediterranean and Balkans and in topics relevant to labour history, petite bourgeoisie and small business sector, restricted/regulated professions, moral economy, gender history, carnival. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in history or other social sciences.

IMS/FORTH has an extensive and prestigious record of hosting international doctoral and postdoctoral fellows. Over the last years, it has hosted both Marie Curie Fellows and doctoral/postdoctoral fellows recruited in the context of other national and EU research projects. Details on the research conducted in IMS/FORTH can be found in its webpage. Full details of the funding scheme and the application process can be found in the Programme webpage. 

Researchers who wish to cooperate with IMS/FORTH for the submission of a proposal should check that they fulfill the respective eligibility criteria and then send an expression of interest, consisting of a short CV and a two-page summary presentation of their research proposal, to Dr. Yannis Spyropoulos (spyropoulosy@gmail.com, spyropoulos@ims.forth.gr). Expressions of interest may be submitted up to May 10, 2025. Proposals will then be pre-selected by IMS/FORTH on the basis of internal evaluation and the availability of suitable supervision. Selected applicants will be informed of the results of the pre-selection by June 1 and will be invited to prepare their full proposal in collaboration with an IMS/FORTH supervisor. A complete draft of the application must be prepared by July 31 and the final version of the project must be ready by August 31, 2025.