Information for Researchers, No. 28 | May 15, 2019

Colombian-German Collaboration in Research

Universidad de Antioquia and DFG offer joint funding opportunities for bilateral research projects

On the basis of the Letter of Intent signed in January 2019 between the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA) in Colombia, researchers from Germany and UdeA can submit proposals for joint research projects in any field of research. Submission of research proposals is possible at any time within the Research Grants Programme at DFG as well as the corresponding CODI-programme at UdeA.

The proposals for German-Colombian research projects have to be submitted simultaneously to the DFG and UdeA and have to follow the respective eligibility requirements. The proposal shall be prepared according to the following rules for proposal preparation and submission:

  • The joint proposal in English language shall not exceed 20 pages and shall contain an abstract, the scientific description, the goals, and the tasks.
  • Please note that the scientific content of the proposal submitted at DFG and UdeA must be identical.
  • Researchers can apply for a funding period of up to three years.
  • Scientists in Germany must submit their proposals within the DFG’s Research Grants Programme in compliance with the guidelines outlined in DFG form 50.01 and 54.01. These include the eligibility criteria and proposal preparation instructions for applicants to be funded by DFG.
  • Colombian proposals for research projects shall also follow DFG’s guidelines of form 50.01 and 54.01. In addition, requirements of the CODI’s (Comité para el Desarrollo de la Investigación) Terms of Reference have to be met. Researchers of UdeA have to submit the joint proposal to UdeA’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

All proposals will be reviewed by both organisations separately. The results of the review process will be shared between the DFG and UdeA.

Please note that there are no separate funds available for this joint initiative. These opportunities follow the general funding lines and budget of DFG and UdeA. Proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams in comparison with other proposals. DFG and UdeA will provide funding of joint research projects upon positive assessment; unilateral funding of only one part of the research project is not possible.

Further Information

To submit a proposal to the DFG, please follow the Guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (form 50.01) and the Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals (form 54.01) under:

General information for German principal investigators on research grants may be found at:

Further general information on elan:

elan flyer:

After the log-in, please use the respective link “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Proposal Forms column. Please select as the relevant call: KOLUMBIEN UdeA-DFG 2019 Joint Research Grants.

If you are using the DFG’s elan system for the first time, please note that you will need to register before you may use the system. Allow at least one business day to process your registration.

elan FAQ:

To submit a proposal to UdeA, please follow the “Terms of Reference” and the “Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals” (form 54.01) under:

General information for Colombian principal investigators on research grants may be found at:

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Contact information at DFG Bonn:

Contact information at DFG in Latin America:

Contact information for Colombian applicants:

Universidad de Antioquia