Scientific Visitors (with PhD)

PDO is responsible for the onboarding of all Scientific Visitors who hold a PhD.

Scientific Visitors of all ranks are normally scientists whose primary affiliation is with a university, another scientific institution, or a company. They may give lectures or courses, receive training, collaborate on research projects, and/or perform independent research.

Scientific Visitors are classified as Visiting Scientists, Academic Visitors, Visiting Professors, Visiting Students, External Users and Guests.

The onboarding of all Scientific Visitors must start at least 2 months before their arrival at ISTA.

PLEASE NOTE (!): no travel/accommodation reimbursement is possible for Scientific Visitors without employment contract, with the only exception of Guests staying up to 10 days.

Types of Scientific Visitors

Scientific Visitors with employment

Postdoctoral Visiting Scientists

Postdoctoral Visiting Scientist contracts are given to PhD-holding Visiting Scientists at ISTA whose primary affiliation is with another institution and will spend a short period of time at ISTA, most likely while on leave or sabbatical. This contract type is intended for senior scientists from other institutions or companies but who have not been granted the title of Visiting Professor.

The initial employment contract can be at most 12 months. In exceptional cases the contract of a Postdoctoral Visiting Scientist can be extended up to a total of 18 months of employment.

Any external compensation (either salary from home institution or fellowship) must be communicated to Academic Affairs, Human Resources and the Grant Office. In the event of an external fellowship/grant, the Grant Office and Academic Affairs will review the case in coordination with Human Resources in order to determine the appropriate way to proceed with the contract.

PLEASE NOTE (!): Scientific Visitors who are already employed and/or receive funding from home institution or third party are not allowed to be employed at ISTA. They can either request unpaid leave and/or pause of the grant/fellowship payment. Those who are unable to do so, they must come as Academic Visitors – please see Academic Visitors for more info.

Visiting Professors

Experienced scientists, such as tenured or tenure-track professors or equivalent senior scientists at the level of principal investigator at other institutions, may be designated as Visiting Professors when they visit ISTA for an extended period. The title is awarded by the chair of the Visiting Professor Committee.

The Visiting Professor Committee evaluates:

  • Whether the title of Visiting Professor is granted
  • If the visit is of sufficient general interest for ISTA, thereby warranting full or partial salary coverage through ISTA’s central funding, subject to budget availability

There are two application calls annually, with deadlines in Spring and Fall.

Applications should be submitted by the Host to the Postdoctoral Office, who forward them to the Visiting Scientist Committee members for review. The committee meets approximately 2 weeks after the submission deadline to evaluate applications.

Required application materials from Visiting Professor candidates are:

  1. A short motivation letter
  2. CV and list of publications
  3. An overview of the visitor’s regular salary from their home institution and any remuneration from their home institution or external funding during the time they plan on spending at ISTA. Any consumables and other costs required at ISTA should be listed.

During their stay, Visiting Professors may receive remuneration from ISTA, which determines the type of contract. Visiting Professors can either have an employment contract with ISTA for a limited time period or may stay at ISTA as an Academic Visitor if an employment is not possible.


The stay of Visiting Professors can be covered by the Host’s budget and group resources, and/or, in cases where the visit is in the general interest of the Institute the costs can be covered by the Visiting Professor Budget of the Institute.


They are typically on temporary leave or sabbatical (paid or unpaid) from their home institution, which remains their primary affiliation. The minimum length of the stay for a visitor to be eligible to apply is 1 month and the maximum length of stay is usually 12 months.


The actual remuneration is determined in each case individually. If employed, the salary of a Visiting Professor takes into account their remuneration from their home institution(s), external funding, and the availability of funding from ISTA. The Visiting Professor’s total professional income should be comparable to the remuneration offered to similar scientists at the Institute.

Each Visiting Professor is affiliated with one or more research groups for administrative purposes.

Travel expenses (airline or train tickets) to and from ISTA can be reimbursed only if the visitor receives an employment contract and upon submission of receipts, boarding passes and signed travel reimbursement forms according to ISTA travel rules.

If the Visiting Professor does not receive an employment contract, then no reimbursements or payments of any kind can be made.

Visiting Professors may be provided with (shared) office and/or lab space. They can have access to the IT-network and other resources if approved by the Host Professor and subject to availability. Accommodation in ISTA’s guesthouse can be offered at employee rates, charged to the visitor. The same applies to the costs at the ISTA restaurant. Accommodation in ISTA’s apartments is only available if the visitor receives an employment contract

Scientific Visitors without employment

Academic Visitors

Academic Visitors are scientific visitors who stay at the Institute for more than 10 days (up to max of 6 months) but have no employment contract with ISTA. They normally have an employment contract with another institution and/or own funding.

Academic Visitors receive no contract but must still sign the “Form for Academic Visitors” agreeing to ISTA’s Intellectual Property rules and Rules for Good Scientific Practice.

PLEASE NOTE (!): ISTA does not provide VISA application support for Scientific Visitors without employment. Prospective Academic Visitors must arrange their own VISA application process.