Joint Call for Research Proposals on “Restoration of ecosystem functioning, integrity and connectivity” (BiodivConnect)

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) as a partner of Biodiversa+ is pleased to announce the launch of the 2025–2026 joint call for research proposals on the topic “Restoration of ecosystem functioning, integrity and connectivity” (referred to as BiodivConnect).

Scope of the Call

This call is focused on fostering innovative research to be integrated into nature restoration practices for interconnected and well-functioning ecosystems and habitats, with special consideration for long-term sustainability and future-proofing of restoration efforts, at scales from local to regional to cross-border and global, including their evaluation. The call covers restoration efforts for biodiversity in all types of ecosystems and habitats, in all regions of the world, supporting high-quality research and innovation projects on biodiversity and ecosystem restoration with holistic, systemic and integrated approaches. 

Projects that will be proposed under this call can focus on a wide range of aspects, e.g. different categories of indicators; multiple scales for restoration upscaling; ecological, socio-economic and socio-cultural dimensions; and/or varying levels of environmental regulations and policies needing alignment. Projects should support progress towards international biodiversity commitments, also beyond 2030, under the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, and relevant biodiversity policy objectives at different levels in Europe and globally.

Topics

This Call is arranged into three main topics that partly overlap. Project proposals can address one or more of these main topics.
Topic 1: Setting restoration targets and measuring success
Topic 2: Transferability and scaling of nature restoration efforts
Topic 3: Resilience and sustainability of restoration efforts

Main Steps of the Call

The call is planned to be officially launched on 9 September 2025. A two-step application procedure will be used with a closing date for pre-proposal submission in early November 2025. A first evaluation of pre-proposals will be organised and the deadline to submit full proposals will be early April 2026.

Proposals (in English only) will have to be submitted electronically. Pre-proposals shall be submitted via an Electronic Proposal Submission System (EPSS) only. For applicants applying for funds from Germany, full proposals shall be submitted via EPSS(externer Link) AND via elan(externer Link).

Eligibility

To be eligible, research consortia will have to include teams from a minimum of 3 countries financially participating in the call, including at least 2 from EU Member States or EU Associated Countries.

Please note that it is crucial that all applicants of a consortium comply with their national/regional funding rules and commit especially to Annex 5 of the Horizon Europe Annotated Grant Agreement(externer Link). These funding rules will be available at the time the call is launched in September.

For the DFG, the eligibility requirements comply with the standard rules for DFG research grants and include members of universities of applied sciences (HAW). However, in this call, applicants from Germany can apply to the DFG and the BMFTR/PTJ only for a maximum of 210,000 euros per project (excluding overhead costs; calculation of personnel costs according to BMFTR funding guidelines). More details will be announced with the funding organisation rules on the Biodiversa+ website(externer Link) in September.

Assessment Criteria

The research proposals will be evaluated by independent experts against the following criteria: 
•    Step 1 (pre-proposal stage): fit to the scope of the call, novelty of the research and impact
•    Step 2 (full proposal stage): (scientific) excellence, quality and efficiency of the implementation (of the project plan) and impact (including expected societal/policy impact, and approach to stakeholder engagement)

Research proposals are expected to demonstrate significant transnational added value and to be interdisciplinary, involving multiple academic disciplines. Proposals are also strongly encouraged to be transdisciplinary to include non-academic stakeholders working together with researchers to co-produce new knowledge relevant for society.

Detailed instructions regarding submission, eligibility, evaluation criteria and other relevant information will be published with the official call announcement in September.

Transnational Research Consortia

At this stage, a global budget of over 40 million euros has been provisionally reserved by 32 countries together with the European Commission. The countries which have expressed a preliminary interest in participating in the call are listed on the Biodiversa+ webpage(externer Link) (regularly updated).

Biodiversa+ Mailing List and Information Webinar

You can register for the Biodiversa+ mailing list(externer Link) to be kept updated on latest information regarding this major upcoming research funding opportunity.

Save the date: an information webinar(externer Link) for potential applicants will be organised on 11 September 2025 from 1 pm to 3 pm CEST. During this webinar, time will be dedicated for you to interact and ask questions to funders from Germany (DFG and BMFTR/PTJ).

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.

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 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. If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team at the DFG Head Office.

Further Information

To be kept updated on latest information regarding upcoming research funding opportunity, please register to the Biodiversa+ mailing list(externer Link).

Please register here to participate in the information webinar(externer Link) on 11 September 2025.

The tentative list of participating organisations on upcoming calls of Biodiversa +(externer Link) will be regularly updated.

If you are looking for a partner or a project to join, you can use the Biodiversa+´s Partner Search Tool(externer Link).

For more information on stakeholder engagement in funded projects, please refer to the Biodiversa+ Stakeholder Engagement Handbook(externer Link).

Here you can find further information on the Biodiversa+ Guide on Policy Relevance(externer Link) of research and on effective science-policy interfacing in research proposals, including engagement of policy-stakeholders (note that this guide is currently being updated).

 For more information on how to engage citizens in your research projects, please refer to the Biodiversa+ Citizen Science Toolkit(externer Link) and the Horizon Europe Annotated Grant Agreement(externer Link).

Applicants applying for funds from German Funding Organisations (DFG, BMFTR)

Pre-proposals are to be submitted via the Biodiversa+ EPSS(externer Link) only and NOT via elan. Full proposals are to be submitted via EPSS AND via elan.

The DFG’s electronic proposal processing system (for submission of full proposals only) can be accessed at the elan portal(externer Link). 

Here you can find further information on the DFG participation in Biodiversa+(interner Link) and its calls (will be updated with news on BiodivConnect if necessary).

Contact Persons at the DFG Head Office:

• Gaby Rerig, Life Sciences II, phone +49 228 885-2406, gaby.rerig@dfg.de(externer Link)
• Tanja Zdebel, Life Sciences II, phone +49 228 885-3105, tanja.zdebel@dfg.de(externer Link)
• Stephanie Saal, Life Sciences II, phone +49 228 885-2918, stephanie.saal@dfg.de(externer Link)

Contact Persons at Projektträger Jülich (PTJ):

• Saskia Wohlgemuth, Resource Management and International Cooperation, phone +49 30 20199-3312
• Stefanie Pietsch, Resource Management and International Cooperation, phone +49 30 20199-3152, 
  ptj-biodiversa@fz-juelich.de(externer Link)

(PTJ manages this call on behalf of BMFTR, the second German funding agency that is involved in this call.)

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.