Junior researcher / Post doctoral researcher (R2)

Below is a list of support aimed at junior researchers/postdoctoral researchers. In addition, there is a wide range of support on offer at your faculty, your school and your unit (research group/research subject).

Once the doctoral programme has been completed, further research is usually conducted during a period of postdoctoral research, ranging from 2 to 3 years.

Read more about career paths at Örebro University

Grants Office is offering a wide range of support for planning and managing your career.

  • Grant writing seminars
  • Newsletter with upcoming calls and relevant information
  • Extensive resources on the Grants Office webpage
  • Tailored seminars  
  • Feedback on applications  

Process management

Grants Office offers process facilitation for research groups and research contexts. In certain situations, it can be beneficial to involve someone outside of the group to advance the process. This is where Grants Office can step in to guide, structure, and oversee the work. We possess knowledge of and experience in various situations and methods that we can employ to design meetings, workshops, and seminars with clear purposes and goals. 

Here are a few examples: 

  • Idea development for research projects
  • Hearing training, when you've progressed to the next stage for research funding
  • Planning and concretising the path forward for research groups
  • Evaluation of collaboration between researchers and practitioners (or other types of collaborations)
  • Workshops for writing and generating ideas 

Hearing, preparations and training 

For certain calls, a hearing - an interview by a panel - is part of the process. It can take place at a location determined by the funding body or online. If you are invited to a hearing, you have already progressed in the process, but your chances of having your application approved are greater if you make your case clearly during the hearing. Your presentation at a hearing can both strengthen or weaken your application. 

Start-up meetings are offered to all research projects, even if you have not planned for post-contract services in the budget. We meet with both smaller and larger projects. 

At a start-up meeting we will present the support functions at the university, and a research project timeline.

More information about support from Grants Office

Research data advisors

Research data advisors (often called "data stewards" internationally) are available at all faculties at Örebro University. They provide information about and connection to data management services offered by the university, such as the legal office, IT and the library. Research data advisors can give information and feedback on data management plans, data handling procedures (including information classification and suitable ways of working with data with different levels of need of protection), collaboration with others outside the university, and archiving of a project.

The research data advisors hold lectures on data management for researchers, participate in various seminars and other instances where research data is discussed together with researchers. They offer active and personal support if a researcher has to comply with specific requirements in their research, such as providing a data management plan.

Data management plan

Support for managing research data – BSR – Inforum

Supervising PhD students 

ORU Data Factory – external information / internal information (in Swedish)

ORU Research Drive 

Other

PhD students and their supervisors are trained in research craftmanship within each faculty and within the different schools. Courses on data management and certain parts of the processes are available and offered by different lecturers throughout the year, such as legal matters, archiving and integrity. There are also non-mandatory training opportunities throughout the year for other researchers.

For researchers, broad support in writing and publishing is offered.

The University Library offers:

  • Support in publishing matters (e.g. financing of author fees via the university’s agreements and publication fund, parallel publication, archiving in DiVA and help on where to publish)
  • Support with research data (e.g. in research funding applications and in drawing up data management plans)
  • Support in bibliometrics and altmetrics (publication patterns, citations, collaborations, comparisons with other research)
  • Support in academic writing and information retrieval (credit-bearing doctoral courses, supervision, search assignments, systematic reviews, support in the EndNote reference management system)

More information about support from the University Library can be found on the Research Support pages

Grants Office offers:

  • Newsletter with upcoming calls and relevant information
  • Extensive resources on the Grants Office webpage
  • Tailored seminars as well as grant writing seminars
  • Grant writing seminars
  • Feedback on applications

More information about support from Grants Office

The Office for Communication and Collaboration Support offers:

  • Support for research funding applications: presentations, communication plans and popular science summaries
  • Support for disseminating research: press releases, news, how to reach out to journalists
  • Tailored courses/workshops in communication for researchers
  • Media training for researchers

More information about support from the Office for Communication and Collaboration Support 

The Centre for Academic Development offers support for those who are or want to become supervisors.

