Organisation / Company CEU San Pablo University Department Faculty of Medicine Laboratory Ageing Is the Hosting related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

USP‑CEU invites excellent postdoctoral researchers interested in applying for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA‑PF 2026) . The University CEU holds the HR Excellence in Research (HRS4R) Award and is strongly committed to attracting and supporting international research talent.

USP‑CEU is a competitive and supportive host institution for MSCA‑PF candidates, with a strong track record including 10 awarded fellowships , an exceptional 100/100 score , and two recent successes in the MSCA‑PF 2025 call . We offer personalised guidance throughout the proposal preparation process, as well as our International Talent Retention Programme , which provides successful MSCA Fellows with an additional 6-12-month contract to support long‑term career development.

Hosting Research Group

The Ageing & Wellbeing Lab brings together researchers specialized in the field of Psychology of Ageing. The group maintains active collaboration with a wide range of national and international research teams, contributing to a multidisciplinary and international research environment.

Through different lines of research, our group analyses the older people`s psychological strengths and weaknesses, their families and the professionals linked to their care. This research is based on the development of assessment protocols with psychometric quality and on the design, application and evaluation of effective intervention programs. Our goal is to deepen our understanding of psychological reactions in old age (from the development of disorders to the consolidation of positive aspects).

Our current research interests focus on the area of personal and social strengths in older adults. We are also interested in the influence of intergenerational relationships.

Grants (R&D; projects funded through competitive calls from public or private entities):

- Promotion of good practices in dealing with the elderly in institutions. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (PSI -R). Start-End date: 01/01/2017 - 31/09/2021 Duration:



4 ½ years.
- Strengths of people in confinement by COVID-19. Longitudinal and cross-cultural study. -Banco Santander (ORACLE: MCOV20V3). Start-End date: 11/09/ /03/2022 Duration: 1 ½ years.
- Values and virtues of grandparents who take care of their grandchildren as protective factors for health and psychological well‑being) Universidad San Pablo-CEU (CEU-SANTANDER 4/2020). Start-End date: 3/11/2020-3/11/2022 Duration: 2 years .

Prof. Dr. Javier López Martínez holds a PhD in Psychology from Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), where he was awarded the Extraordinary Doctorate Prize, and is a Full Professor of Psychology. He received the IMSERSO "Infanta Cristina" Award for his research contributions.

His main research interests include assessment and intervention with caregivers of older adults and people with serious illnesses, intergenerational relationships, and the interaction between psychology, religion and spirituality. He has undertaken research stays at Penn State University (USA) and Victoria University (Canada), and has served as Visiting Professor at universities in Peru and Venezuela.

He is a member of the Leadership Team of the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG), serves on the Technical Forum Advisory Committee, and holds the position of Edith Stein Professor at CITES.

Relevant publications and projects:

- Perez-Rojo, G., Lopez, J., Sánchez-Cabaco, A., Noriega, C., Bonete-López, B., & Sitges, E. (2025). Gratitude and Related Variables Among Older Adults for the Six Wave of COVID-19: The Relevance of Family Functioning and Purpose in Life. SAGE Open, 15(3). (Original work published 2025)
- Lopez, J., Perez-Rojo, G., Noriega, C., Sánchez-Cabaco, A., Sitges, E., & Bonete, B. (2024). Quality-of-life in older adults:



its association with emotional distress and psychological wellbeing. BMC geriatrics, 24(1), 815.
- Galarraga, L., Noriega, C., Pérez-Rojo, G., & López, J. (2024). Emotional competences as predictors of psychological wellbeing and quality of life of supplementary grandparents caregivers. Frontiers in psychology, 15, .

Research Project Description

New technologies (Artificial Intelligence, E-health, Virtual Reality, M-Health, Mobile Phone Applications…) and older adultsadults' strengths. This research theme aims to further develop older adultsadult's positive psychology developing new technologies. In particular the focus in on empirical studies of what are new technologies applied to older adults strengths design research questions, theories, methods, and topics. Example topics are older adults mobile phone applications, M-Health, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and E-Health. Postdoctoral researchers may select one of these topics to develop in close collaboration with the supervisor.

The objective of the research focuses on the application of new technologies for the management of older adults and its application with the purpose of assessing and improving the older adults' strengths and the successful ageing.

Candidate experience and profile:

P ostdoctoral candidates of any nationality (max. 8 years after defense) with a background in New Technologies applied to Psychology and a strong interest in older adults' psychology.

We are particularly interested in applicants with strong skills in new technologies design and development.

Candidates are expected to have proven ability to produce high-quality research and write academic texts in English suitable for publication in high-impact peer-reviewed journals.

For MSCA‑PF 26 call, at the deadline for the submission of proposals (09/09/2026) candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activities in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the above mentioned deadline.

Keywords: Older adults, Positive Psychology, Strengths, Good Care, Successful aging

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📌 Postdoc in Tech for Older Adults’ Strengths (España)
🏢 Ceu San Pablo University
📍 España