Funding Opportunity for Joint Israeli-German Basic Research Projects in All Fields of the Sciences and the Humanities
ISF-DFG Standing Open Procedure on a Lead Agency Basis
Israeli-German research teams are invited to submit outstanding joint research proposals within the scope of basic research in all fields of the sciences and the humanities in this joint funding opportunity of the DFG and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF). This Standing Open Procedure (SOP) on a lead agency basis allows the continuous submission of joint bilateral proposals to the DFG as the Lead Agency until further notice.
This SOP works without proposal deadlines, although a few requirements have to be considered in the schedule of the proposal process, such as the yearly pre-registration obligation of the Israeli researchers on the ISF side.
There are no separate funds available for this joint funding initiative. This funding opportunity follows the general funding lines and budgets of the DFG and the ISF. Proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams in competition with other proposals. The funding organisations aim to support the proposals among the top 20 percent in the respective evaluation.
All of the following details have to be reviewed carefully prior to submission!
Information on the Scope and Eligibility
Within this funding initiative, Israeli-German research teams can submit proposals for outstanding joint basic research projects in all fields of the sciences and the humanities.
For this funding opportunity, the DFG opens its Research Grants Programme (“Sachbeihilf(interner Link)”). The ISF opens its Personal Research Grant Programme.
The standard eligibility rules of the DFG and the ISF for their respective research grant programmes apply.
Joint projects submitted under this funding opportunity may have a maximum duration of 36 months. Proposals have to be written in English. Commercial companies must not be included as research/cooperation partners. The submission of renewal proposals (“Fortsetzungsanträge”) is not possible within this funding opportunity.
Information on this Lead Agency Procedure
Joint proposals must be prepared according to the rules, guidelines and templates of the DFG.
The DFG is responsible for the review and evaluation process in compliance with its internal rules set out for the DFG’s Research Grants Programm(interner Link). Following the assessment, the results will be shared with the ISF, which uses the results for its own decision-making process. Funding recommendations made by the DFG will be subject to approval by ISF and DFG decision bodies, taking into account the availability of funds.
Funding of the joint research projects is contingent upon positive decision by both funding organisations. If granted, each organisation supports the researchers for whom it is responsible. Unilateral funding of only one part of the project is not possible.
Information on the Submission Process
Please note that in order to be entitled to submit a joint proposal under this funding opportunity a pre-registration of the Israeli PI at the ISF is mandatory no later than the end of October each year (for details and exact dates please refer to the information on the ISF websit(externer Link); if the registration window has expired, the Israeli PI has the opportunity to register in the next ISF registration window).
After the pre-registration of the Israeli partner, a Germany-based PI can submit the joint proposal to the DFG at any time.
After submitting the joint proposal to the DFG, the Israeli PI must submit a copy of the proposal to the ISF as well as additional information requested by the ISF (“administrative application”), typically within seven days.
Please note that due to technical maintenance the ISF’s online system is not active between early-August and mid-September each year (for details and exact dates please refer to the information on the ISF websit(externer Link); Should the submission of the administrative proposal to the ISF fall within this period or later the joint proposal cannot be considered for the current submission cycle. In such cases, it is necessary to register again and submit the administrative proposal in the next submission cycle starting when the ISF system is reactivated (usually during the 2nd week of September). Nevertheless, the administrative proposal must be submitted within seven days after the reactivation of the online system.
Proposal Submission Step by Step
| Step | By the PI in Germany | By the PI in Israel |
|---|---|---|
1 |
| Pre-registration obligation at the ISF |
2 | Check of the eligibility requirements of the DFG | Check of the eligibility requirements of the ISF |
3 | Preparation of the joint proposal according to the project requirements of the DFG | |
4 | Submission of the joint proposal to the DFG |
|
5 |
| Submission of a copy of the joint proposal and further proposal documents to the ISF (“administrative application”) |
The Israeli PI must pre-register at the ISF no later than end of October each year (for details and exact dates please refer to the information on the ISF websit(externer Link); if the registration window has expired, the Israeli PI has the opportunity to register in the next ISF registration window).
During the pre-registration, the Israeli PI will receive an ISF project number which has to be entered as a “Project Acronym” for the proposal when the proposal is submitted to the DFG.
Check the exact scope and the eligibility requirements of the DFG and the ISF.
- Applicants from Germany: DFG Research Grants Programme (“Sachbeihilfe”), DFG form 50.0(interner Link).
- Applicants from Israel: ISF Personal Research Grants Programme.
