Description

Dear applicant,

This on-line application procedure combines the postdoc applications of a group of European institutes with research in theoretical high-energy physics related to the unification of fundamental interactions, in particular inspired by string theory, with relations to quantum gravity, supersymmetry and formal QFT in general. It is the direct successor of the common postdoc application hosted at KULeuven until 2025.

The deadline for applications is December 17, 2025, at 23:59 CET. It concerns postdoc positions starting autumn 2026. 

The topics of the positions advertised in these institutes are generally the following: Applied holography, Holography; CFT, String phenomenology and string cosmology, Supergravity, Amplitudes, Black holes, Worldsheet string theory, Swampland, Asymptotic symmetries, Symmetries and dualities, Supersymmetric field theories, Integrability in string and field theory, Higher spin, Nonperturbative QFT, Quantum information and gravity.

This webpage allows you to apply at once to all the following institutes. We identify first the group and in brackets give a shortname that you can use to give your preference list, see below. Finally there is a website where the group is further presented.

• APC Theory Group (APC Paris): Theory | AstroParticule & Cosmologie
• The "Gravitation, Strings and Cosmology" group at the University of Barcelona (Barcelona): ICCUB
• University of Birmingham, Geometry and Mathematical Physics group (Birmingham): Our Staff - University of Birmingham
• The group of profs. B. Craps, A. Sevrin and C. Uhlemann at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. (Brussel VUB): Theoretical Physics | HEP@VUB
• The Theoretical and Mathematical Physics group at ULB (Bruxelles ULB): Theoretical and Mathematical Physics – FACULTY OF SCIENCES
• (City, University of London): Mathematical Physics Group | City St George's, University of London
• University of Cologne (Cologne): Institute for Theoretical Physics Cologne or Nele Callebaut
• The Theoretical High Energy group at the Niels Bohr Institute (Copenhagen NBI): Theoretical High Energy, Astroparticle and Gravitational Physics – Niels Bohr Institute - University of Copenhagen
• Crete Center for Theoretical Physics (Crete): Crete Center for Theoretical Physics
• The High Energy Theory group of EPFL (EPFL Lausanne): High Energy Theory ‐ EPFL
• The groups of profs M. P. Heller and T. G. Mertens at UGent (Gent): Theoretical High Energy Physics UGent
• University of Iceland (Iceland): Iceland High Energy Theory
• The Theoretical Physics Group at Imperial College London (Imperial College London): Vacancies | Research groups | Imperial College London
• HEP group at KU Leuven (Leuven): Home — High Energy Physics and Relativistic Field Theory group
• University of Milano-Bicocca (Milano Bicocca): Theoretical Physics | Dipartimento di Fisica "Giuseppe Occhialini"
• INFN Milano (Milano INFN): Milano String Theory Group: Home Page
• University of Mons (UMONS), Unit "Physics of the Universe, Fields and Gravitation" (Mons): Home - Service / FS - Physique de l'Univers, Champs et Gravitation
• The string group at the Max-Planck-Institute for Physics (MPP) in Munich (Muenchen MPP):  String theory | Max Planck Institut für Physik
• University of Naples "Federico II" (Napoli): Team
• The Durham University – Department of Mathematical Sciences, Centre for Particle Theory Centre for Particle Theory - Durham University
• University of Oviedo (Oviedo): HEPTH - Home
• The String Theory & Fields group and the Gauge Theories, Strings and Supergravity group in Padova (Padova): String Theory Group | Padova
• The Theoretical Physics group at Parma University and INFN Parma (Parma): Quantum Field Theory, Lattice and Strings | Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Informatiche
• Saclay (IPhT) (Saclay (IPhT)): Mathematical Physics, String Theory and Gravity - IPhT
• The mathematical physics and cosmology & gravitation groups at the University of Sheffield, UK (Sheffield): High-Energy Theory
• The Theoretical Particle Physics group at SISSA (SISSA Trieste): Theoretical Particle Physics - SISSA
• The String Theory & Holography group in the school of Mathematical Sciences at Southampton (Southampton): String Theory and Holography | University of Southampton
• Stockholm University, Oskar Klein Centre (Stockholm) Oskar Klein Centre
• The String group at Surrey (School of Mathematics and Physics) (Surrey): Gravity & Quantum Field Theory Research| University of Surrey
• Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University (Utrecht): Institute for Theoretical Physics - Utrecht University
• Chair of Quantum Mathematical Physics at University of Warsaw (Warsaw): Chair of Quantum Mathematical Physics
• TU Wien (Wien T.U.): Fundamental Interactions | TU Wien
• Institute of Theoretical Physics, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (Wroclaw): Institute of Theoretical Physics - Home page
• A. Alikhanyan National Scientific Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) (Yerevan): "A. I. Alikhanyan national science laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute)" foundation
• The Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (Nordita): Nordita | Nordita: The Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics

• Catania University: string theory group
• Dublin University College
• Groningen Van Swinderen Institute
• Roma Tor Vergata, INFN: The string group at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
• Torino. The string theory group of the Torino ST&FI INFN project
• Würzburg: the string group
• Firenze. The String Theory Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence

The institutes on the list have an expectation that they 'may' have postdoc positions for the next academic year. In some cases this may depend on whether a funding application is successful, which is not always guaranteed at the start of the application round.

Your application will be evaluated by readers and a committee consisting of representatives of all the participating institutes. The results of this evaluation are shared with the staff of the involved institutes. Evaluations 'can start' from December 22 onwards. Most offers will not be done before January 16. All participating institutes are signataries of the High Energy Theory Postdoc Accord, according to which the earliest deadline for a postdoc offer in the 2026 hiring cycle is January 30th, 2026. It can be expected that after that date, many institutes will make offers again to candidates, each time leaving them some time to decide. The decisions are then taken in each institute separately, but information on the candidates is shared centrally.

After filling the form, there is no need to send further mails to the institutes mentioned here, and  your application will be considered complete. This application is considered for any postdoc position in these institutes related to the described research topics, and is the only way to apply for these positions. Your application will be evaluated by readers and a committee consisting of representatives of all the participating institutes.

The deadline for filling the form is the evening of December 17. You are, however, strongly encouraged to submit earlier. You can still modify your application up until the deadline using a password that will be created the first time you login. Starting the morning of December 18, the page will be closed for applicants, though referees may still upload letters. A few days later, members of the committee may start to consider the applications. Therefore, it is advantageous that the letters are uploaded at least soon thereafter. Remember that your referees may also need some time to write their letter for you, and may be busy with other tasks. Also for this reason, it is recommended to submit your application well in advance, even if it is not yet complete. Then your referees have enough time to send their letters.

Statistics from the previous application round are the following: of the 601 applicants, we know that roughly 8% eventually obtained a post-doctoral fellowship in one of the participating institutes (and we know of at least another 13% in other institutes).

Create an account

First on the home page: create new account. This is straightforward and afterwards you will be able to fill the form, clicking on "application".