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Early career researchers and postdocs

Here you will find a selection of funding programmes for international postdocs and early career researchers run by various funding organisations. For more funding opportunities please search our funding databases.

Selection of funding programmes (alphabetical order):

Bilateral Exchange of Academics

The programme supports research and study visits of up to three months within the framework of the bilateral exchange of scientists and scholars.

DLR-DAAD Research Fellowships

Outstanding scientists and researchers can conduct special research at an institute of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Emmy Noether Programme

Outstanding early career researchers can rapidly qualify for leading positions in science and research or for a university teaching career by heading an independent junior research group and assuming relevant teaching duties.

ERA Fellowships – Green Hydrogen

This programme provides funding for a research project or continuing academic training in the field of GH2.

ERC Consolidator Grants

Postdoctoral researchers of any nationality can strengthen their research independence by consolidating their own research team at a host research institution in Germany.

ERC Starting Grants

International postdoctoral researchers with 2 to 7 years of research experience can strengthen their research independence by establishing their own research team.

ERC Synergy Grants

The ERC Synergy Grants target excellent emerging scientists at the start of their career as well as established researchers with outstanding scientific track records.

Fraunhofer Attract

International specialists in application-oriented research can set up a new research group at a Fraunhofer institute to develop their ideas into actual innovations.

Georg Forster Research Fellowship

Early career and experienced researchers with above-average qualifications from developing and transition countries can carry out a research project in cooperation with an academic host of their choice in Germany.

Green Talents

The winners of this competition are invited to visit leading German institutions of environmental and sustainability research. Furthermore, Green Talents awardees can complete a research stay at an institution of their choice.

Helmholtz Investigator Groups

The best early career researchers are provided with excellent working conditions in a research-oriented environment. Researchers are granted independence early on and can set up and lead their own research group at a Helmholtz centre.

Humboldt Research Fellowship

International junior and senior researchers in all disciplines can carry out their own research project in cooperation with an academic host of their choice at a research institute in Germany.

International Climate Protection Fellowship

Postdocs and young leaders from non-European emerging economies or developing countries who work in the area of climate protection can pursue a long-term scientific project at a host institution of their choice in Germany.

Initiation of International Collaboration

These grants support international collaboration by enabling eligible German and international researchers and academics to plan partner visits, trips abroad and/or joint workshops with their partners.

International Visiting Researchers at Max Planck Institutes

International researchers can conduct independent research at a Max Planck institute. The programme aims to strengthen cooperation and promote networking between Max Planck institutes and their international partners.

Leibniz Junior Research Groups

Promising early career researchers are enabled to set up their own research group in the inspiring research environment of a Leibniz institute.

Lise Meitner Excellence Programme

Female early career researchers from all over the world with outstanding qualifications are enabled to establish their own research group at one of the renowned Max Planck institutes.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Postdoctoral Fellowships

Postdoctoral researchers of any nationality can enhance their qualifications and diversify their competences by conducting a research project at a research institution in Germany.

Max Planck Grants for Advanced Postdoctoral Training

Postdocs can gain additional knowledge and skills at a Max Planck institute on the basis of their prior professional qualifications.

Max Planck Research Group Leader

Excellent postdocs can conduct independent research work at a Max Planck institute by establishing their own Max Planck Research Group.

Philipp Schwartz Initiative

The Philipp Schwartz Initiative enables universities and research institutions in Germany to host researchers at risk on the basis of a full fellowship.

Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience (PRIME)

The PRIME programme enables postdocs of all nationalities who see their long-term career in Germany to combine employment at a German university with a research stay abroad.

Research Grants

Early career and established researchers can pursue a research project on a specific subject within a limited period of time. The programme can provide support for project costs, staff and equipment required to carry out the project.

Research Grants – One-Year Grants

International doctoral candidates can carry out research primarily as part of a doctoral project at a state or state-recognised university or non-university research institution in Germany.

Research Stays for University Academics and Scientists

International university teachers and researchers can conduct a short-term research stay at a state-run or state-recognised university or non-university research institute in Germany.

Scientific Networks

Scientific Networks offer researchers with a PhD the opportunity to engage in multi-year scientific exchange and cooperation on a topic area of their choice across various locations.

Travel Grants

The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) awards travel grants to PhD students and postdoctoral researchers from all over the world.

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Walter Benjamin Programme

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

Search funding databases

More funding programmes are available for international researchers. For more information you can either search the funding databases or go straight to the websites of the funding organisations.