The Netherlands is a desirable location for postdoctoral researchers due to its abundance of high-quality universities and research institutes. There are various methods to look into opportunities and handle the application process when you’re thinking about doing a postdoc here.
Postdoctoral positions are frequently posted via:
Academic employment boards like:
Academic Transfer https://www.academictransfer.com/en
Academic Positions https://academicpositions.com
Euraxess Netherlands https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs
Nature Careers nature.com/naturecareers/
EuroScience Jobs https://www.eurosciencejobs.com
Job portals at universities:
In the Netherlands, each university, university medical center, and research institute has a specific webpage about open positions. You will be taken to the desired webpage if you enter the “name of the institute” you are interested in along with the word “vacancies” in a search engine.
A few examples:
https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/working-at-utrecht-university/jobs
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/vacancies
https://werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies
https://www.careersatumcutrecht.com
NWO-I institutes; https://www.nwo-i.nl/en
Networking
Sometimes postdoc positions are filled through informal networks. In light of that, take into account:
- Making contact with the group you want to work with in order to show your interest
- Making contact with other researchers in your field who are based in the Netherlands
- Getting involved in social media groups that your preferred research group may have
Fund your postdoc position
Opportunities to obtain a personal fellowship and finance your position exist, though competition may be high. You can look into various funding organizations where you can apply for a fellowship, if you have a research idea that you would like to pursue and carry out in a research group in the Netherlands;
- NWO (Dutch Research Council) grants; https://www.nwo.nl/en/funding-lines
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions; https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/postdoctoral-fellowships
- European Research Council (ERC) fellowship; https://erc.europa.eu/homepage
- Fellowships specific to a university; You could use a search engine to see if there are any fellowships available at your preferred institution for which you could apply.
