Academic events taking place in Lower Saxony with topics of special academic relevance are addressed within the framework of the programme PRO*Niedersachsen. More information on the call for and process of presenting proposals for scientific events can be found on the MWK website.

• Link to the call for proposals

PRO*Niedersachsen also includes research projects in the humanities, cultural studies and social sciences. Preferably based on research anchored in Lower Saxony, these projects develop issues of nationwide academic interest. More information on the call for and process of presenting proposals can be found on the MWK website.

Link to the call for proposals

Supporting of doctoral programmes in the framework of outstanding research priorities by awarding scholarships.

"Discourses on the Future" are intended to provide academic discourse and reflection and allow the public to participate in this as continuously as possible. The program is aimed at the humanities, social sciences and cultural studies. The aim is to enable social reflection on the current state of research. The funded projects do not primarily serve to gain scientific knowledge, but rather to make concrete contributions to the public debate.

Link for further information (in german)

The Ministry of Science and Culture of the State of Lower Saxony (MWK) would like to promote the participation of Lower Saxony's universities in EU funding programmes and supports projects that prepare a proposal for an EU programme or increase the visibility of Lower Saxony's universities in Brussels.

You can find further information on the call for proposals and application of projects in the "Europa-Programm" on the MWK website (in German only).

Link to the call for proposals

Science and research thrive on the cross-border exchange of ideas and findings. The aim of promoting European and international cooperation is to strengthen Lower Saxony as a science location in three funding areas.

Link for further information.

The Lower Saxony - Scotland Tandem Fellowship Programme is a programme for post-doctoral researchers to conduct research in a cross-national exchange at higher education institutions between Lower Saxony and Scotland.  

It is an initiative to strengthen cooperation between the universities of Lower Saxony and Scotland. This includes the promotion of internationalisation and competence building, a contribution to cross-border European cooperation in science and research, the promotion of both regions as generators of excellent research in the European environment and the deepening of institutional linkages between universities of both regions.

The programme is funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK) and is supported by accompanying functions.

For more information, see the website of the European Centre for Advanced Studies.

Scientists who pass the European Research Council's (ERC) highly competitive selection process have demonstrated their excellence. However, due to the ERC's limited budget, not all of them automatically receive an ERC grant - i.e. an EU-funded grant for basic research. The ERC offers these candidates the opportunity to re-apply in the next application rounds.

This is where the program "Stay Inspired: European excellence for Lower Saxony" comes in. The program is designed for applicants for a Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant or Advanced Grant. It makes use of the high-caliber peer review of the ERC experts. All applications whose excellence has been confirmed by the ERC, i.e. which have been rated A in the second review stage but do not receive funding from the ERC, are eligible for funding.

In addition, to promote young researchers, the "Stay Inspired" program is open for Starting Grant applicants if their high quality has been confirmed by the ERC, i.e. if they have reached the second review stage and have been rated B.

Eligible applicants can receive funding for up to two years. Up to 200,000 euros per year are available to applicants, so that a maximum of up to 400,000 euros can be funded over two years per application.

Link for further information