OVERVIEW: The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supports scientific research and collaborations between researchers in Germany and the international scientific community. It gives awards, research grants, and residency fellowships in a range of scientific and scholarly fields.
IP TAKE: The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a prestigious institute of scholarship focused on strengthening Germany’s role as an international center of research. It offers a wide range of grants and residency fellowships to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas between Germany and the international scientific community. Many of Humboldt’s research awards reward completed research but come with an invitation to conduct a new project in collaboration with researchers and facilities in Germany. Other fellowships invite scholars from around the world to do their research in Germany or send German scholars abroad. While the majority of grants focus on STEM fields, there are also funding opportunities for the humanities and arts.
This is a transparent funder that maintains a detailed, comprehensive database of its scholarly network, sorted by country, institution and field of expertise. Humboldt’s fellowships are accessible to individual researchers from around the world, with a wide range of offerings for specific fields in the sciences and humanities. Its research awards are less accessible, however, as applicants must be nominated by an eligible scholar at a German research institution or by a previous Humboldt grantee.
PROFILE: The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation was established in 1953 by the Federal Republic of Germany in honor of celebrated scientist and researcher Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) to “promote outstandingly qualified researchers and future leaders from science-related fields” and “strengthen Germany as a research location through international research exchanges.” The first president of the foundation was Nobel Prize-winner Werner Heisenberg. In its earliest years, the foundation ran 35 fellowship programs, but it has since expanded its offerings to support undergraduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral researchers. Its support mainly takes the form of Research Awards and Fellowships.
Grants for Science Research and Humanities Research
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation offers both Research Awards and Fellowships to “strengthen Germany as a research location through international research exchanges.” Research grants generally go to scholars from any country outside of Germany for outstanding achievement in a specific field of science, the humanities or general scholarship and include an invitation for an optional residency in Germany to pursue continued research. Fellowships typically involve residencies at German institutions and are geared toward projects that require or benefit from residency in Germany.
Humboldt’s research awards include:
- Carl Zeiss Humboldt Research Award: A €100,000 prize for outstanding research in a STEM field, plus an optional €50,000 to pursue research with “specialist colleagues” in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, or Thuringia.
- Fraunhofer-Bessel Research Award: A €45,000 award for established scholars working in applied research to pursue their work at a facility in Germany for a period of between six months and a year.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award: A €45,000 prize for outstanding achievement in applied research, plus the option for a six- to 12-month stay to complete a research project at a chosen institute in Germany.
- Georg Forster Research Award: A €60,000 prize for internationally recognized researchers from developing countries, excluding India and China, plus an optional €25,000 to fund a six- to twelve-month research stay in Germany.
- Humboldt Research Award: A €60,000 prize that broadly supports outstanding achievement in any scientific or academic discipline, plus the option for a six- to 12-month stay to complete a research project at a chosen institute in Germany.
- Konrad Adenauer Research Award: A €60,000 prize for an internationally recognized researcher from Canada, plus the option for a six- to 12-month stay to complete a research project at a chosen institute in Germany.
- Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award: An €80,000 prize for internationally recognized researchers, plus a €1.5 million grant to establish a major, long-term collaborative project with a chosen research institute in Germany. The award winner’s field of research alternates between engineering, life sciences, and the humanities each year.
- Philipp Franz von Siebold Award: A €60,000 prize for an internationally recognized researcher from Japan, plus the option for a six- to 12-month stay to complete a research project at a chosen institute in Germany.
- Reimar Lüst Award: A €60,000 prize for an internationally recognized researcher in the humanities or social sciences, plus the option for a six- to 12-month stay to complete a research project at a chosen institute in Germany.
Humboldt’s Fellowships include:
- Alexander von Humboldt Professorship: A €5 million award for international researchers to endow a five-year professorship at a German university to “conduct forward-thinking, long-term research at universities and research institutions in this country and makes a sustainable contribution to Germany’s ability to compete internationally as a location for research.”
- Humboldt Research Fellowship: A six- to 24-month fellowships of €2,600 to €3,100 a month for post-doctoral or established career researchers to pursue a research project at a German institution.
- CAPES-Humboldt Research Fellowship: A six- to 24-month fellowships of €2,600 to €3,100 a month for post-doctoral or established career researchers from Brazil to pursue a research project at a German institution.
- Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship: A six- to 24-month fellowship for German nationals to pursue a long-term research project abroad at one of 25,000 world institutions.
- Georg Forster Research Fellowship: A six- to 24-month fellowships of €2,600 to €3,100 a month for post-doctoral or established career researchers from developing countries to pursue a research project at a German institution.
- German Chancellor Fellowship: A six- to 24-month fellowships of €2,200 to €2,700 a month for post-doctoral or established career researchers from Brazil, China, India, South Africa, or the USA to pursue a research project at a German institution.
- German Research Chair at the AIMS: An endowed professorship at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Muizenberg, South Africa.
- Hezekiah Wardwell Fellowship: A fellowship for musicians and musicologists from Spain to conduct two semesters of advanced degree training at an academy or conservatory in Germany.
- International Climate Protection Fellowship: A 12- to 24-month fellowship for “prospective leaders and postdocs” from non-European developing countries to pursue research or other kind of project at a research institute in Germany.
- JSPS Research Fellowship: A 6- to 24-month fellowship for a postdoc from Germany to pursue research of any kind at a qualified university in Japan.
- MSCA4Ukraine: A 6- to 140month fellowship for displaced researchers from Ukraine to pursue research in Germany “while maintaining their connections to research and innovation communities in Ukraine.”
- NSTC (Taiwan) Research Fellowship: A 6- to 24-month fellowship for a postdoc from Germany to pursue research of any kind at a qualified university in Taiwan.
- Philipp Schwartz Initiative: A fellowship of 24 months or more for researchers and postdocs who are “subject to significant and continuous personal threat in their country of origin” to relocate and continue pursuing their research in Germany.
Important Grant Details:
The Humboldt Foundation’s grants and fellowships generally range from €45,000 to €100,000, but select awards may go much higher. Grantseekers may explore the Humboldt Network of past grantees for more information on the type of research and researchers it supports.
- Humboldt’s grants are not geographically restricted, but are intended for non-German scholars to conduct their research in Germany, with the exception of several grants for German residents. Some programs focus on exchange with specific countries.
- Foreign nationals residing in Germany are not eligible unless they have spent the majority of the past five years outside of Germany. German nationals may also be eligible if they meet the same criterion.
- Research Award applicants must be nominated by an established scholar at an accredited German university. Previous award winners may submit a nomination jointly with a German scholar. Fellowship applicants may apply online individually. Deadlines vary by program.
- Grantees intending to do a research stay in Germany are responsible for securing their own host facilities. Grantees may not select a host with whom they have a previous professional or mentorship relationship.
- Rejected applicants are advised to revise and develop their application significantly before reapplying.
- Contact the von Humboldt Foundation via email at info@avh.de. The foundation’s telephone number is +49 228 833-0.
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