The SIPOD (Structured International Post Doc Program) is designed to attract excellent scientists and to boost their career as post-doctoral fellows towards becoming successful and independent group leaders. SIPOD aims to foster the incoming trans-national mobility and the reintegration of fellows. In the proposed program the Scuola Europea di Medicina Molecolare (SEMM) operated in conjunction with three major Research Centers in Lombardy: IEO (Istituto Europeo di Oncologia), FHR (Foundation Humanitas Research) and IFOM (Istituto Firc di Oncologia Molecolare).SIPOD is characterized by:1. Trans-national mobility and re-integration of fellows.2. Freedom of choice for the fellows to select the research topic and destination within the receiving Host Institutions.3. Possibility to conduct interdisciplinary research project, where fellows will have the opportunity to have joint positions on shared projects with group leaders (at least two) working in different disciplines.3. Equal Opportunities for men and women, and consideration of career breaks.4. Higher education program based on five training activities: Patenting, Tech transfer and Licensing; Grants scouting, writing and management; Team leading and Group organization; Translational Research and Clinical Trials; Ethical issues in science.This program stems from internal and external post-doctoral surveys indicating that at present the career transition from postdoctoral fellow to group leader (independent investigator) is not supported by an adequate training/educational support. SIPOD is designed to fill this gap.SEMM launched in 2009 its first Structured International Post doc program (SIPOD) under the FP7-PEOPLE- 2007-COFUND scheme. The success of SIPOD has prompted us to propose a new application that remains financially completely separated from the first one but that constitutes continuity for our post-doctoral program to strengthen its international recognition.