AToUT – Attractiveness of the University of Toulouse for transitions : two-year postdoctoral fellowships supporting high-level, interdisciplinary and international research. 44 fellowships over 3 calls (2025-2028), co-funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe (MSCA-COFUND).
Call for projects open until 28 February 2026.
The AToUT Programme (Attractiveness of Toulouse University for Transitions) is a postdoctoral fellowship initiative coordinated by the University of Toulouse and a core component of the TIRIS initiative (Toulouse Initiative for Research Impact on Society).
It is co-funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe (MSCA-COFUND, Grant Agreement No. 101216810), and aims to strengthen the university’s international attractiveness by supporting researchers in mobility tackling major societal transitions.
AToUT aims to support high-level postdoctoral research in three strategic areas (thematic priorities of the TIRIS project) :
- Health and well-being: personalised medicine, healthy ageing, artificial intelligence and the social/environmental impact on health.
- Global changes and its impact on society: adapting to climate change, sustainable public policies and economic models, social transformation and technologies.
- Sustainable transitions: green energy, intelligent mobility, circular economy, innovative materials and responsible industrialisation.
With 140+ research units and strong academic/socio-economic partnerships, AToUT promotes excellence, interdisciplinarity, and international mobility.
Find out more about the 143 research laboratories and 16 international partners of the Toulouse Community of Universities: https://www.univ-toulouse.fr/guide-de-rechercheaires internationaux de la communautés d’établissements et d’universités de Toulouse : https://www.univ-toulouse.fr/guide-de-recherche
Scientific Scope
Postdoctoral projects must align with one of the following interdisciplinary themes of TIRIS:
- Understanding and promoting good health and well-being
- Understanding global changes and their impact on societies
- Accelerating sustainable transitions
AND be rooted within one of the disciplinary clusters of the University of Toulouse :
- BABS (Biology, Agronomy, Biotechnology, Health)
- DSPEG (Law, Political Science, Economics, Finance)
- H-SHS (Humanities and Social Sciences)
- MST2I (Mathematics, science and information technology and engineering)
- SDM (Chemistry, Matter Sciences)
- UPEE (Universe, planet, space, environment)
Applicants must identify at least one host research unit affiliated with AToUT, using :
Project leaders / Eligibility requirements
- Submit a full-time project not already funded by the EU
- Hold a PhD by the call deadline
- Comply with the MSCA mobility rule:
- Not have resided or worked in France >12 months in the 36 months before the deadline
- Not be permanently employed by the future host institution
- Ethical compliance (humans/animals, data protection, dual use, etc.) required; ethical self-assessment and authorisations where applicable.
- Amount and conditions
- Evaluation and selection criteria
- Calendar and contact
- Resources
- Application procedure
- Employment contract in France, 24 months, full-time, with social security.
- Competitive MSCA allowances (living expenses + mobility; family/child allowances where applicable) — minimum gross salary of €3,800.
- Career development plan, mentoring and tailored training (open science, research integrity/ethics, project management, communication and outreach, innovation/entrepreneurship).
- Access to state-of-the-art facilities and an extensive network of academic, public and private partners.
- Eligibility & ethical check by the executive team
The applicants will be informed of their eligibility (completeness, compliance, ethical issues) by e- mail after the call closure. Only eligible applicants will be evaluated at the 1st selection round.
- External peer review (Excellence, Impact, Implementation)
Each application will be evaluated by 2 international / independent experts. They will evaluate both the profile of the candidate and the research project. An independent Selection Committee will rank the applications. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for the 2nd selection round (interviews).
- Interview with interdisciplinary panel (communication, motivation, coherence)
The online interview will consist of a 10-minute presentation followed by a 15-minute discussion between the candidate and the Interview Evaluation Panel members composed of national and international experts.
- Funding Decision
The interview committee will formally approve the final list of selected candidates.
- Feedback & redress procedure
All candidates will be informed of the results and next steps by e-mail. Redress/appeal possibility is available at all stages of the procedure by contacting atout@univ-toulouse.fr
- Call opens: 3 November 2025
- Closing date: 28 February 2026
- Eligibility results: 13 March 2026
- Scientific pre-selection: 22 May 2026
- Interviews: 15–17 June 2026
- Final notification: 1 July 2026
- Application deadline: 28 February 2026
Contact
AToUT Coordination Team – Toulouse University
Email : atout@univ-toulouse.fr
Dedicated web page: https://tiris.univ-toulouse.fr/en/programs/atout/
Applications must be submitted exclusively via the AToUT online platform. Incomplete applications or those received after the deadline will not be considered.
Equal opportunities
AToUT is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. Applications from all backgrounds are encouraged.