5 Two Year Postdoctoral Research Contracts

ARTICLE 1

(Award)

The Scuola Superiore Meridionale (hereafter SSM) is seeking to award the following five two-year postdoctoral research contracts, full-time, financed by Decreto Direttoriale n. 47 del 20.02.2025 “on the recruitment of post-doctoral international researchers PNRR” (Missione 4 “Istruzione e Ricerca” Componente 2 “Dalla Ricerca all'Impresa” - Investimento 1.2 “Finanziamento di progetti presentati da giovani ricercatori”):

1. n. 1 post-doctoral research contract in Mathematical and Physical Sciences for Advanced Materials and Technologies (MPHS) -CUP F66E25000010006-
2. n.1 post-doctoral research contract in Modeling and Engineering Risk and Complexity (MERC) - CUP F66E25000020006-
3. n.1 post-doctoral research contract in Archeologia e Culture del Mediterraneo Antico. Ricerca Storica, Conservazione, Fruizione del Patrimonio (ACMA) -CUP F66E25000030006-
4. n.1 post-doctoral research contract in Global History and Governance (GHG) -CUP F66E25000040006
5. n.1 post-doctoral research contract in Molecular Sciences for Earth and Space (MOSES) -CUP F66E25000050006-

This call will only be activated following the acquisition of the ministerial decree granting funding from the Ministry of University and Research. The SSM will not be subject to any obligation in the event that one of the advertised positions is not approved or funded. Recruitment will only take place for the number of positions actually funded by the Ministry of University and Research.

ARTICLE 2

(Applicants’ requirements)

To be admitted to the selection process, the following requirements are necessary, under penalty of exclusion.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

• enjoyment of civil and political rights: those who are excluded from active political electorate are not allowed to apply;
• not to have been convicted of any criminal offense incompatible with the status of public employee as entailing the application of forfeiture of employment per art. 127, first paragraph, letter d) of the Consolidated Law of the provisions concerning the status of civil employees of the State, issued with Presidential Decree no. 3 of January 10, 1957, or dismissal.
• Male candidates of Italian nationality born before 1985 are also required to be in compliance with the laws on military recruitment.
• Candidates of non-Italian nationality are required to enjoy civil and political rights also in their country of origin or provenance and meet the above requirements, if applicable, for their country of origin.
• No person who is related by kinship (up to and including the fourth degree) to a professor who belongs to the Steering Committee of the SSM or to the Director-General is eligible to participate in this selection procedure.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS:

Candidates are required to:

1. Possess, by the deadline of this call for applications, a PhD; students in the final year of a PhD program are allowed to participate provided that they obtain their PhD by May 14, 2025. In this case, candidates are admitted to the selection with reservation, so that if they are selected but do not have obtained their degree by the above-mentioned date, they will be declared ineligible;
2. If they hold a PhD degree issued by an Italian institution, to have completed, before the conclusion of the doctoral program, a stay abroad for training and research of at least 3 months, as per art. 2, paragraph 2 of Directorial Decree no. 47 of February 20, 2025. For applicants having carried out their PhD course at a site abroad (non-Italian), the requirement is considered automatically fulfilled. Applicants who declare that they were unable to participate in mobility abroad during their doctoral studies due to decisions made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency will be admitted to the selection process with reservation, pending verification by the Administration of the effective impossibility of mobility due to the containment measures adopted by the Italian government and the competent authorities during the pandemic emergency.
3. As per art. 1 paragraph 8 of Directorial Decree no. 47 of February 20, 2025, fall under the category of “young researcher”: a researcher of any nationality who, for various reasons, has not yet gained consolidated experience in the management of research groups and is not in a contractual position that guarantees a stable career prospect in research. This definition includes all researchers who, as of February 20, 2025, are 40 years of age or, for profiles aged over 40 and up to 45, have completed their PhD within the last 7 years and who find themselves in one or more of the following situations:

• are able to declare that this is their first experience as a person responsible for funds and/or research activities;
• are yet to acquire any experience in the leadership and management of a national and/or international research team;
• do not have, or did not have before winning the European grant, a full time equivalent (FTE) contract of indefinite duration as a researcher and/or tenured professor.

Considering the nature of the research to be carried out, the following qualifications will be valid as preferential titles:

• a doctoral degree in one of the disciplinary fields referred to in the attached detailed sheets 01 to 05;
• excellent knowledge of the English language;
• good knowledge of at least a second or third language in addition to the mother tongue.

All candidates are admitted to the selection process referred to in this call for applications with reservation.

Applications are not accepted from whoever belongs to the following categories:

• full and associate university professors and researchers with permanent contracts – even if they are no longer in service due to retirement, voluntary resignation or dismissal;
• permanent employees of universities, public research bodies and institutions whose scientific specialization diploma has been recognized as equivalent to a PhD in accordance with art. 74, fourth paragraph of the decree of the President of the Republic July 11, 1980 n. 382;
• holders (or former holders) of fixed-term research contracts in tenure track, as per art. 24 of Law 240/2010, as amended by Law 79/2022 converting Decree Law 36/2022 (RTT);
• those who have a degree of kinship or affinity, up to and including the fourth degree, with a professor who is a member of the Area Council that proposed the activation of the contract or with the Head of the School, the General Director or with a member of the Steering Committee.

ARTICLE 3

(Submission)

Applications, as well as all the required attachments, are to be submitted – one for each profile to which the applicant is interested – EXCLUSIVELY through the online procedure accessed via the PICA application at the following link:

https://pica.cineca.it/ssm/ssm-cr-pnrr-2025/domande/

by April 17 2025, 16.00 Central European Time

Late applications as well as all those not submitted through the online procedure will not be accepted.

ARTICLE 4

(Start of the research contract)

Successful applicants will be made aware of the procedures for stipulating the contracts. They will be required to digitally sign such research contracts no later than May 15, 2025, under penalty of forfeiture; no extension will be allowed. Successful applicants who should choose not to accept the research contract are required to inform, in a timely manner, the Scuola Superiore Meridionale by emailing u.personale@ssmeridionale.it, no later than May 13, 2025.

Each research contract shall entail activities for a duration of 24 months starting from May 15, 2025, without prejudice to any subsequent legislative and/or regulatory changes regarding the eligibility terms provided for by the PNRR or the occurrence of additional financial resources.

ARTICLE 5

(Processing of personal data)

In accordance with EU Regulation No. 679/2016, candidates are informed that the personal data they provide will be processed solely for the purposes of this procedure and the eventual establishment of the employment relationship and for purposes related to its management.

ARTICLE 6

(Referral to the unabridged official version)

For any matter not mentioned in this call please refer to the Regulations for the awarding of grants for the conduct of research activities and the awarding of research contracts of the SSM; to the current provisions on the subject and especially to the D.D. no. 47 of February 20, 2025 and the related FAQ.

This document is an abstract of the original Italian-language call of SSM “Selezione pubblica per l’assegnazione di n. 5 contratti di ricerca, a tempo pieno e della durata di 24 mesi, a valere sul Decreto Direttoriale n. 47 del 20.02.2025 per l’assunzione di ricercatori internazionali post-dottorato PNRR - Missione 4 “Istruzione e Ricerca” Componente 2 “Dalla Ricerca all'Impresa” - Investimento 1.2 “Finanziamento di progetti presentati da giovani ricercatori”. For details please refer to the unabridged official version in Italian, available at the following link: https://www.ssmeridionale.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bando-contratti-di-ricerca.pdf

In case of discrepancies between the English version and the Italian document, the Italian version shall prevail.