The Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has decided to establish a new Priority Programme “Unconventional Magnetism: Beyond the S-Wave Magnetism Paradigm” (SPP 2558). The programme is designed to run for six years. The present call invites proposals for the first three-year funding period.

The main objective of this Priority Programme will be fundamental research on unconventional compensated magnets. This programme builds on the recent discovery of altermagnetism and the development of unconventional non-collinear antiferromagnets, which opened a first physical pathway to devices that combine both strong spin-polarised currents operating at THz time scales, with the highest possible data storage densities, overcoming the barriers faced by conventional ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.

Altermagnets are an emerging class of compensated collinear magnets with d/g/i-wave symmetry in both real space and the electronic band structure. In addition, the odd-parity-wave magnetic counterpart phases, i.e. p-wave, have also been recently recognised in non-collinear magnetic systems. These new unconventional magnets beyond s-wave order allow to expand the known ferromagnets and antiferromagnets paradigms. Their novel properties, the very large variety of material candidates reaching currently more than 400, and the many connections to other areas of condensed matter physics (topological quantum matter, spintronics, optics, neuromorphic computing, multiferroics, strongly correlated systems, twistronics, etc.), make this emergent field of unconventional magnetism a perfect platform for a Priotity Programme.

The Priority Programme SPP 2558 will be structured in several subtopic research areas: 

1. Altermagnetic materials
2. Noncollinear unconventional magnetic ordered systems
3. Ultra-scalable hybrid systems and devices

Different teams will explore these areas of unconventional magnetism focusing on i) general ground state properties (growth, theory (both model and material specific), characterisation, types of time reversal symmetry breaking, unconventional topology, etc.), ii) unconventional magnonics, iii) unique signatures in the ultrafast dynamics of unconventional magnets, iv) orbital and correlation effects, and instabilities in the different unconventional magnetic phases.

This Priority Programme should further Germanys leading position in this emerging field, given the pioneering role of several German teams in the discovery of altermagnetism and the development of unconventional magnetism in general. The Priority Programme aims to connect the multiple efforts of various Germany-based teams working in a variety of fields of condensed matter, materials science, and engineering, towards the full understanding, control and ultimate functionalisation of unconventional magnetism beyond the s-wave paradigm of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism

For organisational reasons, applicants are encouraged to send a brief outline of their intended proposal or research intent for the first three-year funding period to the coordinator at spp-unmag@uni-mainz.de(externer Link) until 31 August 2025. The outline, with a maximum length of one page, should contain a short description of the project or basic research idea, an assignment to one of the three research areas, information about the applicants and registration for the networking meeting. The submission of a proposal outline is voluntary and non-committal.

A networking meeting (participation optional) with short presentations of the planned projects and subsequent discussions will take place on 2–3 September 2025 at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. Applicants who wish to participate in this network meeting are requested to send an e-mail to spp-unmag@uni-mainz.de(externer Link) by 14 July 2025 for organisational purposes.

Proposal Submission

Proposals must be written in English and submitted to the DFG by 5 November 2025. Proposals are to be submitted solely via the elan portal(externer Link) in order to ensure proposal-related data is recorded and documents are securely transmitted. To enter a new project within the existing Priority Programme, go to Proposal Submission – New Project/Draft Proposal – Priority Programmes and select “SPP 2558 Unconventional Magnetism” from the current list of calls.

When preparing your proposal, please refer to programme guidelines (DFG form 50.05(interner Link), section B) and follow the proposal preparation instructions (DFG form 54.01(interner Link)).

Please read the DFG’s publication rules (DFG form 1.91(interner Link)) carefully.

If this is the first time you are submitting a proposal to the DFG, please note that you and all applicants involved in your project (in case there is more than one) must register in the elan portal before you can submit your proposal. You must do so by 29 October 2025. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day.

Please send a copy of the summary of your final proposal by e-mail to the coordinator.

Review Process

The review will be held during an evaluation workshop on 14–16 April 2026 in Mainz.

Equity and Diversity

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

Good Research Practice

According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice(externer Link) in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Portal(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office.

Further Information 

When submitting proposals, please use the elan portal(externer Link) and refer to the respective DFG forms 50.05(interner Link) and 54.01(interner Link). The FAQ on Proposal Submission(interner Link) may also be helpful.

For enquiries about the scientific aims of the Priority Programme, please contact the programme coordinator:
Professor Dr. Jairo Sinova, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, phone: +49 6131 39-23340, sinova@uni-mainz.de(externer Link) 

Contact Persons at the DFG Head Office

Programme contact: Dr. Christian Hahn, Physics and Chemistry, phone +49 (228) 885-2662, christian.hahn@dfg.de(externer Link) 
Administrative contact: Sarah Gerhardt, Physics and Chemistry, phone +49 (228) 885-2316, sarah.gerhardt@dfg.de(externer Link) 

Privacy Policy

We, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), take the protection of your personal data and its confidential treatment extremely seriously. Therefore, please refer to the DFG’s Privacy Policy(interner Link). If you intend to transmit personal data of third parties, please make sure to do so only if the necessary legitimation under data protection law exist. Before transmitting data of third parties to the DFG, please forward the DFG’s Data Protection Notice to the individuals affected (data subjects). If there is a legitimate interest not to inform individuals beforehand (e.g. for reasons of secrecy or in case of a nomination or candidate proposal), these individuals should be informed no later than at the time of publication.