- I obtained my PhD before 2017, can I apply for the Living Planet Fellowship 2025 Call? The Living Planet Fellowship 2025 Call is addressed to young post-doctoral scientists who received their PhD before the deadline for the Scientific Proposal (see Cover Letter for details) and who have completed less than 8 years of research experience after the award of the PhD (i.e. including any research career breaks).
- Can multiple candidates from the same institution be selected if they apply for the fellowships in different calls for proposals? The selection of a single candidate for any single Organisation is on a per-call basis. Therefore, it is possible for the same Organisation to have selected candidates in two different Calls for Proposals, including in consecutive calls.
- Should Host institutions pre-select candidates to meet the crierion of a single candidate per-call It is recommended that Host Institutions do not pre-select candidates as the Scientific Proposals will be evaluated by ESA on the basis of scientific quality as the main criterion. For the purposes of the call a Host Institution is understood to be a faculty or institute within a larger research organisation, institution or university.
- I am a postdoctoral researcher at an institute in an ESA Member State, but I hold an international citizenship. Can I apply for the Living Planet Fellowship 2025 Call? Candidates to the Living Planet Fellowship 2025 Call must have a nationality from an ESA Member and Associated State participating in the FutureEO-1 Segment 2 Programme . Candidates not holding such citizenship are not eligible for this programme.
- I am finishing my PhD and will obtain the degree in 2025 after the start date of the fellowship/I will defend my thesis after the call deadline, but before the start of the fellowship. Am I eligible to apply? The Candidates must have completed their PhD before the submission deadline for the Scientific Proposal (see cover letter for dates). Please note that the Living Planet Fellowship is an annual call. Candidates defending their thesis after the deadline will be eligible to participate in the Call for the year afterward.
- The Host Institution is based outside of the ESA Member States but has registered offices in several ESA Member States. Is the Host Institution eligible, if the Candidate will conduct the research in one of these offices? The Host Institution must have their registered office in one of the following Member or Associated States participating in the FutureEO-1 Segment 2 Programme: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Latvia, Slovenia and Canada. If the Host Institution is based outside of an ESA Member or Associated State but has registered offices in a FutureEO Participating state (i.e. has a legal registration in a Participating State’s Companies Registry), then it is eligible to participate in this Call.
- In the proposal I have to indicate the list of ESA data to be required to implement the project. Should I indicate a qualitative estimate? Should the request be made before the project? Or do you mean if the project is accepted? The candidates shall detail in the proposal the complete list of ESA data (including third party missions) that will be required to carry out the project and the nominal volume of data needed. It is not necessary to make the request before the project is accepted.
- Regarding non-ESA and in-situ data, should these be already available before the project or could I acquire them during the project? The Candidates of Host Organisation shall demonstrate in the proposal the availability of all the required datasets to accomplish the proposed work. Some of these datasets may be acquired during the project. The Candidates shall be responsible for accessing the required non-ESA data.
- Is there a minimum budget requirement for this call? There is no minimum budget requirement for this call. It is expected that the Host Institute shall price the project in line with the full costs of a standard full-time post-doctoral contract (Full-time Equivalent cost) in their resepctive countries and institutions.
- Does the LPF cover salaries of research assistants, costs of instruments and processing capabilities (cloud computing or workstations)? In case the candidate’s salary is already covered, is it possible to apply for funding for above mentioned items and not for the candidate’s salary? The LPF Contract is placed between ESA and the Host Organisation as a standard full-time post-doctoral contract (FTE) to be implemented by a single postdoctoral scholar. The LPF does not cover the costs of funding a team of researchers or a supervisor. However, some of the costs of cloud computing and in-situ campaigns are offered under the Options in this Call. These Options will not be taken into consideration as part of the scientific evaluation of the proposal. Please check the Section 5 Options in the Call for Scientific Proposals for further details.
- Is Living Planet Fellowship intended for exploitation of data coming from existing ESA and European missions or does it address also development of new technologies such as building a ground station for the reception of Earth observation images? The call is intended for proposals in the domain of scientific exploitation of ESA and European EO missions and datasets that may maximise the missions’ scientific impact. The development of innovative EO data products or improvements to existing EO data products can be proposed in the frame of the call. However, the call does not focus on new technology or hardware development.
- Is a private organisation (start-up) aiming to conduct a research project in e.g. the cloud computing area eligible? Private organisations are eligible to participate to the call.
- Who can make the submission of the proposal? Either the Candidate or the Host Institute can make the submission of the proposal following the procedure in the Cover Letter.
- Co-funding : Co-funding is NOT required in this Call. However, the maximum ESA contribution to the project is 200.000 EUR (exclusive of options, as detailed in the call package). If the cost of the FTE post-doctoral contract in the respective countries or institutes is higher that 200K EUR the Host Institution may cover the difference using their own funding or that from 3rd Parties, excluding ESA) as a contribution to the activity or may align the number of hours to the budget available.
- Overheads The call does not impose a rate or a limit on the overheads, which are established on the basis of the company’s normal accounting method.