1. Read the guide to applicants which are available here.
2. Watch the information webinar. The 2026 EIPOD-LinC information webinar date and registration link will be added here closer to the call opening.
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) 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 (the 2026 hosts will be updated once available).

7. Complete the application form (available here).

8. Convert your application, project and ethics forms to a single PDF and upload them together with relevant certificates (e.g. Ph.D certificate, MSc., BSc. etc). Submit this via EMBL’s Workday job portal (link will be added here once the call is active).

9. Please ask your referees to send their references to: EIPOD-references@embl. de. Note: the references are due by the call closing on February 2, 2026. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the references are submitted to the EIPOD Office on time. Please ask your referees to write their letters in gender-neutral language (i.e. they/them) and to avoid naming the candidate in the text. We hide all protected characteristics from evaluators to help minimise the impact of unconscious bias.

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 1st, 2027 at 23:59 CEST).
• The proposal must use the provided project proposal template (available here ) 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 2026 call will take place on April 8th and 9th, 2027 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. Only procedural aspects of the evaluation and selection are open to appeal. The scientific judgement of the evaluators and panels is not open for 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 available here. The 2026 hosts will be updated once available.

FAQ

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