Argentinean-German Collaboration in Research
Fifth Joint Call for German-Argentinean Research Projects in Specific Research Areas
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET) are pleased to announce the fifth call for proposals to fund joint German-Argentinean research projects in the following areas:
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Geosciences
- Neurosciences
- Molecular and Clinical Infectiology and Immunology
Researchers in Germany and Argentina must submit their proposals to the DFG and CONICET respectively by 20 February 2026. Proposals that arrive late and/or do not fulfil the national requirements will not be considered. No legal entitlement can be derived from the submission of a project description.
Project Requirements
In addition to the guidelines of the DFG, the following considerations have to be taken into account:
- The scientific level of the projects should be high in international comparison.
- Although the scientific quality of the proposals is the decisive criterion, joint projects must also demonstrate a clear added value to the applicants’ cooperation beyond what could be achieved individually.
- There are no separate funds available for this initiative; proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams in competition with all other proposals in the funding programme “Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants”.
- Funding of the joint research projects is contingent upon positive assessment by both funding organisations. Joint German-Argentinean projects will be co-funded by the Argentinean funding organisation CONICET; unilateral funding of only one part of the project is not possible.
Allowable Costs
All requested cost items must be in accordance with the respective national administrative regulations. At the DFG, only costs for the German share of the projects are eligible. At CONICET, only costs of the Argentinean share of the projects are eligible according to the regulations of CONICET. The “Guidelines Research Grants Programme” (DFG form 50.0(interner Link)) and the respective modules apply for applicants to be funded by the DFG.
Proposal Preparation and Submission
Researchers in Germany submit their proposals under the DFG’s Research Grants Programme in compliance with the guidelines outlined in DFG form 50.0(interner Link). This includes the eligibility criteria for applicants to be funded by the DFG. The eligibility criteria for applicants funded by CONICET are published in the Argentinean announcement of the cal(externer Link).
Proposals have to be written in English and must be submitted to both organisations in parallel in accordance with each side’s respective proposal preparation requirements.
The scientific content of the proposals submitted to the DFG and CONICET should be identical and the proposals should contain the same applicants involved. CVs of all German researchers involved in the project should follow the DFG’s CV template, DFG form 53.20(interner Link).
The joint proposal should contain an abstract, the scientific description, the goals and tasks as well as the justification of the requested cost items according to DFG form 54.0(interner Link).
Please submit your proposal to the DFG by 20 February 2026. Proposals are to be submitted solely via the elan portal in order to ensure proposal-related data is recorded and documents are securely transmitted. If this is the first time you are submitting a proposal to the DFG, please note that you must register in the elan portal before you can submit your proposal. You must do so by 13 February 2026. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day. Only one Germany-based applicant should upload the proposal to elan. Please note that this person will have to enter address details and funds for the other Germany-based applicants. After logging in into the elan system, please use the link “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Proposal Forms column (Proposal Submission > New Project > Individual Grants Programme > Proposal for a Research Grant). Please select “ARGENTINA CONICET 2025 – Joint Research Grants” to tag your proposal for this specific call.
Specific Instructions for Applicants from Germany
Researchers may apply for a funding period of up to three years. Applicants to be funded by the DFG are required to fulfil the eligibility requirements of the DFG´s Research Grants Programme. This includes the duty to cooperate (“Kooperationspflicht”) within Germany for members of non-university institutions with permanent positions. Please note that any duty to cooperate for DFG applicants at non-university research institutions can only be fulfilled through cooperation with a partner at a German university. For more information, see the corresponding guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.0(interner Link) and 55.0(interner Link)).
While via elan, budget figures only have to be provided for funds requested from the DFG by the German applicant(s), the proposal itself should contain not only the German budget part but also a budget overview for the Argentinean part so as to provide appropriate information to the reviewers. In the proposal submitted by the German applicant(s) to the DFG, an academic curriculum vitae for all Argentinean principal investigators should be submitted to complete the reviewers’ information. The CVs of the Argentinean partners should be included in the proposal but need not follow the DFG´s template.
Please note that only Germany-based applicants should be entered as “applicants”. Argentinean partners (and potential further international partners) should be entered as “cooperation partners”. Employees whose positions are requested for funding should not be assigned to this category.
Specific Instructions for Applicants from Argentina
Researchers in Argentina submit their proposals to CONICET, following the respective formal requirements according to the Argentinean announcement of the cal(externer Link). Applicants from Argentina are kindly requested to conform to all the requirements listed in the CONICET “Bases de la Convocatoria” that is published on the CONICET websit(externer Link).
Evaluation
Both agencies will organise an external written peer review of the proposals submitted to them. Afterwards, the DFG and CONICET will jointly rank each proposal on the basis of the written reviews. The final funding decision will be made by the respective committees of the funding organisations.
Timeline and Notification of Results
- Call opening: 1 October 2025
- Call closure: 20 February 2026
- Assessment of projects: February to December 2026
- Communication of results: February 2027
- Approximate beginning of funding: from February 2027
Funding will be provided according to the funding rules (incl. reporting) of the respective funding organisation.
Ethics Votes
If an ethics vote is required for the German or the Argentinean part of the project, it must be submitted together with the proposal to the DFG. However, in exceptional cases, an ethics vote by the responsible local German ethics committee can be submitted no later than three months after proposal submission. Otherwise, the funding organisations may stop processing the proposal. Please note that the submission of an ethics vote of the local German ethics committee is also necessary if only the project part abroad is affected, as it is a cooperation project.
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 Practic(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 Porta(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity tea(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office.
Further Information
- General information for German principal investigators on research grants may be found her(interner Link).
- Template for the proposa(interner Link)
- Template for the CV(s) of the PI(s) from German(interner Link)
- Further general information on ela(interner Link)
- Information on DFG´s Review and Decision Process: Arriving at a decision in individual grants programmes may be found her(interner Link).
Contact person at the DFG Head Office in Bonn
Dr. Dietrich Halm, tel +49 228 885-2347, dietrich.halm@dfg.d(externer Link)
Contact person at the DFG in Latin America
Dr. Christina Peters, tel: +49 228 885-4550, christina.peters@dfg.d(externer Link)
Contact person at CONICET for Argentinean applicants
International Cooperation Office-European Division
Agustina Salvati, tel: (54 11) 4899-5400, internacionales@conicet.gov.a(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 Polic(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.