AXA Research Fund Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2025

AXA Research Fund now invites early career researchers to apply for the Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2025 call which is entitled: “Rethinking Social Contract for the 21st Century – Demographic Change, Social Protection and Solidarity”.

AXA Research Fund welcome interdisciplinary perspectives from fields such as sociology, political science, geopolitics, economics, law, public health, environmental studies, and related disciplines. They especially value solution-oriented research that proposes tangible recommendations and outcomes. Proposed research could explore, but is not limited to, one or more aspects of the following aspects: 

Demographic Shifts: 

• How can the social contract be updated to address the challenges of aging populations, declining birth rates, and shifting dependency ratios, while ensuring intergenerational equity in health, pensions, and social protection systems?
• What innovative approaches can the social contract adopt to support youth populations in regions experiencing rapid population growth, ensuring access to education, employment, and social mobility?
• How can the social contract integrate private sector actors to enhance public health systems and address the needs of aging societies, particularly in areas like pandemic response and elderly care? 

Migration: 

• How can the social contract be adapted to integrate migrants and refugees into host societies while addressing concerns about social cohesion and resource allocation?
• How can the social contract be reviewed to address the impacts of climate-induced migration and displacement on both sending and receiving communities? 

The Future of Work:

• How can the social contract be updated to address the rise of non-traditional employment models (e.g., gig work, remote work, platform-based labor) while ensuring fair wages, job security, and access to social protections?  
• What role can the social contract play in supporting lifelong learning and reskilling initiatives to help workers adapt to automation, artificial intelligence, and rapidly changing labor markets? 

AXA Research Fund encourage scholars to contribute research that advances our understanding of contemporary social contracts and offers innovative solutions for a more sustainable and equitable future.

For more information https://axa-research.org/fund-your-research/post-doctoral-fellowships

What does the fellowship provide?

• A personal stipend of up to €140 000 in total, to be spent over 2 years. 

Overhead costs are not eligible and KI Department will be expected to participate in the AXA Fellowship’s general funding and resources related to the research program.

Who can apply?

• The applicant must have been awarded his/her PhD at the time of nomination, and within the 5 years preceding the submission deadline (AXA also provides an additional 6 months per child flexibility to account for maternity/paternity leave).
• AXA research Fund partners only with pre-registered academic institutions, and successful applicants will be expected to carry out their research projects in the host institution that nominated them.
• Only candidates without a permanent academic position are eligible. 

What’s the nomination and application process?

Karolinska Institutet is able to nominate 1 candidate to send their full application to the program. Applicants that would like to be nominated for the Fellowship will therefore need to send in: 

1. The pre-application form: this must be completed and signed by the applicant, the post-doc supervisor, and the head of department.
2. A short research proposal: the research proposal should be less than 3000 characters (including spaces) and should demonstrate scientific originality and innovative nature and have the potential to contribute to a step change in the field considered. For applicants chosen for nomination by KI, this text will subsequently be used in the first stage of AXA’s selection procedure.
3. A brief CV of the applicant: maximum 3 pages, including publication list. 

Above documents are to be sent to grantsoffice@ki.se by 24^th April, 2025. The applications will be reviewed by an internal review committee and notification of selection results will be provided to all applicants by 5^th May. Nominated candidates must submit their full application to AXA Research Fund by 13^th June 2025.