The 2026 edition of the ANR-DFG collaboration in the Natural, Life and Engineering sciences (NLE) will take place with the DFG having the role of the ‘lead agency’, i.e., the DFG will be responsible for processing the proposals and conducting the review process. However, the proposals need to be submitted to both the ANR and the DFG using their respective web interfaces.

Note that from the viewpoint of the DFG, proposals within this call are a special case of the DFG’s Research Grants programme (Sachbeihilfe), with a few additional provisions explained below.

Step 0

You need to comply with the usual eligibility rules of the DFG and the ANR.
For the DFG, see the general rules of Research Grants(interner Link).

The eligibility requirements on the side of the ANR are documented in the generic call for proposals 2026 (AAPG 2026) at https://anr.fr/en/call-for-proposals-details/call/generic-call-for-proposals-aapg-2026/(externer Link).

Notably, if applicable to you, the duty to cooperate (Kooperationspflicht) for members of non-university research institutions has to be fulfilled with universities in Germany.

Also check the specific annex for ANR-DFG proposals at the bottom of the ANR’s AAPG 2026 webpage. Note that the submission within this call is not subject to the ANR’s preregistration.

Step 1

Prepare your project description based on the structure and numbering defined by the template. Also note the page limits mentioned within the template, which are strict.

Please find the template(Download) here.

The project description must describe the whole project (French and German sides, and their interaction) and justify all funds requested, both from the ANR and from the DFG, respectively. The maximum project duration is 36 months.

Note that CVs also must be based on the DFG’s template 53.200 elan(interner Link).

Step 2

Submit your proposal to the DFG at http://elan.dfg.de/(externer Link).

This is only possible if all applicants on the German side have a valid account with up-to-date contact information on elan. If not, please register for/update your account as early as possible, at the latest on 7 January 2026. If there are multiple applicants on the German side of a proposal, only one of them needs to submit and to enter the relevant information for all of them. The French partners may register for an account on elan, too, in order to provide their correct contact information. However, the latter is not compulsory.

Submission to the DFG opens on 17 November 2025 and is possible until 14 January 2026 (whole day until midnight).

Please submit your proposal under Proposal Submission – New Project as a “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Individual Grants Programme (as shown on the screenshot). Within the submission process, you need to select the call “Frankreich-ANR-DFG 2026 NLE”.

Please find the screenshot(interner Link) here.

Only the funds requested from the DFG need to be entered in the elan web forms
(for every German applicant).

The corresponding French applicants need to be entered as “cooperation partners” in the elan web forms. Please refrain from entering further participating persons (other than the actual applicants).

Step 3

The French partner submits a copy of the proposal to the ANR according to the instructions of the ANR (AAPG 2026 and the specific annex for ANR-DFG proposals). See:

• https://anr.fr/en/call-for-proposals-details/call/generic-call-for-proposals-aapg-2026/(externer Link)
• This has to be completed by 15 January 2026, 5 p.m. (Paris time). Note that there is no pre-proposal stage for these bilateral proposals. Submission to the ANR opens on 17 November 2025.
• Important: A budgetary data sheet (annexe budgétaire obligatoire) for the French partners, detailing the requested means by major expense categories for the analysis of the consortium's budget is requested by ANR. This document is mandatory for the project proposal to be eligible. The template of the document is available for download on the webpage dedicated to AAPG 2026

The final decision after selection by the DFG and confirmation by the ANR can be expected to be available in October 2026, with a start of funding at the beginning of 2027. Funding will be awarded to the selected projects according to the general financial regulations of the ANR and the DFG, respectively.

The results of the 2025 edition of this call, for which the ANR acted as Lead Agency, are available here(externer Link).