Seven EU-funded postdocs to Bergen
The University of Bergen (UiB) will host another seven international research fellows after a very successful application round in this year’s competition for MSCA funding from the EU. The grants will fund the researchers' stay at UiB for two years.
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The European Commission recently announced the selection of 1 696 outstanding researchers for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships funding. The winners were selected in competition with 10 360 applicants.
Seven grants were awarded to UiB, meaning that seven new postdoctoral research fellows will come from abroad to UiB to conduct research here for two years.
With UiB as the coordinator for the projects, the fellows will become part of a leading academic environment. They will work in collaboration with and under the supervision of a researcher at UiB – and benefit from tailored career development initiatives.
The Faculty of Humanities will receive three MSCA fellows, one will join the Faculty of Social Sciences and three fellows will be hosted by the Faculty of Science and Technology.
Crucial for quality
– International exchange is crucial for the quality of Norwegian and European research, and I am therefore pleased that UiB can now welcome so many outstanding international researchers to our research environments, says Rector Margareth Hagen.
– The MSCA programmes are an important scheme for recruiting foreign researchers to UiB, and the good results confirm that our environments maintain high quality, she says.
Two medievalists with top scores
Professor Laura Saetveit Miles will host and supervise two fellows: Tim Glover from Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge and Alicia Smith from Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom.
According to Professor Miles, the grants have great value for their research community:
“It is a major win to bring two new medievalists to UiB to join the strengths in medieval studies across several disciplines in the Faculty of Humanities”, Miles says.
“Both scholars work across literature and religious studies, making the Literature & Religion Research Group a natural home for them. They also both work on Latin sources and medieval manuscripts and will contribute to the Medieval Philology Research Group. Most importantly, they help strengthen UiB as Norway’s top research environment for medieval England and Middle English studies”.
Tim Glover’s research project aims to rewrite the history of lay contemplative spirituality in the Middle Ages. It focuses on the Latin textbooks used by medieval priests to teach their congregations, including sources which have been largely overlooked by scholars. These books made the teachings on contemplation of famous medieval writers more accessible and were used by priests to instruct parishioners orally.
Alice Smith’s research project explores the historical uses, controversies, and evolving interpretations of Thais, a sex worker turned saint, as a lens on the intersection of sex and religion in the Middle Ages. It seeks to understand how the saint’s shocking narrative—depicting a repentant woman walled up in solitude—functioned within medieval European culture and how modern scholars can engage with it.
Brilliant project ideas and understanding the genre
The two applications were among four project proposals from UiB that received a perfect 100% score from the reviewers.
What strategies have you used to achieve such success?
“I worked closely with both candidates from the very beginning. Though they both approached me with fully formed, brilliant project ideas that were totally new to me, it was important to give them feedback on the scope and nature of the MSCA fellowship so they could start off writing the proposal in the right direction and not waste time”, says Miles, adding:
“What is the project hook, and does it match what an MSCA looks like? I shared with them several sample applications that had been generously made available by previous candidates. These examples are crucial for understanding the genre. Big grants are a game and if you play by their rules, while still being a little creative and a little daring, you have a much higher likelihood of success. We also received helpful feedback from research groups workshops and from external consultants”, she explains.
Apply for Marie Curie funding?
The next deadline for applications for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships is 10 September 2025. Find UiB's guide for applicants here.
More about MSCA-PF
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) is a mobility programme for researchers with a PhD who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers
- European Postdoctoral Fellowships provide funding for projects where the researcher will carry out a fellowship abroad at a European institution
- The mobility program is part of the EU's research and innovation programme Horizon Europe
- UiB receives approx. €250,000 or approx. NOK 2.9 million per project. The projects will have a duration of two years
- UiB is awarded 7 grants out of 15 applications, a 46,7 % success rate in this call.
New grants
Tim Glover from Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, UK, joins the Department of Foreign Languages under Professor Laura Saetveit Miles' supervision.
Project: PopLatin -Priests’ Books and the Popularisation of the Contemplative Life in England, 1300–1550.
Alicia Smith fra Birkbeck, University of London, UK, will also join the Department of Foreign Languages under Professor Laura Saetveit Miles' supervision.
Project: THAISIS – Rethinking medieval and modern sexualities through the ‘harlot saint’ Thais.
Camilla Spaliviero from Università Ca' Foscari, Italy, will join Professor Åsta Haukås at the Department of Foreign Languages.
Project: LATECO - Fostering Multilingualism through LAnguage TEacher Collaboration.
Emilija Gagrcin from the University of Mannheim, Germany, will join the Department of Information Science and Media Studies under the supervision of Professor Hallvard Moe.
Project: RESDEM – RESilient DEMocracies: Rethinking Democratic Resilience through Citizens' Public Connection in Societies Under Pressure.
Rodrigue Imbol Koungue from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, will join Professor Noel Keenlyside at the Geophysical Institute.
Project: EcoCLimEx - Ecological repercussions of future changes of marine climate extremes at the eastern boundary of the South Atlantic.
The Department of Biological Sciences will host Hilary-Rose Dawson from the Australian National University. Supervisor will be Professor Vigdis Vandvik.
Project: SEEDTRAITS – Using seed functional traits to understand and predict alpine plant responses to global climate change
Elizabeth Orr from Durham University, United Kingdom, received a grant to join Professor Ann Rowan at the Department of Earth Science.
Project: GLACIAL-GRIT - quantifying the impacts of variable debris supply to mountain glaciers under a changing climate.
