On national basis, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) are the most important funding institutions for collaborative research at Johannes Gutenberg-University. Additionally, individual projects and single Scientists can be funded.
There are numerous foundations in Germany that promote scientific research, young academics, and education. Most of them also award prizes to outstanding researchers and their projects.
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) funds projects in all topics. Scientific excellence, young researchers, interdisciplinarity and internationality are the most important pillars in funding.
Federal Ministries
Innovative projects and ideas can be funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as well as other Federal Ministries. Topics range from fundamental research in natural sciences, enviromentalfriendly sustainable discoveries, New Technology, Information- and communicationtechnology, social and humanitie studies and Life Sciences to structural Researchfunding and Technology Transfer.
Foundations
The Robert Bosch Foundation regards itself as an operational foundation that pursues its goals through its own programs, as well as a promotional foundation that enables third parties to develop and realize interesting ideas in the form of projects and initiatives for accomplishing social tasks both nationally and internationally. Through the programs and the funded projects, developments are initiated and changes to be brought about. Funds are provided for projects designed to supplement an already existing program and carry it forward in an innovative manner, or to contribute substantially to individual aspects of key research areas within the program.
The goal of the Gerda Henkel Foundation is to stimulate academic projects in the humanities for a limited period of time and to promote continuing education for graduates. The sponsorships of the Henkel Foundation are dedicated to the historical humanities, predominantly history, archaeology, art history, and various other historical sub-disciplines.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supports academic cooperation between outstanding foreign and German scientists and scholars. Through research grants and fellowships, researchers are able to come to Germany to pursue a research project they have chosen together with a host and a collaborative partner. As a German researcher, you will have the opportunity of carrying out a research project abroad by becoming a guest of one of the 24,000 Humboldt scholars across the globe, the alumni of the Humboldt Foundation.
The purpose of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation is to provide direct support for science and research at universities and research establishments, primarily in Germany, with a particular emphasis on the promotion of young academics. The foundation therefore focuses on sponsoring specific and temporally limited research projects that are in compliance with the foundation’s funding programs and its financial capacities.
The Volkswagen Foundation supports research projects across all disciplines. It provides targeted incentives to the scientific world within the context of changing funding initiatives.
The Carl Zeiss Foundation supports research and transfer in the natural sciences and engineering with yearly differing topics. It also participates in a programme for scientists returning to Germany.
There are, however, numerous other foundations, over 450 of which are managed by the German Stifterverband. Many of these foundations support individual projects, offer awards, provide scholarships, or provide publishing grants. At the Stifterverband website (under foundations and sponsors, then under foundations A-Z or funding) you can search for a foundation that may offer funding in your field. Please note that the Stifterverband can only respond to inqueries that aim at a specific foundation. General grant applications cannot be processed for organizational reasons.
Furthermore, there ist the Ost-West-Wissenschaftszentrum which promotes research cooperations in middle and eastern europe.
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