Individual Grant Programmes

The Emmy Noether Programme by the German Research Society is aimed at postdocs and fixed-term junior professors at the beginning of their academic career. The six-year funding period is intended to enable particularly promising junior researchers...

Scientists with superior scientific achievements who are eligible for a permanent professorship are funded by the German Research Foundation for a maximum of 5 years through the Heisenberg Programme in order to provide them with the opportunity to enhance their...

The ERC Starting Grant is a funding format of the European Research Council aimed at talented early-career researchers (2 to 7 years after their PhD) to realize their potential as research leaders. The project period is 5 years and the projects are carried out by the early-career...

The European Research Council supports researchers (7 to 12 years after their PhD) with a recently created exceptional research group through the ERC Consolidator Grant. The project runs for 5 years and means to contribute to the independence of excellent researchers...

Established research group leaders are to be funded by the European Research Council with the ERC Advanced Grant for a period of 5 years if they have distinguished themselves with significant research achievements over the last decade. Thus projects with high scientific...

Scientists who already receive or have received ERC funding and wish to explore the commercial and societal potential of their research can apply for the European Research Council's Proof of Concept Grant. The Proof of Concept Grant supports first steps of transitioning...

The Volkswagen Foundation's Freigeist Fellowship (German for “free spirit”) Fellowship enables excellent young researchers with extraordinary and unconventional research foci to finance their own position as junior group leaders for a maximum of 5 or 6 years. Young...

Through the Lichtenberg Endowed Professorship, the Volkswagen Foundation supports outstanding scientists from innovative and interdisciplinary fields. The intention is to attract internationally leading scientists in promising and...

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation sponsors the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award for a period of 5 years to enable top junior researchers from abroad to conduct an innovative research project at the research institution of their choice...

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research funds the Alexander von Humboldt chair, the most endowed research award in Germany. This is to aid top international researchers (regardless of nationality) in obtaining a chair at German universities. The chair...