Fourth Joint Call for Mexican-German Research Projects in all Fields of Research, including Social Sciences and the Humanities

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) are pleased to announce the fourth call for proposals to fund joint German-Mexican research projects in all fields of research (including social sciences and the humanities). This initiative aims to bring together relevant and competitive researchers from Germany and from UNAM to design and carry out jointly organised research projects of outstanding scientific quality. 

Proposals for joint German-Mexican projects have to be submitted in parallel by the researchers in Germany and at UNAM to their respective funding organisation according to the organisations’ respective format and regulations.

Key Information for Eligible Researchers:

• Deadline for submission of proposals at UNAM and the DFG: 25 February 2026.
• Researchers may apply for a funding period of up to three years.
• The DFG and UNAM use their standard programmes for proposals within this initiative:
• DFG: Research Grants (“Sachbeihilfe”)(interner Link)
• UNAM: PAPIIT(externer Link)
• Principal investigators (PIs) at UNAM submit their documents to UNAM, PIs based in Germany to the DFG.
• All documents must be written in English.
• Funding of the joint research projects is contingent upon positive assessment by both funding organisations. Unilateral funding of only one part of a project is not possible.

Eligibility

The researchers on each side must be eligible to apply to their respective funding organisation. The eligibility for the applicants in Germany to submit a proposal follows the regulations for the DFG Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01)(interner Link). For members of non-university institutions with permanent positions, this includes the duty to cooperate (“Kooperationspflicht”) with a partner at a German university (DFG form 55.01)(interner Link). Applicants at UNAM must meet the eligibility requirements of UNAM.

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 allowable. The “Guidelines Research Grants Programme” (DFG form 50.01)(interner Link) and the respective modules apply for applicants to be funded by the DFG. At UNAM, only costs for the Mexican share of the projects are allowable.

Project Requirements

Please note that the documents submitted to the DFG and UNAM must not differ with regard to the scientific content of the proposal or with regard to the applicants involved. Applicants should demonstrate how bringing together researchers based in Germany and at UNAM will add value and advance their research. It is expected that each partner will substantially contribute to the common project. The teams of applicants should ensure that there is a plan for effective delivery and coordination of research among the partners. There are no separate funds available for these joint initiatives; proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual and scientific merits, and teams in comparison with all other proposals. 

Proposal Preparation and Submission for Applicants from Germany

Please submit your proposal to the DFG by 25 February 2026. 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. 

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 18 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 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 “MEXICO UNAM 2025/2026 – Joint Research Grants” to tag your proposal for this specific call.

Please note that only Germany-based applicants should be entered as “applicants”. Partners from UNAM should be entered as “cooperation partners”. Employees whose positions are requested for funding should not be assigned to this category.

In the elan system, applicants are required to include the budget figures only for funds requested from the DFG. The proposal document itself should contain the budget figures for both the Germany-based and the Mexican-based components of the project. All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant. In addition, an academic CV for each of the applicants needs to be provided. Please note that the CVs of the Germany-based applicants should follow the Curriculum Vitae (DFG form 53.200).(interner Link) There are no rules regarding the format of the CVs for the Mexican PIs. Please upload the CVs of all PIs combined in one PDF document. 

Proposal Preparation and Submission for Applicants from UNAM

Researchers at UNAM are requested to fulfil all the requirements listed in the UNAM call for proposals that is published on the UNAM website(externer Link), and to submit their documents to PAPIIT-DGAPA by the deadline of 25 February 2026.

Review, Evaluation and Decision-Making Process

The DFG and UNAM will organise separate external written peer reviews of the proposals submitted. The organisations will exchange the preliminary funding recommendations on the basis of the written reviews. The final funding decision will be made by the respective committees of the organisations.

Timeline and Notification of Results

• Call opening: 6 November 2025
• Call closure: 25 February 2026
• Evaluation of proposals expected until October 2026
• Communication of results: from November 2026 onwards
• Approximate beginning of funding: from January 2027 onwards

Ethics Votes

If an ethics vote is required for the German or the UNAM 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 at UNAM 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 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 

General information for German principal investigators on research grants may be found here(interner Link).

Template for the proposal(interner Link)

Template for the CV(s) of the PI(s) from Germany(interner Link) 

Information on the elan portal: 

• elan portal(interner Link)
• elan flyer(Download)
• elan FAQ(interner Link)

Information on the DFG´s Review and Decision-Making Process “Arriving at a decision in individual grants programmes” may be found here(interner Link). 

Contact Person at the DFG Head Office in Bonn: Dr. Dietrich Halm, Tel: +49 228 885-2347, dietrich.halm@dfg.de(externer Link)

Contact Person at the DFG Office Latin America: Dr. Christina Peters, Tel: +49 228 885-4550, christina.peters@dfg.de(externer Link)

Contact Person at UNAM in Mexico: Dra. Claudia C. Mendoza Rosales, Tel: +52 55 5665-3265 and 55 5622-6257, dda_direccion@dgapa.unam.mx(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.