A guide to pursuing your postdoctoral research studies in Estonia

Submitted by Triinu on Wed, 04/06/2022 - 06:19

This blog post was written by Pankaj, a Digital Technologies PhD student at Tallinn University.

This blog post shares information on the application process, postdoc salary, and funding options for the postdoc studies in Estonia. The post can be helpful for prospective international candidates to gain a first experience with the postdoc application process in Estonia for research opportunities after their Ph.D.

PostDoc recruitment process

Finding relevant lab or PostDoc opportunities

The very first step towards pursuing a PostDoc in Estonia (applicable to other countries as well) is to find a research group conducting research in your area of research. You need to spend some time searching for postdoc opportunities.

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Estonian universities often publish their postdoc vacancies on EURAXESS Estonian portal. This could be your first step to check any available postdoc positions in your research field. In addition to that, the ETIS platform which stores the research profiles of every researcher in Estonia, with research publications and projects, can be a great start to get yourself familiar with the research directions of a lab or group. You can also check the particular Estonian university website for available postdoc positions.

Your research network can also play a significant role in getting you a postdoc position in Estonia. Therefore, extending your network is highly recommended and for that you can start with portals e.g., Research Gate, LinkedIn.

Useful links for searching

E-mailing relevant documents

Once you have identified an available position, as a next step, you need to send your CV and a cover letter. Depending on the position, you may also be asked to provide your publications and one or two letters of recommendation. You can also follow this step as a first communication with the research lab you find interesting just to inquire about postdoc availability.

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In your cover letter, you can start with the position you are applying for and then highlight your key strength in the field. For example, if you have worked on some projects related to that field, you can mention that. You can also talk about your current research directions. You can get some ideas on what to write in the cover letter from the following template.

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Interview

The research committee after completing your documents screening will call you for an interview. This interview often lasts for one hour. The interview is basically to get familiar with you and your research work.

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You may face questions related to your Ph.D., research projects, and research contributions. Knowing in advance about research projects running in the research lab where you are applying could be a plus. After the interview, the results will be communicated to you within 15 days in most cases. Following are a few questions you may face in your interview

Why Estonia, why this specific institute, how your experience can contribute to our research group?
Previous experiences in acquiring funding and proposal preparations?
Your duties in the previous research team, what transferable & management skills would you bring to this group?
The situation in which you worked as a good team player in resolving conflicts in your team.
Experience in teaching or training, would you like to be involved in supervising students?
What is your role in your publications?
If selected for the position, When would you be able to join us?
Do you have any questions for us?

PostDoc Salary

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In Estonia, the gross salary of a postdoc is around 1600 - 2600 euros per month. That means you will get around 1300 - 2200 euros after tax deduction. However, the salary also depends on your experience and project funding and can go up to 3000 (approx). Every postdoc in Estonia is also provided with medical insurance. Additionally, you also get financial support for attending research conferences.

Funding options

Estonia offers various funding options for Postdoctoral researchers. You can check the following links for more information

Acknowledgement

I thank Dr. Renu Geetha Bai for her time to provide information for this blog post. Dr. Renu is pursuing her PostDoc at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in Tartu.