Junior and Senior Fellowship Programme 2025 (Germany)

They invite the Fellows to carry out their own research projects in Germany in cooperation with a local host at UBT. Prior to submission of the application, applicants are required to identify a researcher in Bayreuth with whom they aim to carry out their research project. The local hosts provide their Fellows with appropriate office and lab space and an up-to-date infrastructure. Applications are welcome from all disciplines, although exceptions apply. The total support period of approximately three to six months can be divided into several stages. The Fellow will usually take up the Fellowship at the UBT and reside there during the time of the Fellowship.

Goal

• The Centre supports academic exchange across existing boundaries: between disciplines, between different cultures and countries, between established and younger researchers. Furthermore, the Centre engages in activities opening the research community to society and politics. Successful applicants will become Fellows at the Centre and profit from the lively research environment of the university and its seven faculties.

Funding Information

• Senior Fellowships: Award sum €40,000.
• Junior Fellowships: Award sum €20,000.
• All Fellows will have the awarded sum at their disposal for covering all costs of project realization. Fellows accompanied by at least one child receive an additional monthly family allowance of €250.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Centre offers its Fellowships to applicants in all disciplines that can be supported at the University of Bayreuth. Applicants for Senior and Junior Fellowships must have lived outside Germany for a minimum of 12 months in total in the 18 month period prior to submission of the application. Researchers of German nationality are eligible to apply if their regular residency is abroad with the prospect of at least five years. Potential applicants who have completed their school education and one university degree or one university degree and their doctorate in Germany are subject to the regulations applying to German citizens. Researchers currently based at German research institutions are not eligible for this Fellowship programme.
• They advise researchers who have completed their PhD and may have up to four years of postdoctoral experience to apply for Junior Fellowships. They expect applicants with a minimum of eight years of post-doctoral experience or a tenured professorship or an equivalent permanent position to apply for Senior Fellowships. Researchers between four and eight years of postdoctoral experience are free to indicate if they want to apply for Junior or Senior Fellowships; please consult the Office of the Bayreuth Humboldt Centre for assistance.
• They view the diversity of their awardees as an asset and are expressly committed to the goal of gender equality. Female scholars and anyone who can help make the research profile of the university more diverse are strongly encouraged to apply. In case of equal suitability, preference will be given to applicants of underrepresented groups.
• In case of doubt about the eligibility of the applicant, submission of documentary evidence may be requested after the call deadline.

Evaluation Criteria

• The Bayreuth Humboldt Centre requests external expert reviews for each application. The reviewers will evaluate the applications according to the following criteria:
  • Academic record and academic performance of the applicant to date,
  • Future potential of the applicant,
  • Quality of key publications specified in the application,
  • Originality, innovation potential and clarity of the suggested research outline, and
  • Feasibility of the research project in cooperation with the local host and interconnectivity with the University of Bayreuth beyond the local host.

For more information, visit University of Bayreuth.