Applications call for Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers 2020.

This opportunity is for a researcher from abroad with above average qualifications, at the beginning of your academic career and only completed your doctorate in the last four years. A Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers allows you to carry out long-term research (6-24 months) in Germany. Applicants choose their own topic of research and their academic host.

Benefits 

The fellowship is worth 2,670 EUR per month. This includes a mobility lump sum and a contribution to health and liability insurance. In addition to that, the following benefits are available for research fellows

• Lump-sum for the fellow’s travel expenses if the costs are not borne by a third party.
• Language fellowship for an intensive language course lasting two to four months at selected language institutes in Germany immediately prior to the actual period of research; language fellowships may also be granted to accompanying marital partners.
• Family allowances for accompanying family members staying at least three months (monthly allowance: up to 346 EUR for marital partners and up to 274 EUR for each child).
• For single-parents: flat-rate allowance for accompanying children (under the age of 18) for stays of at least three months (400 EUR per month for the first child and 100 EUR per month for every additional child).
• An additional extension of the fellowship up to 12 months for research fellows accompanied by children under the age of 12.
• A subsidy towards research costs to be paid to the hosts in Germany amounting to 800 EUR per month (for research in the natural sciences and engineering) and 500 EUR (for research in the humanities and social sciences).
• Europe allowance for a research stay at a research institute in another European country (though not the research fellow’s own country); for a designated period in the course of the fellowship if necessary to ensure the success of the research.
• Extensive alumni sponsorship once a successful research stay has come to an end, especially for maintaining contacts with collaborative partners in Germany during the Humboldtian’s entire academic career.

Requirements 

• Doctorate or comparable academic degree (Ph.D., C.Sc., or equivalent), completed less than four years prior to the date of application.
• Candidates who have nearly completed their doctoral degrees are eligible to apply provided that they submit the manuscript of their dissertation or publications containing the results of their dissertation, however, at the earliest, 6 months prior to the completion of their dissertation.
• Eligible applicants must have lived outside Germany for a minimum of 12 months in total in the 18-month period prior to submission of the application.
• Potential applicants of German nationality are eligible to apply provided that their habitual place of work and residence has been located abroad on the assumption of permanence for at least five years.

Selection Criteria 

• Academic record and academic performance to date (mobility, determination, breadth of research activities, academic productivity).
• Quality of key publications specified in the application (originality, degree of innovation, applicant’s contribution in cases of multiple authorship).
  Originality and innovation potential of the suggested research outline (significance for the advancement of the discipline, convincing choice of academic methods, prospects for the academic development of the applicant, clear focus, and feasibility of realization within the requested funding period and at the chosen host institution).
• The applicant’s future potential (academic potential, further academic development, career prospects).

Some useful links

• Program information
• Research area index