There are two types of Fellowship Programme at CERN:

• The Senior Fellowship Programme, addressed to people with a Ph.D. or at least four years of experience after the degree which gives access to doctoral programmes. In both cases, a maximum of ten years of experience after the degree which gives access to doctoral programmes applies.
• The Junior Fellowship Programme, for holders of at least a Technical Engineer degree (or equivalent) and at most a M.Sc. degree (or equivalent) with not more than 4 years of experience.

For candidates who have obtained a diploma entitling them to commence doctoral studies in the country in which the diploma was obtained, experience is defined as the number of full years of research and/or relevant professional experience, starting from this degree and up to the date of the relevant selection committee.


Research fellows in experimental or theoretical physics normally have terminated their studies for a doctorate (PhD or equivalent), leading to a Senior Fellow appointment. They have a free choice of the research topic that they wish to study.

Fellowships in applied science, computing and engineering are open to recent graduates at Bachelor level and above, leading to either a Junior or a Senior Fellowship depending on the qualifications and experience of the individual. Applied science Fellows are assigned to a project determined in advance.

Fellowships are granted for one year initially and are normally extended for a second year. Extensions for part or all of a third year are granted only in exceptional circumstances.


All applications for Fellowships are considered by the Fellows and Associates Committee (AFC) which meets twice per year, usually in May and November. Successful applicants will be offered appointments which normally begin within six months of the meeting.

https://ert.cern.ch/browse_www/wd_pds?p_web_site_id=1&p_web_page_id=7068&p_no_apply=&p_show=N