Combination of proposals under the Research Grants Programme and Scientific Library Services and Information Systems (LIS) programmes now possible

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) now enables the coordinated submission of proposals for projects under its Scientific Library Services and Information Systems (LIS) programmes in combination with subject-specific research projects funded through the Research Grants Programme. 

This creates a flexible funding opportunity within existing programmes to develop digital information systems in close alignment with specific disciplinary needs and in parallel with ongoing research, while also supporting research into scientific information provision itself. LIS funding covers a broad range of digital objects, including research data, research software and publications, as well as the digital services required to support them. Under the Combination of Research and Infrastructure (KoFI) scheme, it is possible to establish data infrastructures  while investigating specific research questions, digitise and index collections while simultaneously conducting research on them, and improve research software infrastructurally alongside methodological research, for example.

With immediate effect, related Research Grants Programme proposals and LIS proposals may be submitted together. The subject-specific research components and the infrastructure components must be submitted as separate proposals in accordance with the respective regulations governing the Research Grants Programme and the LIS programmes. The DFG Head Office subsequently links the proposals as a coordinated package. The work programme of each proposal must clearly demonstrate how the individual projects are linked. It is also possible to submit multiple Research Grants Programme proposals and LIS proposals as a single coordinated package. The review, evaluation and funding decision processes are carried out jointly for all proposals. Proposals may be submitted at any time. In this way, KoFI replaces the previous “bridge project” procedure.

Submission of Proposals and Procedure

In order to ensure that proposals can be processed as effectively as possible, applicants are asked to contact the responsible programme officers at the DFG Head Office prior to submission. The individual project proposals should then be submitted via the elan portal(externer Link) under the respective programmes and will be identified by the DFG Head Office as a “Combination of Research and Infrastructure (KoFI)”. 

The proposals are reviewed from both a subject-specific and an information infrastructure perspective and are evaluated according to the standard assessment criteria by the relevant review boards and by the Committee on Scientific Library Services and Information Systems (AWBI).

Further Information 

Please find detailed information on the Combination of Research and Infrastructure (KoFI) scheme here(interner Link). 

Information on the Research Grants Programme can be found here(interner Link).

See here(interner Link) for information on the funding area Scientific Library Services and Information Systems (LIS).

The German version of this Information for Researchers is available here(interner Link).

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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.