Yes, there is a template for CVs (DFG form 53.200(interner Link)).

From 1 March 2023 its use is mandatory in connection with all DFG programmes.

The reason for the use of the DFG’s CV template is to enable an even more individual, qualitative assessment of the applicant and their respective academic achievements. For example, research outcomes published in various forms and non-publication-based research accomplishments are to be made more visible than before, with a shift away from metrics. It will also be possible to indicate private circumstances that are relevant to the assessment of research achievements, such as “career breaks” and/or additional burdens. In this way, despite unavoidable delays in the development of a career, only the previous, visible academic performance is to be assessed in the applicant’s favour.

The DFG accompanied the introduction of the CV template and published an interim report(Download).

Here you can find further information(interner Link).

In the course of the proposal submission, review and decision-making process, the CV passes through the same stages as the proposal. See here(interner Link) for an overview of the process.

The CV is forwarded as submitted, i.e. including all information, to DFG reviewers and committee members as well as to the participating partner organisation(s) in the case of international programmes, and, where applicable, their reviewers and committee members, for the purpose of review and comparative evaluation.

Yes, the CV template is mandatory for all applicants submitting proposals under all DFG programmes from 1 March 2023. In the case of international collaborative proposals under calls for proposals or permanent proposal opportunities with foreign research funding organisations (e.g. Weave), there may be exceptions to the use of the CV template if the procedural authority does not lie exclusively with the DFG. You can find out whether you are required to use the CV template in a call for proposals by consulting the respective call text (Information for Researchers) or the relevant DFG forms.

With its optional categories, the template does offer a certain degree of flexibility in filling out the content, and instructions for completion are included.

In case of any issues or feedback, please contact chancengleichheit@dfg.de(externer Link)

Yes, the CV must not exceed four pages. This is the only way to guarantee comparability between proposals without distorting competitiveness and equality of opportunity.

Please remove all grey and red text after filling in the CV and do not attach a photograph. The template formatting must be retained. In particular, the font should not be smaller than Arial 11 point, with line spacing of no less than 1.2.

Generally speaking, any details of special personal circumstances are provided on a purely voluntary basis. However, the DFG advises that periods of academic inactivity or delays, as well as any special circumstances applicable to the development of a career (and any special experience or skills these may have given rise to, where applicable) should be disclosed and set out in the CV.

In order to adequately assess a person’s academic performance, an opportunity must be provided to consider their individual circumstances. Only then is it possible to take these circumstances appropriately into account when assessing their qualifications and evaluating the planned project. For this reason, any individual impact – in terms of time, for example – should be presented in a comprehensible way so that reviewers or review boards are able to put any individual circumstances into perspective.

Please do not provide too much detail in connection with your voluntarily disclosed personal circumstances other than the actual period of academic inactivity. In order to explain the absence, it is normally sufficient to make a general reference to the reason by simply stating “childcare”, “care of relatives”, "due to illness" or “change of academic system and language acquisition”. In particular, the DFG does not normally require details of specific medical diagnoses. In order for the period of absence to be taken into account appropriately, please be as specific as possible about its duration, for example like this:

• 100% restriction on research work from 15 March 2023 to 30 June 2023 (3.5 months) due to...
• 50% restriction on research work from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 (equivalent to six months of full-time absence) due to...

Please do not name spouses or partners in your CV. What is more, do not mention the names of your children or relatives in need of care.

The month and year of birth of your children – without mentioning their names – may be relevant to the evaluation of your academic achievements, when checking your eligibility to apply for the Emmy Noether Programme or when assessing whether you belong to the target group of the Walter Benjamin Programme (early career phase after obtaining a doctorate).

Likewise, it is also possible to indicate delays or periods of academic inactivity due to the fact that you were caring for relatives. It is sufficient to indicate the period of time spent caring for relatives or the period of absence due to family commitments, for example (without specifying names, the family relationship or the other person’s state of health).

Yes, you can include this in your CV (DFG form 53.200(interner Link)) under “Supplementary Career Information” (or alternatively under “Other information”). The effects of the dual career partnership should be clearly stated, e.g. if it requires a particular choice of location for a project. Further information on dual careers in DFG funding can be found on the website www.dfg.de/equity/dual_career(interner Link).  

Yes, you can include this in your CV (DFG form 53.200(interner Link)) under “Supplementary career information”. You can mention part-time work in your current position or at certain stages of your career, where applicable. Where periods of academic inactivity due to maternity leave and/or parental leave are taken into account in the assessment and evaluation, this is done exclusively in your favour.

You can describe this in your CV (DFG form 53.200(interner Link)) under “Supplementary Career Information”. Please state how many children you have, the months and years of their birth (e.g. two children, born 05/2017 and 12/2020) and the concrete delay in obtaining your doctorate or in your academic career in general, e.g. maternity leave, parental leave, part-time work, parental leave (from [date] – to [date]).

Yes, long-term illnesses of at least three months per year can be listed in your CV (DFG form 53.200(interner Link)) under “Supplementary Career Information”. If applicable, state the period of illness as well as periods of academic inactivity, part-time work or restricted work. The information you provide should show how your academic work was affected by the illness or any other restrictions. It is not necessary to provide details of the disease itself.

Any inclusion of health data or other “special categories of personal data” in the CV is voluntary. Information that you do not wish to be disclosed should not be included in the CV (or in the proposal or covering letter).

If you wish to submit information about special personal circumstances to the DFG Head Office only and request that only the periods of academic inactivity or restrictions be taken into account in the review and evaluation without details of the reasons being shared with DFG reviewers and committee members, please use the “Form for confidential information to be shared solely with the DFG Head Office” in the application overview in the elan-portal(externer Link). Please contact us if you have any questions, also to arrange a telephone appointment if necessary: chancengleichheit@dfg.de(externer Link).

Without a description of your personal circumstances (and the resulting impact on your academic career) in your CV, however, it is not always possible to give appropriate consideration to these circumstances in the review and comparative evaluation, or it is only possible to a limited extent. The DFG endeavours to make this happen nonetheless.

If your proposal and CV are uploaded by someone other than yourself, please submit the above-mentioned elan formas soon as you have received confirmation of receipt of the proposal including the reference number.

If you are a participant or project leader of a coordinated programme (RTG, CRC, EXC) and would like to provide the relevant information to the Head Office, please contact the spokesperson of your consortium and ask to be notified when the proposal submission has been completed and what the corresponding reference number is. Then complete and return DFG form 73.01(interner Link) to the DFG Head Office by e-mail or post, quoting the reference number.

In the academic CV, you can list up to 10 publications of category A (articles in peer-reviewed journals, peer-reviewed contributions to conferences or anthology volumes, and book publications) and up to 10 further publications of category B (any other form of published results).

It is obligatory to list publications under category A; listing further publications and published results under category B is optional.

Examples of elements of category B include preprints, clinical trial protocols, data sets, patents etc.

Please indicate the title of the publication and, as far as possible, all authors. Authors may be quoted in the usual abbreviated form. Please provide unique identifiers (e.g. ISBN or DOI) or an access link, if available.

Additional information can be found in DFG form 1.91(interner Link).