Funding Programmes
Information on DFG funding opportunities and programme forms and guidelines
Project Proposals by Individuals
Funding Focus: Investigators
- Walter Benjamin Programme
- Research Fellowships
- Emmy Noether Programme Modules: Emmy Noether Junior Research Group Leader, Basic Module, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Family Allowance
- Heisenberg Programme
Funding Focus: Themes
- Individual Research Grants Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Reinhart Koselleck Projects
- Package Proposals Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Research Units Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Professorships, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
- Clinical Research Units Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Professorships, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
- Clinical Trials Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Priority Programmes Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
Funding Focus: Forum
- Centres for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Professorships, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
- Scientific Networks
- Workshops for Early Career Investigators
- Project Academies Modules: Replacements, Project-Specific Workshops
- International Scientific Events
Funding Focus: Infrastructure
- New Instrumentation for Research Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Specialised Information Services Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Acquisition Funding
- Infrastructure for Electronic Publications and Digital Scholarly Communication Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Information Infrastructures for Research Data Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- e-Research Technologies Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Indexing and Digitisation Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Licences for Digital Content Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Acquisition Funding
Collaborative Institutional Proposals
Funding Focus: Themes
- Collaborative Research Centres / Transregios Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks, Research Training Group
Funding Focus: Forum
- (International) Research Training Groups Modules: Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks, Research Training Group
- DFG Research Centres
- Clusters of Excellence German Federal and State Excellence Strategy
Funding Focus: Infrastructure
- Major Research Instrumentation
- State Major Instrumentation German State Programme
- Major Instrumentation in Research Buildings
- Major Instrumentation Initiatives Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Core Facilities Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Open Access Publishing
- Acquisition of Complete Collections and Literary Remains Modules: Acquisition Funding
- National Research Data Infrastructure German Federal and State Programme
Research Infrastructure
The DFG offers centrally-coordinated funding to build and improve scientific infrastructure: Scientific Library Services and Information Systems, Scientific Instrumentation and Information Technology, Central Research Facilities.
International Research Funding
The DFG supports international research cooperation in all of its funding programmes and with a multitude of instruments. Regardless of the specific type of project funding involved, researchers may apply for necessary funds in addition to the project funding itself.
Funding Initiative "Artificial Intelligence"
The German Research Foundation has launched a strategic funding initiative in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Projects from all areas of AI research are to be financed in various funding programmes in the coming years as part of the initiative.
- Acquisition of Complete Collections and Literary Remains Modules: Acquisition Funding
- Albert Maucher Prize in Geoscience
- Bernd Rendel Prize in Geoscience
- Centres for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Professorships, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
- Clinical Research Units Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Professorships, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
- Clinical Trials Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Clusters of Excellence German Federal and State Excellence Strategy
- Collaborative Research Centres / Transregios Modules: Basic Module, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks, Research Training Group
- Communicator Award
- Copernicus Award
- Core Facilities Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- DFG Research Centres
- Emmy Noether Programme Modules: Emmy Noether Junior Research Group Leader, Basic Module, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Family Allowance
- Eugen and Ilse Seibold Prize
- e-Research Technologies Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
- Heisenberg Programme
- Indexing and Digitisation Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Individual Research Grants Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Information Infrastructures for Research Data Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Infrastructure for Electronic Publications and Digital Scholarly Communication Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- International Scientific Events
- Licences for Digital Content Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Acquisition Funding
- Major Instrumentation Initiatives Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Major Research Instrumentation
- Major Instrumentation in Research Buildings
- National Research Data Infrastructure German Federal and State Programme
- New Instrumentation for Research Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops
- Open Access Publishing
- Package Proposals Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations
- Priority Programmes Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
- Project Academies Modules: Replacements, Project-Specific Workshops
- Reinhart Koselleck Projects
- Research Fellowships
- (International) Research Training Groups Modules: Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks, Research Training Group
- Research Units Modules: Basic Module, Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, Replacements, Temporary Substitutes for Clinicians, Mercator Fellows, Project-Specific Workshops, Public Relations, Professorships, Start-Up Funding, Coordination, Network Funds, Gender Equality Measures in Research Networks
- Scientific Networks
- Specialised Information Services Modules: Basic Module, Project-Specific Workshops, Acquisition Funding
- State Major Instrumentation German State Programme
- Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize
- von Kaven Award
- Walter Benjamin Programme
- Workshops for Early Career Investigators
International Research Funding
All DFG funding programmes are open to international project collaboration. The DFG maintains relationships with a wide range of partner organisations in other countries. Joint funding programmes and agreements with foreign partner organisations enable German research to be funded in global collaborations throughout the complete DFG funding portfolio.
Structure of Funding Portfolio
The DFG funding portfolio includes a wide range of funding instruments for research projects and research infrastructures. A distinction is made between funding for individual researchers and funding for institutions, according to the requirements and objectives of the research to be conducted. Individuals can also be nominated for research prizes.
Most of the DFG’s funding instruments are designed to support research projects. These instruments are grouped into seven funding focuses (an eighth funding focus encompasses prizes). Grants centre on either research career development, or the research theme and the way in which it is addressed or the infrastructures required to address it. As far as possible, funding opportunities are aligned with the needs of researchers and are designed to reflect the research approaches used in the various academic research disciplines and communities. They also enable or facilitate diverse forms of cooperation between institutions, locations and disciplines. Funding awarded to research institutions also helps to enhance their core areas and structures from an academic and infrastructural standpoint.