Please note that the rules for funding eligibility apply to all applicants from Germany, including the duty to cooperate for non-university researchers (DFG form 55.0(interner Link)).
The funding organisations retain the right not to process or to reject proposals if they fail to comply with any requirement stipulated for this bilateral funding opportunity or any national rules.
Prepare joint proposals according to the rules, guidelines and templates of the DFG’s Research Grants Programme (“Sachbeihilfe”, Forms and Guidelines – Research Grant(interner Link)).
Demonstrate how bringing together researchers based in Israel and Germany will add value and advance the research. Each partner should contribute substantially to the joint project. Projects should be integrated but do not have to be symmetrical in terms of funds applied for. Work packages are expected to be delivered with a reasonably equal distribution between the partners. Schedules should be well coordinated. A plan for effective delivery and coordination of research among the partners should be ensured.
The joint proposal must be submitted by a German PI via ela(externer Link), the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system, and can be submitted at any time.
If using the elan system for the first time, the German PI has to create an account in the elan portal prior to submitting a joint proposal, stating personal data and address details. This account can be created at any time, but generally at least one working day has to be allowed to process requests for access.
Since only one Germany-based PI can upload the joint proposal to elan, this person has to enter address details and funds for the other Germany-based applicants as well as address details for the Israeli cooperation partner(s).
Select “ISF-DFG 2025-2028 DFG-Lead” under “Proposal Data”.
Indicate that the joint proposal is to be considered under the ISF-DFG funding opportunity by prefacing the title with “Israel ISF-DFG”.
Enter the ISF proposal number that the Israeli PI received during the ISF pre-registration process as a “Project Acronym” for the proposal.
The joint proposal must include a description of the joint research programme, the research team and the total resources for the joint project (i.e. the funds requested for the Israeli and for the German side).
All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant.
For each module in elan, please only enter the funds requested from the DFG.
Note that only Germany-based applicants should be entered as “applicants”. Israeli partners (and potential further international partners) should be entered as “cooperation partners”.
Provide an academic CV for each of the applying individuals in Israel and Germany, formatted according to the DFG template (DFG form 53.20(interner Link)).
Upload the CVs of all principal investigators combined in one PDF document.
At the time the joint proposal is submitted to the DFG, the PI from Israel is required to submit a copy of the joint proposal and further proposal documents to the ISF (“administrative application”), typically within seven days after proposal submission to the DFG, including the approval of the Research Authority; otherwise the joint proposal may be declared ineligible.
Please note that additional documents (e.g. for the budget) have to be provided to the ISF during submission. For submission details, please refer to the ISF websit(externer Link).
Due to technical maintenance the ISF’s online system is not active between early-August and mid-September each year (for details and exact dates please refer to the information on the ISF websit(externer Link). Should the submission of the administrative proposal to the ISF fall within this period or later the joint proposal cannot be considered for the current submission cycle. In such cases, it is necessary to register again and submit the administrative proposal in the next submission cycle starting when the ISF system is reactivated (usually during the 2nd week of September). Nevertheless, the administrative proposal must be submitted within seven days after the reactivation of the online system.
Ethics Votes
If an ethics vote is required for the German or the Israeli part of the project, it must be submitted together with the joint 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.
Further Details on the Decision Communication and Post-Award Considerations
Applicants will be informed in writing of the decision and, where applicable, of the subsequent administrative steps according to the respective regulations by their national funding organisation.
Funding will be provided according to the funding rules (incl. reporting requirements) of the respective funding organisation.
Grant holders are requested, where possible, to synchronise their project components and initiate their grants in a timely manner. Please note that ISF-funded projects typically have to start on 1 October.
Due acknowledgement of support received from the DFG and the ISF should be made in any publication relating to any research resulting from this Lead Agency Procedure according to usual practices.
Contact Information
DFG
For general and administrative inquiries about the DFG-ISF Call please contact
isf-lap@dfg.d(externer Link) I Dr. Djawed Naurooz(externer Link)
For scientific questions please choose the respective contac(interner Link).
ISF
israkeren@isf.org.i(externer Link) I Dr. Ella Fire
Further Information
DFG
- DFG Information for Researchers DFG-ISF
- DFG Research Grants Programm(interner Link)
- Guidelines Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.0(interner Link))
- Project Description - Project Proposal (DFG form 53.0(interner Link))
- Curriculum Vitae (DFG form 53.20(interner Link))
- Guidelines on the Duty to Cooperate (DFG form 55.0(interner Link))
- DFG electronic proposal submission portal ela(externer Link)
- DFG decision-making process in individual grants programme(interner Link)
ISF
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.