Research Funding
Further links
Proposal Preparation
DFG - German Research Foundation - Funding Acknowledgements
DFG - Portal for Research Data Management
DFG - Gender and Diversity in Research
Research Funding
BMWE - Funding Database (Federal Government, Federal States, EU)
DFG - Portal for Research Funding
EU - Portal for Research Funding
Other information
Research Funding
The School VI Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Oldenburg offers various intramural research funding programmes to support the research activities of its members.
Research pool
The aim of the „Forschungspool” funding is to establish scientific profile areas and competitive clinical research at the UMO.
Funding is provided in particular for projects that promote collaboration with the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) and/or interfaculty cooperation.
Proposals can be submitted to the Dean's Office of School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences (e-mail: by 31 March and 31 October of each year on the template provided.
Funding is provided for material resources totalling 20,000 euros for a maximum period of 12 months. In explicitly justified individual cases, material funding of up to 40,000 euros for a maximum period of 24 months can be funded.
Project proposals must be submitted as a Word file and as a signed PDF document including all required attachments as one coherent PDF document.
The decision is made by the Research Committee together with the Dean's Office of School VI.
Proposals that do not meet the formal requirements will be rejected without review.
A formal preliminary review of the proposal is possible; please make an appointment for this at least three weeks before the submission deadline.
Contact persons for queries and the preliminary review of applications are the research officers:
Necessary documents:
Hermine Heusler-Edenhuizen Prize
Hermine Heusler-Edenhuizen was a pioneering figure in the history of medicine in Germany. She was born in Germany in 1872 and was the first woman to gain a doctorate at a German university and set up as a doctor.
In her own gynaecological practice in Berlin, Heusler-Edenhuizen dedicated her life to improving care for women and children. She was firmly committed to women's rights, in particular against the criminalisation of abortion, and thus managed to make an important contribution to medical science as a woman in a male-dominated field. Heusler-Edenhuizen was also co-founder and Chair of the Association of German Women Doctors and contributed to the development of socio-hygienic legislation and support for young female doctors. In doing so, she paved the way for future female doctors and changed the face of medicine for good. She died in 1955, leaving behind a legacy that is still of great importance today.
School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences has been awarding the"Hermine Heusler-Edenhuizen Prize" every semester since the 2018 winter semester. This prize honours an outstanding publication by one or more members/affiliates of the UMO from the previous year.
In order to be able to better compare scientific work from different career phases, the prize is linked to early or advanced career phases.
- Scientists in the early career phases (up to a maximum of 3 years after their doctorate or licence to practise medicine) can apply for the Hermine Heusler-Edenhuizen Prize with their own publication from the previous year by 28 February of each year.
- Scientists in advanced career phases (up to habilitation) can apply for the Hermine Heusler-Edenhuizen Prize with their publication from the previous year by 31 July of each year.
The decision is made by the Research Commission together with the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the University Medicine Northwest.
Please send applications by email to the School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences:
Application information
Requirements
- High-quality publication that has appeared in a scientific journal with a peer-review system
- Publication from the previous calendar year(printed or ePub ahead of print), i.e. January - December of the respective previous year.
- The first author must be a member of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Oldenburg or the cooperating hospitals and a junior researcher (i.e. below a completed habilitation) at the time the scientific work presented in the submitted publication was carried out.
- Last author should also be a member or affiliate of the School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Oldenburg or the Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen (UMCG ). In the case of larger, collaborative projects, the last author may also come from another institution.
Selection criteria (assessed by the research committee)
- Scientific quality of the submitted publication
- Your summary of the background, research question and significance of the publication
- Extent of interdisciplinary collaboration within the School and/or Groningen
- In case of equal evaluation, the prize will be awarded preferentially to women
Documents to be submitted
1. a PDF of the publication
2. a completed application form application form
Profile initiatives
The profile initiatives are designed to develop and utilise the potential for patient-centred research, translational research and knowledge transfer that exists within the healthcare provision at the site, and to generate added value for university medical research by pooling and networking relevant activities. By fostering collaboration between various
activities and stakeholders, they strengthen the commitment to the further development of university healthcare in conjunction with a shared (translational) research profile. This generates added value in both areas. Profile initiatives are also intended to achieve better integration of patients into research projects and clinical trials, including through the establishment of the necessary data infrastructures.
They represent a preliminary stage towards university medical centres.
Members of university departments are eligible to apply. The minimum size of a profile initiative is six principal investigators (PIs), five of whom must be professors, plus at least one non-professorial representative holding a PhD. Membership is restricted to professors and researchers holding a PhD at career levels R1–R4. Staff with a PhD from non-university clinics who are essential to patient care in the relevant field may participate in the profile initiative as associate members.
As start-up funding, the Faculty will provide a budget of up to 100,000 per year for a Profile Initiative, subject to application, for a period of three years, to cover coordination and networking. In addition, 0.6 FTE will be allocated for a Junior Clinician Scientist Programme.
Applications may be submitted in electronic form as a single PDF file by 15 October 2026 to the following email address: . Funding decisions will be announced in January 2027.
The research officers are the points of contact for any enquiries:
Documents:
PI Cluster
The PI Clusters timely limited research fundings as part of the "Struktur- und Entwicklungsplan (StEP) and are designed to support innovative, clinically focused research consortia. The aim of this call for proposals is to develop forward-looking research consortia with strong prospects for securing external funding, as well as to strategically advance cross-departmental collaboration in line with the StEP development objectives.
