Call for application for ECDC Fellowship Programme EPIET and EUPHEM paths, EU-track, Cohort 2027

The ECDC Fellowship Programme has the following programme objectives:

• To contribute to strengthening the prevention, preparedness, surveillance and control of infectious diseases and other cross-border health threats or issues of public health concern in the EU/EEA Member States and at EU level, supporting the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371
• To contribute to enhancing response capacities for effective field investigation and communicable disease control at European, national and community level to meet public health threats, in particular for the EU response to cross-bored threats to health
• To contribute to strengthening the European and global network of public health professionals through the use of state-of-the-art, shared standards and methods, good practices and common public health objectives
• To contribute to knowledge transfers and capacity building within and between Member States
• To facilitate innovative inter-disciplinary and multi-sector cooperation and communication to achieve the above objectives while adjusting to emerging needs
• To contribute to the reduction of disparity across Europe in the prevention, preparedness, surveillance and control of communicable diseases

Training and practical experience are provided in two paths:

• Field epidemiology path (EPIET): in intervention epidemiology at the national and regional centres for surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the European Union.
• Public health microbiology path (EUPHEM): in laboratories with public health functions or training sites with a consortium of different laboratories in Europe.

Who can apply?

In order to be eligible for the ECDC Fellowship Programme, candidates for both paths need to fulfil the following set of formal requirements:

• Have a thorough knowledge (minimum B2) of at least two official languages of the EU/EEA, one of which shall be English.
• Be a national of a Member State of the EU/EEA.
• Be entitled to her or his full rights as a citizen.

In addition, depending on the path they apply for, candidates need to fulfil the following formal requirements: 

Eligibility requirements for EPIET path

1. Masters’ degree or equivalent  in medicine, public health, epidemiology, veterinary medicine, nursing, biology, microbiology, pharmacology, biomedicine, bioinformatics or other health and social sciences; 
2. 2. At least two (2) years of work experience in public health or applied epidemiology following the completion of the master’s degree or equivalent. 

Eligibility requirements for EUPHEM path

1. Masters’ degree or equivalent  in medicine, biology, microbiology, veterinary medicine, nursing, pharmacology, bioinformatics, or biomedicine; 

2. At least three (3) years of work experience in microbiology following the completion of the - Master’s degree or equivalent; or a PhD 4 degree in microbiology or an equivalent discipline (e.g. clinical microbiology specialisation, veterinary medicine specialisations, or a specialisation in any microbiology field). 

   Time invested towards a master’s degree does not count as work experience. 

Please note that only diplomas and certificates awarded in Member States of the EU/EEA, or equivalent certificates issued by authorities in an EU Member State shall be considered. UK degrees awarded prior to 31 January 2020 are accepted. After this date, the candidates must provide the EU equivalence certificate of the degrees, this also applies to degrees delivered in non-EU/EEA Countries. 

Please refer to the below 'Call for Applications' for key rules regarding what ECDC considers as relevant work experience and full list and detailed eligibility requirements. 

The selection process is described in the Administrative Decision on 'Rules governing the EU-track of the ECDC Fellowship Programme, field epidemiology path (EPIET) and public health microbiology path (EUPHEM)’

Apply

The deadline for the submission of applications is 26 October 2026, at 24.00 CET.

More information

Candidates can contact the Fellowship Faculty Office (FFO) at ecdc [dot] epietfellowecdc [dot] europa [dot] eu (ecdc[dot]epietfellow[at]ecdc[dot]europa[dot]eu) for further information regarding the training programme.

The training sites' contact information is available here. The Coordination team may be available to offer additional information.

Candidates are strongly encouraged to contact supervisors and current fellows through the training sites, as well as the EPIET alumni  network for further information.

Selection Timeline 

(*) Please note, these dates are subject to change.