The Palestine Academy for Science and Technology (PALAST) and the Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) are pleased to announce that three stipends for Postdoctoral Fellows in the PGSB Returners Program were awarded in 2023; namely Ghadeer Derbas, Ahlam Issa & Sufyan Shehada. The Returners Program is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is open for PGSB PhD alumni who are interested in joining the research clusters, as part of the scientific collaboration between researchers in FZJ and their counterparts in Palestine. 

The purpose of the program is thus to contribute to knowledge transfer and provide a first step toward reintegrating the Fellow as a faculty member at a Palestinian university. 

By agreeing to host and cooperate with the Fellows, for example by allowing them to supervise BSc. & MSc. Thesis, providing lab space, or making a job offer on the successful completion of the Postdoctoral Fellowship, Palestinian Universities have the opportunity to recruit a highly-skilled young researcher who can make a positive contribution to the teaching and research output of the university. 

The candidates presented their proposal project via Videoconference and were successfully interviewed by the joint Palestinian –German advisory committee. They were evaluated on the criteria of scientific excellence, strength of research proposal and demonstration of plans for knowledge transfer. 

We congratulate all accepted Fellows and look forward to supporting them in their efforts in the next years. 

Explore Postdoc acceptance within the Returners Program