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Early career research programs

In addition to a Habilitation (postdoctoral qualification) and junior professorship, early career research group programs offer doctoral and early career researchers another way to gain qualifications.

In these programs, young researchers who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance early in their career assume a leadership position. Within a period that usually lasts 5 years, they receive substantial financial support and can establish and lead their own research group. They also acquire the experience required for a professorship.

Various research organizations such as the DFG, the Helmholtz Association, and the Max Planck Society, as well as other external funding providers such as the EU and the Volkswagen Foundation, offer doctoral and early career research group programs.

Emmy Noether Program

The Emmy Noether Program helps doctoral and early career researchers achieve academic independence early on. During the funding period, which usually lasts 5 years, the postdoctoral researchers become qualified to serve as university teachers by leading their own early career research group.

Postdoctoral researchers can usually apply once they have acquired 2 to 4 years of research experience after earning their doctorate. Applicants must have international research experience.

Contact:

Dr. Wolfgang Röhr
Staff code: -43-
Mittelweg 177
20148 Hamburg
Room N 4073
Tel: +49 40 42838-9079 
wolfgang.roehr"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Leibniz Junior Research Groups

Provided by the Leibniz Association, the Leibniz Junior Research Groups funding program offers talented young academics attractive research conditions.

Postdocs from all over the world may apply for up to 5 years after completing their doctorate. Leibniz Junior Research Groups are usually funded for 5 years.

Helmholtz Young Investigator Groups Program

This program supports young academics on their path to early independence and offers them reliable career prospects. It is unique in Germany and makes centers for early career researchers from all over the world more attractive. The program is designed for doctoral and early career researchers who earned their doctorate approximately 2 to 6 years earlier, not counting periods of parental leave. The most important selection criterion is the applicant’s outstanding performance in his or her field. German applicants should also have experience abroad.

Contact for coordination with Universität Hamburg:

Dr. Wolfgang Röhr
Staff code: -43-
Mittelweg 177
20148 Hamburg
Room N 4073
Tel: +49 40 42838-9079
wolfgang.roehr"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Max Planck research group

Max Planck research groups are an outstanding opportunity for young postdoctoral researchers to gain qualifications. The leaders of these research groups are appointed by the Max Planck Society and, similar to the directors, work independently within their Max Planck Institute.

Research groups are initially limited to 5 years, but may be extended. They use the infrastructure and administration of the Max Planck Institute, but have their own staff funding and material resources. This allows team leaders to pursue research projects independently and lay the groundwork for their own successful careers.

Contact for coordination with Universität Hamburg:

Dr. Wolfgang Röhr
Staff code: -43-
Mittelweg 177
20148 Hamburg
Room N 4073
Tel: +49 40 42838-9079
wolfgang.roehr"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Freigeist Fellowships

Funding is awarded to outstanding individuals wishing to conduct high-risk research at the boundaries between research fields. This modular, flexible funding gives doctoral and early career researchers who have already completed up to 4 years of postgraduate research maximum freedom for a set period.

Contact:

Dr. Wolfgang Röhr
Staff code: -43-
Mittelweg 177
20148 Hamburg
Room N 4073
Tel: +49 40 42838-9079
wolfgang.roehr"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) regularly announces funding programs, including those for doctoral and early career researchers groups. See “Bekanntmachungen” for current application calls. Application requirements vary from program to program and can be found in the respective call for applications.

ERC Starting Grant

ERC Starting Grants are designed to support excellent principal investigators (PIs) at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or program. Principal investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition, and feasibility of their scientific proposal. ERC grants are open to researchers of any nationality who intend to conduct their research activity in any EU Member State or Associated Country.

The ERC’s frontier research grants operate on a “bottom-up” basis without predetermined priorities. Applications can be made in any field of research with particular emphasis on the frontiers of science, scholarship, and engineering. In particular, proposals of an interdisciplinary nature, pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research, or proposals introducing unconventional, innovative approaches, and scientific inventions are encouraged.

Contact:

Dr. Sabine Baars
Staff code: -411-
Mittelweg 177
20148 Hamburg
Room N 4013
Tel: +49 40 42838-9477
sabine.baars"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Katharina Berghöfer
Staff code: -421-
Mittelweg 177
20148 Hamburg
Room N 4069
Tel: +49 40 42838-1813
katharina.berghoefer"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Our service

The majority of early career research groups use a 2-step selection procedure. In the second round, the applicant is invited to present his or her research project followed by discussion with a committee of evaluators.

Together with the respective department, we organize trial evaluations with professors experienced at obtaining external funding. This ensures that you are as well prepared as possible.