This funding scheme is intended in particular to:
- the development of clinically oriented basic research without direct access to patients,
- the preparation of scientific centres or larger third-party-funded consortia,
- as a preliminary step towards establishing a university medical centre, provided that the relevant criteria appear achievable within one year,
- and to prepare for a future profile initiative.
Funding is available for collaborative projects with a clear medical focus that address topics from the faculty’s key research areas and, in particular, the areas of potential identified in StEP. The maximum grant amount is €100,000 for a maximum of 12 months, with the maximum funding per principal investigator (PI) set at €20,000.
Eligible applicants are intra-faculty consortia comprising:
- at least two Principal Investigators (PIs) from the Department of Human Medicine (DHM),
- as well as at least one further PI from Faculty VI outside the DHM.
- The majority of PIs should be university lecturers. The involvement of early-career researchers who have a competitive profile for external funding is expressly encouraged.
Applications may be submitted in electronic form as a single PDF file by 31 October 2026 to the following email address: .
The research officers are the points of contact for any enquiries:
Documents
Micro Seeds
The Micro Seeds are timely limited research fundings as part of the "Struktur- und Entwicklungsplan (StEP) and designed to support intrafaculty research projects led by researchers at both early and established stages of their careers. In particular, the funding scheme serves to:
- to initiate new, scientific collaborations, either internally or externally (benefiting the centre’s research priorities and areas of potential)
- to help postdoctoral researchers develop their academic profiles
- to establish sustainable research structures
- and to prepare further applications for third-party funding and strategic research initiatives
The following are explicitly not eligible for funding:
- publication costs
- Conference attendance
- Applications based exclusively on cooperation with industrial partners.
Funding is only available if at least one cooperation partner is from an academic institution. For projects involving both academic and industrial partners, the application must clearly demonstrate the specific added value of the industrial collaboration for the UMO mission, the strategic research fields of the faculty, and the promotion of sustainable, locally embedded research structures.
In the case of planned visiting stays, the application must clearly set out the specific added value that the stay offers to the host institution. In particular, the application must describe how the skills, methods or collaborations acquired at the host institution will contribute to the further development of the faculty’s research priorities and areas of potential (as listed in the template) and how they will be sustainably integrated into the local research structure.
Postdoctoral researchers at the faculty are eligible to apply. Funding of up to €5,000 for a duration of up to 12 months may be requested.
Applications may be submitted at any time from July 2026 in electronic form as a single PDF file to the following email address: . The Vice-Dean for Research and the Vice-Dean’s Office will decide on the award of funding. A decision will be made within approximately two weeks of receipt of the application.
The research officers are the points of contact for any enquiries:
Documents
Hanse-Wissenschafts-Kolleg
The University of Oldenburg cooperates closely with the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) in nearby Delmenhorst. As an independent Institute for Advanced Study, the college promotes disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration between internationally recognised researchers and young academics by offering visiting researchers (fellows) the opportunity to concentrate on a research project or an academic project for a certain period of time, free from academic obligations. Many of the fellows cooperate with colleagues worldwide as well as with universities and research institutions in the region. Further information on the HWK's general funding opportunities can be found here.
Joint Fellowship of the HWK and University Medicine Oldenburg
The University Medicine Oldenburg and the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg offer two joint fellowships each year. The programme is aimed at scientists from the fields of medicine and health sciences.
Funding for researchers in early career phases
Doctorate
School VI Medicine and Health Sciences offers doctoral programmes in medicine, health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, each of which is governed by its own doctoral degree regulations.
The School supports MD/PhD programmes in close cooperation with the UMC Groningen, as well as doctors who wish to complete a doctorate in line with their studies in the Dr. med. doctoral funding programme of University Medicine Oldenburg
Post-Doc
School VI supports doctors with an interest in science through the (Junior) Clinician Scientist Programme, as well as scientists with a research focus in medicine through the Medical Scientist Programme.
Research funding from the university
Proposals can currently be submitted via the Presidential Board's programme budget for start-up funding for junior research groups and for funding to recruit your own position.
Funding for various research projects can be applied for from external national and international funding organisations. You can find a list of these funding organisations here
For application advice and support, please contact the research advisors at School VI.
Research officers
The School VI Research Officers act as the first point of contact for School VI researchers in the planning and implementation of their research projects, both intramural and extramural. The aim is to optimise the quality and impact of research and to give researchers the space they need to develop their full creative and scientific potential.
The Medical Research Officers work in close collaboration with their colleagues in the Department for Research and Technology Transfer.
The range of tasks includes
- Proposal advice: with extensive expertise in the area of research funding proposals, the research officers help researchers to identify the most suitable source of funding and provide support from the initial outline to the final submission of the proposal.
- Advice on funding project ideas: All research begins with an idea. In order to turn ideas into concrete project proposals, the advisors look for suitable funding opportunities so that the innovative research projects of UMO researchers receive the appropriate support.
- Coordination of intramural funding programmes: Ms Punnamoottil and Ms Lange are responsible for coordinating the School VI's internal funding programmes, as well as organising the UMO Research Highlights. From managing calls for proposals to supporting committees in decision-making, the officers ensure that these programmes run smoothly.