With the "Lower Saxony Professorship" funding program, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) and the Volkswagen Foundation support Lower Saxony's universities in approaching and attracting leading academics directly.

Deadline: December 31, 2025

Addressees: excellent, internationally recognised scientists

The Walter Benjamin Programme enables researchers in the postdoctoral training phase to independently conduct their own research project at a location of their choice.

Deadline: December 31, 2025

Addressees: Postdocs

The Emmy Noether Programme gives exceptionally qualified early career researchers the chance to qualify for the post of professor at a university by leading an independent junior research group for a period of six years.

Deadline: December 31, 2025

Addressees: postdocs and junior professors

The Heisenberg Programme is directed primarily at those researchers who have qualified for professorship via the Emmy Noether Programme, leadership of a junior research group, DFG project staff positions, private-sector research or mid-level faculty positions. The target group also includes junior professors who have received positive evaluations, those who have achieved their habilitation or an equivalent qualification, and German researchers returning from abroad, as well as appropriately qualified foreign researchers (who have not yet achieved a full professorship) looking to pursue careers in Germany.

Deadline: December 31, 2025

Addressees: Researchers in all disciplines who have qualified for a professorship

Interdisciplinary research is often particularly challenging and requires special efforts at newly emerging interfaces. In order to create an additional opportunity for interdisciplinary research and to make the achievements of scientists who conduct research at scientific boundaries more visible, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) launches an open call under the Reinhart Koselleck programme. The aim is to enable outstanding researchers with a proven scientific track record to pursue exceptionally interdisciplinary and innovative projects.

Deadline: December 31, 2025

Addressees: Scientists with interdisciplinary projects

The "Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship" addresses academics approaching the end of their early career phase up to a maximum of ten years after completing their doctorate. It is intended to support universities in the state of Lower Saxony in their efforts to attract and retain early career researchers – thereby consolidating Lower Saxony as a science location.
The program addresses academics approaching the end of the early career phase up to a maximum of ten years after completing their doctorate. The funding is intended to increase their promising career potential in terms of disciplinary expertise as well as their capacity to shape research profiles and structures. In this light, it seeks to boost their potential for future leadership roles ("rising stars").

Deadline: June 1, 2025

Addressees: high-performing academics whose doctorate was awarded up to 10 years ago

Here, 'momentum' is meant as an impulse to keep something moving or developing dynamically after it has started. In this sense, the initiative addresses academics at an early stage following the appointment to their first tenured professorship. The goal is to open up opportunities in this phase of their career to advance the content and strategic development of their professorship.

Deadline: April 28, 2025

Second deadline: April 21, 2026

Addressees: professors three to five years after taking up their first tenured professorship at a university

We need changes in our society and existing structures to overcome the multitude of crises we are facing today. Science is expected to uncover planetary boundaries and vulnerabilities, research fact-based options for action and help to find solutions. Thus, the Volkswagen Foundation is looking for personalities from science who are jointly with non-academic partners researching transformation processes.

Deadline: April 1, 2025

Addressees: researchers who gained their docotoral degree at least two years ago

Through "Scoping workshops", the foundation intends to encourage a reflection and further development of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research areas and communities. Through this funding, researchers are given the opportunity to jointly assess the current status of their field of research and, on this basis, to work out perspectives for its further development.

Deadline: April 1, 2025

Addressees: researchers at German universities and research institutions, possibly international co-applicants

The cooperation of Israeli and Lower Saxon universities and research institutions has a long history. With the funding program "Research Cooperations Lower Saxony – Israel", which funds excellent collaborative research projects, the Ministry of Research and Culture in Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation support this partnership.

Deadline: March 31, 2025

Addressees: research cooperations between researchers from Lower Saxony and Israel

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft’s Tenure Track Pro­fes­sor­ship program sup­ports German uni­ver­si­ties in ap­poin­ting and on­boar­ding in­ter­na­tio­nal talents for tenure track po­si­ti­ons by funding the first years of the pro­fes­sor­ship.

Deadline: March 31, 2025

Second deadline: September 30, 2025

Addressees: out­stan­ding re­se­ar­chers from abroad

Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft’s Tenure Track Professorship program supports German universities in appointing and onboarding international talents for tenure track positions by funding the first years of the professorship.

Deadline: March 31, 2025

Second deadline: September 30, 2025

Addressees: outstanding researchers from abroad

With its Plus 3 funding programme, the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation aims to support outstanding junior group leaders in Germany conducting basic research in biology, chemistry, and medicine.

Deadline: March 15, 2025

Second deadline: September 15, 2025

Addressees: Junior group leaders in Germany

The Rise up! programme is aimed at outstanding and exceptionally creative basic scientists in biology, chemistry, and medicine who have accepted their first appointment to an associate professorship at a German university. With Rise up!, they can bring forward an especially innovative research programme that may have a lasting impact on their field.

Deadline: March 15, 2025

Second deadline: September 15, 2025

Addressees: Scientists with accepted associate (W2) professorship at a German university

On the basis of an agreement with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has taken over and continues the Programme of German-Israeli Project Cooperation. The BMBF continues providing the funds, while the DFG has all scientific and administrative responsibility.

Deadline: March 15, 2025

Addressees: Israeli and German project partners

The goal of the Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators (VRG) programme is to bring young excellent researchers from abroad to Vienna to start their first indepdent research group. The VRG leaders receive substantial funding from WWTF (up to € 1.6 million per group) for 6-8 years, as well as a clearly defined career plan with a long-term perspective from their Vienna host institutions. The application is in tandem, i.e. the VRG leader applies together with a Vienna research institution. The topic of the progamme changes every year.

Deadline: March 11, 2025

Addressees: Researchers to start their first indepdent research group

Mit dieser Förderrichtlinie sollen Möglichkeiten und Chancen für eine gegenseitige Inspiration und Integration von Neurowissenschaften und KI in Pilotprojekten identifiziert werden. An konkreten Beispielen soll dargestellt werden, wie die Neurowissenschaften neue Erkenntnisse und Strategien für das Verständnis und die Weiterentwicklung von KI bereitstellen können. Zugleich sollen die Potentiale der KI für die Erforschung wissenschaftlicher Fragestellungen zu den Funktionsprinzipien des Gehirns und kognitiver Prozesse veranschaulicht werden. Die Pilotprojekte sollen zudem Möglichkeiten für die Umsetzung und den Transfer von Innovationsideen an der Schnittstelle von Neurowissenschaften und KI aufzeigen.

Deadline: March 6, 2025

Addressees: Postdocs, PIs

Call for Proposals for Multinational and Translational Research Projects on Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Neuroscience of Pain

Deadline: March 6, 2025

Addressees: PIs

As an expression of the fruitful scientific collaboration between their two countries, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) are pleased to announce the launch of the second call for joint Korean-German research proposals in the natural, life and engineering sciences.

Deadline: February 26, 2025

Addressees: Korean-German collaborations

This prestigious award recognizes exceptional achievements in basic research across the life sciences. It is designed to support emerging scientists who have completed their doctoral studies and are distinguished by their unique scientific profiles. It carries a prize money of € 50,000.

Deadline: February 9, 2025

Addressees: Postdocs, PIs

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) are launching a call for proposals for outstanding joint research projects in all fields of science.

Deadline: February 5, 2025

Addressees: Taiwan-German collaborations