Eligibility: PhD degree

More information about supervising PhD students

Grants for Goals is a programme for analysing group strengths and assets to establish goals and strategies for efficient progress. Aimed at both research groups and individual researchers, it offers a break from daily research to reflect on scientific objectives. It helps identify necessary resources and create clear documents outlining objectives, vision, and activities. This enhances focus and clarity in research direction.

The programme, which can lead to either a narrower or broader research focus, revolves around your interests. It consists of five modules over 4 to 6 months, conducted by Grants Office, each involving a three-hour meeting. The programme's content is flexible, tailored to your specific challenges and interests. For groups, it includes discussions on scientific objectives and internal collaboration using the IMGD model by Susan Wheelan.

Launched by Grants Office in 2015, the programme has been completed by over 30 groups/researchers.

Grants for Goals is open to researchers and research groups at Örebro University who are interested in taking a step forward and changing their working methods. Interested parties can contact Grants Office or attend an introductory seminar.

Örebro University offers courses in Swedish for international employees. For more information about current courses, see the link below. 

More information

From September 2023, employees at Örebro University are offered the opportunity to study Swedish via SFI (adult education in Swedish for immigrants). SFI is organised by Örebro Municipality, and they offer a separate group for employees at the university.  

More information about SFI

ORU Innovation offers career opportunities for researchers of all levels. The services are centered around innovation. We offer guidance, support and access to our network within the innovation support ecosystem. Utilising our services is not only an opportunity for your idea to grow into an innovation, it is also an opportunity for you to learn skills that are essential to further your career by building or expanding your networks, spreading knowledge of your research, and obtaining tools for collaborating with businesses, the public sector or civil society.

ORU Innovation - Örebro University

SoIL is an innovation environment and a programme that focuses on innovations for social sustainability. Social innovations can involve methods, processes, products or services that improve or replace other societal functions or market initiatives. The focus of these ideas is always the common good. The programme consists of a twelve-month development period with support and expertise, regular meetings once a week and an accessible physical space to work in, adjacent to the Innovation Office. The programme also offers community support from those researchers that have completed the programme, as well as a focused regional and national network within the social innovation and social impact sphere.

Collaborate with our researchers 

Forskaruppdrag is a tool to enable academic staff to work in their field of expertise together with the public sector, businesses or the civil sector as a sideline activity. This includes everything from businesses looking to validate hypotheses about their products, lecturing on a topic of your research, or analysing or improving on practical methodology. Consulting work serves the purpose of both spreading research and gathering data or ideas for new research, as well as establishing new valuable connections outside of academia. Assignments range from work spanning several years to short singular activities. For doctoral students, consulting work can serve as a bridge for new opportunities and for academic staff as a complement to their existing employment.

Research consultancy services – rent a researcher 

In the interest of Örebro University, the Junior Faculty (JF) promotes a greater academic environment for junior and early-career researchers. We aim to support the individual career development of young researchers, facilitate information flow between various organisational levels of the university, and provide a platform for networking and interdisciplinary collaboration. In particular, JF strives to: 

  • Increase educational outcomes
  • Provide mentorship programmes
  • Support career development
  • Represent junior researchers' interests

More information about Junior Faculty

Are you interested in pursuing a career in Sweden? We have gathered tips on what to think about when job-seeking in Sweden and how to qualify for a career in academia. 
More information on the Finding a job website 

EURAXESS - Researchers in Motion is a pan-European initiative delivering information and support services to professional researchers regardless of their career stage. Backed by the European Union and its member states, it supports researcher mobility and career development, while enhancing scientific collaboration between Europe and the world.

One of the most important issues for EURAXESS is the matter of career opportunities for researchers. The EURAXESS portal is filled with information and tools that can help you as a researcher to determine your future career path.

EURAXESS Career Development

The Young Academy of Sweden has developed a guide to the Swedish research system, about what applies to qualifications, what the networks look like, but also about practical issues.

The guide is intended for international researchers, to help them navigate Swedish academia and remove time-consuming obstacles. However, many beyond the target group will also find the guide very useful.

Go to A Beginner's Guide to Swedish Academia