Funding of Projects and Positions

Have you successfully completed your doctorate and would like to continue your academic career? Below you will find information on some funding for the implementation of your research project, which is specifically aimed at academics in early career phases. You can find further opportunities regardless of your career stage on our Funding and Advice pages.

National

DFG Walter Benjamin Programme

The Walter Benjamin Programme enables early career researchers to independently implement their own research project at the location of their choice following their doctorate.

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation - Research Fellowship

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes academic collaborations between excellent foreign and German researchers. Particularly distinguished postdoctoral researchers from abroad as guests can be hosted by researchers based in Germany. Information on the Humboldt Foundation's sponsorship programmes can be found here and on the Foundation's website.

Heisenberg Programme, DFG

The Heisenberg Programme is aimed at researchers who have obtained their eligibility for a professorship through the Emmy Noether Programme, DFG project positions, research activities in industryor mid-level academic positions. The Heisenberg Programme offers four options: Heisenberg position, Heisenberg rotation position, Heisenberg professorship, Heisenberg fellowship. Once you have been accepted into the Heisenberg Programme, you can choose between these variants and, if necessary, combine them over the course of the five-year funding period.

Programme Budget Research (Oldenburg)

The Presidential Board of the University of Oldenburg supports the acquisition of third-party funding with funds from the programme budget.

Start-up funding for junior research groups
Funding body: University of Oldenburg
Subject areas: none
Target group: two profiles: Profile 1 (Early Postdocs/Starters) and Profile 2 (Experienced Postdocs)
Funding period: max. 36 months
Financial framework: own position and material resources up to 5,000 euros for a maximum term of 36 months
Remuneration: TV-L 13
Special features: Applications possible 2x per year; open to applicants from Germany and abroad - funded applicants are hired in Oldenburg; declaration of the receiving institute is required.

Fritz Thyssen Foundation

The Fritz Thyssen Foundation promotes science at universities and non-profit research institutions, primarily in Germany. The postdoctoral fellowship is reserved for younger, post-doctoral researchers, usually within one to two years after completing their doctorate.

Leopoldina

The "Leopoldina Postdoc Fellowship" is awarded by the Leopoldina to outstanding postdoctoral researchers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland who are conducting research in the natural sciences and medicine up to 7 years after completing their doctorate. Researchers can carry out their independent research work at the most renowned research institutions in Germany or abroad.

Gerda Henkel Foundation

Scholars of the historical humanities can apply to the Gerda Henkel Foundation for a doctoral or research scholarship as well as other project related costs. Further information can be found on the website of the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Junior Research Group: Water Resources Research

With the Junior Research Group, the Kurt Eberhard Bode Foundation wants to promote interdisciplinary, practice-oriented research work at the interface between science and society. The aim is to develop integrative models for the sustainable use of water as a resource.

Funding Organisation: Kurt Eberhard Bode Foundation in the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany
Subject Areas: Sustainability, water
Eligible applicants: Postdocs
Funding period: up to 3 years
Financial framework : 160,000 euros
Special features: The funds can be used to finance postdocs and/or doctoral students as well as travel and material expenses. The junior research group must be established at a designated university or non-university research institute

Horizon Europe - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (incoming)

Researchers can apply for a Postdoctoral Fellowship up to 8 years after their doctorate. The research topic can be freely chosen; if approved, the project will be carried out at a host institution in a foreign country (outside Europe). The funding period for a European Fellowship is 12-24 months, for Global Fellowships 12-24 months plus a 12-month return phase.

DAAD P.R.I.M.E. (incoming)

The funding programme P.R.I.M.E. - Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience initiates and supports international mobility in the postdoctoral phase through temporary positions at German universities instead of traditional scholarships. The funding comprises a 12-month phase abroad and a six-month integration phase at a German higher education institution, where the funding recipients are employed as postdoctoral researchers for the entire funding period.

 

DAAD Research Grants (incoming)

The DAAD's research-related funding programme for post-doctoral researchers is broadly based and includes a wide range of research stays at foreign universities with the aim of promoting career paths and international research collaborations in the long term(scholarship database for stays abroad). Most of the DAAD's funding programmes for paths abroad are open to specific topics and disciplines, e.g.:

International

DFG Walter Benjamin Programme

The Walter Benjamin Programme enables academics in the qualification phase to independently implement their own research project at the location of their choice following their doctorate.

Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes academic collaborations between excellent foreign and German researchers. Particularly distinguished postdoctoral researchers from Germany can realise their research goals as guests of more than 30,000 Humboldtians worldwide, the Humboldt Foundation's alumni, via a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship. Information on the Humboldt Foundation's sponsorship programmes can be found here and on the Foundation's website.

Heisenberg Programme, DFG

The Heisenberg Programme is aimed at researchers who have obtained their eligibility for a professorship through the Emmy Noether Programme, DFG project positions, research activities in industryor mid-level academic positions. The Heisenberg Programme offers four options: Heisenberg position, Heisenberg rotation position, Heisenberg professorship, Heisenberg fellowship. Once you have been accepted into the Heisenberg Programme, you can choose between these variants and, if necessary, combine them over the course of the five-year funding period.

Leopoldina

The "Leopoldina Postdoc Fellowship" is awarded by the Leopoldina to outstanding postdoctoral researchers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland who are conducting research in the natural sciences and medicine up to 7 years after completing their doctorate. Researchers can carry out their independent research work at the most renowned research institutions in Germany or abroad.

Horizon Europe - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (with return option)

Researchers can apply for a Postdoctoral Fellowship up to 8 years after their doctorate. The research topic can be freely chosen; if approved, the project will be carried out at a host institution in a foreign country (outside Europe). The funding period for a European Fellowship is 12-24 months, for Global Fellowships 12-24 months plus a 12-month return phase.

DAAD P.R.I.M.E. (with return option)

The funding programme P.R.I.M.E. - Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience initiates and supports international mobility in the postdoctoral phase through temporary positions at German universities instead of traditional scholarships. The funding comprises a 12-month phase abroad and a six-month integration phase at a German higher education institution, where the funding recipients are employed as postdoctoral researchers for the entire funding period.

 

DAAD Research Grants

The DAAD's research-related funding programme for post-doctoral researchers is broadly based and includes a wide range of research stays at foreign universities with the aim of sustainably promoting career paths and international research collaborations(scholarship database for stays abroad). Most of the DAAD's funding programmes for paths abroad are open to specific topics and disciplines, e.g.:

Gerda Henkel Foundation

Scholars of the historical humanities can apply to the Gerda Henkel Foundation for a doctoral or research scholarship as well as funding in kind. Further information can be found on the website of the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

German Cancer Aid

The Mildred Scheel Fellowship Programme offers postdoctoral researchers in medicine and the natural sciences the opportunity to carry out projects in the field of clinic-related basic oncological research at institutes abroad.

German-American Fulbright Commission (USA)

The Fulbright Commission offers young academics several programmes for a research or teaching stay at universities in the USA. More detailed information can be found here and on the pages of the Fulbright Commission.

Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellowship (Israel)

The Azrieli International Postdoctoral Foundation Fellowship provides funding for eligible applicants to conduct research in all academic disciplines at recognised institutions in Israel.

Minerva Fellowship (Israel)

Minerva Fellowships serve not only to promote research, but also to strengthen cultural and scientific exchange between Germany and Israel. Young researchers (doctoral candidates and postdocs) are given the opportunity to further their academic qualifications while conducting a research project at their host institution in Israel or Germany. Since the programme began in 1973, more than 1700 Minerva scholarships have been awarded to German and Israeli researchers.

 

(Changed: 19 Jan 2024)  | 
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