Yes, you could set a period from 2 years up to 3 years e.g. 2.6 years according to your research plan. When preparing the proposal, within a consortium each PI should set the same period for his or her projects.

Research costs according to the rules of the respective funding organization. Please consult your funding organization for details on eligible research expenses.

No upper or lower limit has been set on the number of researchers but there is a minimum of 3 Principal Investigators each one coming from a different of the participating countries. The number of researchers should be the optimum for carrying out the joint research project. As this program encourages the fostering of early career researchers, they should be included in the project teams.

They should be chosen by the consortium members. Generally speaking, the Leading PI’s role is to submit the project application and liaise with the Call-Secretariat and other members of the consortium.

No, only projects with research groups from the above mentioned partner countries will be supported.

Partners from outside the 7 participating countries can be listed as ‘collaborating partners’ but cannot apply for funding.

A scientist may only be leading PI in one consortium. For other researchers, please consult the respective funding organization for guidance.

As long as the consortium is excellent, this is acceptable, no matter how many PIs there are in the consortium . You need to describe the excellence of your consortium just as any other consortiums do. For further details, please consult your funding organization for guidance.

The estimated costs for a project can be higher than the funding requested. The size of the financial commitment from other sources will NOT influence the selection process but should also be indicated. What will be judged, however, is whether the cost estimation is appropriate and realistic.

Please consult your funding organization for details on eligible research projects.

No, there isn’t. Interested consortia are required to submit a Preliminary Proposal, using the electronic forms provided by the Call Secretariat:

• www.dfg.de/g8-initiative

Both, the Preliminary Proposal submitted to the Call-Secretariat by the Leading PI, and the Full Proposal must be prepared in English.

Additionally, each Partner PI has to submit a Full Proposal to his/her funding organization. As each country uses its own format for this application, Partner PIs should use the procedure set by their country’s funding organization.

No, only consortia that submitted a Preliminary Proposal and passed the first stage of the competition will be invited to submit a Full Proposal.

It is acceptable to change both, the Preliminary Proposal and the Full Proposal, before the respective deadline.

The Full Proposals must closely base on the successful Preliminary Proposal and changes should not be a significant deviation from the direction, focus and team composition stated in the Preliminary Proposal. Therefore only inevitable or reasonable amendments e.g. changing the affiliation of PIs, adding project teams, or individual researchers are acceptable. Please pay attention to the fact that the changes can only be accepted as long as the proposed research projects do NOT change much.

It is also acceptable to withdraw your proposals at any time during the evaluation process.

Selections are basically made on consortia as a unit. If during the evaluation process it turns out that one partner cannot be funded, the whole consortium can only be fundend when there are at least three partners of three participating countries remaining.

Yes, but as the funding organizations in the non-EU countries need additional information in these cases, please contact your funding organization.

Yes, it is understood that the amount requested in the Preliminary Proposal is an estimate and that revised budgets may be necessary when preparing the Full Proposal.

The amount of project funding is finally decided by each Funding Organization reflecting the evaluation, peer reviews, and panel discussion. In this process also the adequacy of the funding is evaluated and takes budgetary limitations and funding rules into account.

After selection, project teams have to submit a Project-Implementation Plan, including an itemization of necessary expenditures to the respective funding organization.  For information on the possibility of future changes within the awarded amount of funding, please contact your funding organization.

No. The funding allocated for each project may only be used to support that country’s own researchers and research activities. For detailed rules on expenditures, please contact your funding organization.

Yes, they may. The proactive participation of early career researchers is desired in this program.