External funding

• European Research Council: ERC Starting Grants

ERC Starting Grants enable researchers of any nationality to conduct independent research and set up their own research team. You can apply for an ERC Starting Grant between two and five years after completing your doctorate and for a duration of up to five years. Up to 300,000 Euro in funding is available per year (in exceptional cases, up to 400,000 Euro).

Open calls are announced online.

The German Research Foundation (DFG)  is the most important funding organisation in Germany and funds projects in all academic fields. Research grants can be used to support individual projects and research cooperation, recognize outstanding research achievements, and finance scientific infrastructure and academic contacts.

• P.R.I.M.E. Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience

With this program, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supports the international mobility of postdoctoral researchers of all nationalities and academic disciplines. In place of conventional scholarships, the program grants funding for temporary positions at German universities. Funding is provided for 18 months, in which 12 months have to be spent abroad and 6 months (re-integration phase) at a German university.

• Daimler and Benz Foundation Postdoctoral Scholarships

The Daimler and Benz Foundation has established a new scholarship program for young postdoctoral researchers who have completed their doctoral within the last three years; this phase is particularly significant for research achievements. To support their entry into academia, postdoctoral students and junior professors in the early phase of their academic career as well as young researchers in similar positions (e.g., junior research group leaders) are granted up to 20,000 Euro per year.

• Humboldt Research Fellowships for Postdoctoral Researchers and for Experienced Researchers

Research fellowships awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation are available to German researchers for up to four years after completing their doctorate if their habitual place of work and residence has been located abroad for at least five years at the time of applying. A Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers enables long-term research (6-24 months) in a chosen field in cooperation with an academic host in Germany.

You can apply for funding at any time.

• Fritz Thyssen Foundation

With its postdoc stipends, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation supports postdocs (up to two years after completing their doctorate) in the research areas of "History, Language & Culture", the interdisciplinary field “Image–Sound–Language”, "State, Economy and Society", and "Medicine and the Natural Sciences". 

You can apply for funding at any time.

• Claussen Simon Foundation

With the Postdoc Plus scholarship program, the Claussen Simon Foundation supports outstanding young scientists who want to establish themselves with a research projects at Universität Hamburg immediately after their doctorate. The one-year financial support allows the recipient an orientation phase in order to develop a new research area or topic, to acquire third-party funds and to apply for a subsequent qualification phase (W1-Professorship, habilitation).

You can apply for funding at any time.