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 "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

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

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 funding programme supports outstanding young scientists who wish to implement exciting ideas at interfaces between various STEM fields.

Deadline: December 31, 2024

Addressees: Postdoctoral researchers

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, 2024

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

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, 2024

Addressees: postdocs and junior professors

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, 2024

Addressees: Postdocs

Are you looking for funding to realise your doctoral project? Do your previous study and examination achievements demonstrate a special ability with regard to academic work? Is your work making a significant contribution to research? Then become a doctoral scholarship holder of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom! We support around 150 doctoral students from all disciplines annually who are working on a convincing and innovative research project and have been admitted to a doctoral programme at a university.

Deadline: December 31, 2024

Addressees: Students

Various kinds of scholarships for doctoral students exist which vary in their eligibility requirements.

Deadline: December 31, 2024

Addressees: Students

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) are pleased to announce a funding opportunity for joint Dutch-German research projects. The funding opportunity is planned as a three-year pilot for a joint Lead Agency Procedure with the NWO Domain Science. It is open for proposals that fit the scope of the NWO Domain Science and the corresponding DFG review boards.

Deadline: December 31, 2024

Addressees: PIs