1. Read the guide to applicants which will be available here shortly before the call opens.
2. Watch an information webinar on the programme and how to apply. The dates for the 2025 EIPOD-LinC call webinar will be available here in early October, 2025.
3. Develop an interdisciplinary project proposal under the overarching theme of life in context. This will be submitted as part of your application (see 7). The project template (available here at the beginning of November 2025) must be used.
4. Decide on what combination of groups has the skills needed to support your project. All projects need an EMBL host and at least 1 partner. Partners must come from an academic institute, industry or clinic from an EMBL Member State, Associate Member State or Prospective Member State (MS). In order to participate, a MS partner must be actively engaged in research at the level of lab head or equivalent. They should also be eligible to supervise postdocs at their home institution.

5. Contact an EMBL host. EMBL’s research groups can be screened by research area. Make sure the group leader(s) you are interested are participating in the call (available here when the call opens).

6. Choose a partner from an external academic institute, industry or clinic from an EMBL Member State, Associate Member State or Prospective Member State. Not sure who to choose? Most EMBL hosts have suggested collaborators (available here when the call opens). Discuss with your EMBL host. Check collaborator suggestions from your EMBL host listed on the participating faculty page (to be updated at the beginning of November 2025.

7. Open an application. The link to the online application database will be available here in November 2025.

For your application to be eligible the following is required:

• The application must be submitted via the programme’s online application platform.
• Applicants must meet the programme’s eligibility requirements.
• Two letters of reference due at the application deadline. Please note that we only accept references from institutional email addresses. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their referees submit their reference by the call deadline (February 2nd, 2026 at 23:59 CEST).
• The proposal must use the provided project proposal template (available here when the call opens) and respect the formatting guidelines and page limits.

Evaluation of Written Applications

EIPOD-LinC is a competitive merit-based fellowship programme. It follows a well-defined weighted scoring system (see the Guide to Applicants). Eligible applications are independently reviewed by 3 external experts. Evaluators are asked to provide an overall impression of a candidate’s application in terms of excellence, impact and implementation as described in the guide to applicants (available here at the beginning of November)

Interviews

Lab visits: Interviewing candidates interact with the labs involved in their proposed projects prior to the interviews.

Interviews: Candidates give a talk on their research accomplishments and their proposed research project (10 minutes) and a have a panel interview (30 minutes per candidate). The interviews for the 2025 call will take place on April 20th and 21st, 2025 by Zoom.

Applicants not put forward following the eligibility check or short-listing or who do not receive an offer following the interviews have the right to request an appeal. The details of the appeal procedure are included in the outcome email. Requests for appeal must be submitted by email to the Programme Manager using the appeal form included with the outcome email within 7 days of a candidate receiving a rejection. Appeal requests will be treated confidentially and are reviewed by an Appeals Committee.

The EMBL Hosts participating in the 2025 EIPOD-LinC call are will be available here in early November 2025.

FAQ

If you have questions please visit our FAQ page (available here) or contact us at eipod@embl.org.