€300,000 Post-Doc Fund Opens for Business-Led Research Projects

The Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation has opened a €300,000 Post-Doctoral Fellowship Scheme designed to push research collaboration between the University of Malta and Maltese businesses.

Consulted on the scheme are the University of Malta and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, both of which will help match economic operators with post-doctoral researchers.

The funding covers one- to two-year projects with a possible extension, and places a strong emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Each post-doctoral fellow employed on a project can receive up to €60,000 per year to cover employment costs, topped up by €15,000 for consumables, equipment and specialised services.

Two application routes exist. Under Category 1, an individual with a PhD – or someone who will have obtained it by project start – submits alongside an economic operator representative and a UM resident academic.

Category 2 lets the economic operator and the UM academic lead the submission jointly, bringing in the post-doctoral fellow later.

For Malta’s business community, the scheme effectively lowers the cost of hiring a PhD-level researcher. Companies that participate gain access to specialised R&D work steered by a university academic, turning a public grant into a direct innovation input.

Applications must be submitted by 18 November 2022 at noon. Queries can be sent to postdocfellowship@um.edu.mt.

The timing matters. Malta’s economy, driven by services and iGaming, often struggles to embed deep research in day-to-day operations. This scheme gives businesses a structured, subsidised route to do exactly that.