Funding Opps & Info SessionsMarch 2026 | Issue 15 |
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Dear Reader,
I would first and foremost like to ask you to help me welcome
Sidra Kanwal
to our team! Sidra has taken up the lead role to translate complex funding application processes into practical
easy-to-follow workflows that help teams and individuals, esp. postdocs navigate funding applications with more confidence
and efficiency.Below is a comprehensive overview of the funding opportunities coming this year. We are thankful to those who continue to provide feedback for improving our offerings. We have added a new search feature to our calendar to help you find funding opportunities more easily. If there are any other features or tools that you would like to be made a reality. Please let us know in our feedback form. We are trying to improve your experience finding, applying for and managing funding opportunities! Finally, if you want support drafting proposals, I still have a few project slots open and would be happy to help. Reach out here to get started. Happy grant finding, Matt |
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| Funding Opportunities | |||
HFSP Postdoc FellowshipsLOI Deadline 05 May 2026HFSP Postdoctoral Fellowships (LTF and CDF) fund 3‑year interdisciplinary basic research in the life sciences, prioritizing high‑risk, transformative projects and researcher mobility. One LOI round (May) selects candidates... Read more PhD Students; Postdocs... |
Fachhochschulen & companiesDeadline 15 April 2026BMFTR's FH‑Kooperativ funds long‑term R&D collaborations between Universities of Applied Sciences and companies to strengthen FH research profiles, support practice‑oriented training (including cooperative PhDs),... Read more Postdocs & professors ... |
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Experiment!MaterialDeadline 01 June 2026Experiment!Material supports high-risk, exploratory R&D projects in the field of materials research. Funding is available for pre-competitive individual projects at universities & non-university research instit... Read more PIs at Unis, R&D institutes... |
MomentumDeadline 14 April 2026Momentum supports professors three to five years after their first tenured appointment to develop the strategic and content direction of their professorship. Open to all disciplines at eligible German institutions; funding... Read more Professors three to five years... |
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Webinar on funding oppsWebinar 09 Apr 2026 13:00–14:30The Volkswagen Foundation offers a free English live webinar on 09 Apr 2026 (13:00–14:30) presenting its funding portfolio, current calls, and the application-to-support process, followed by a Q&A. Participation is free an... Read more Researchers & prospective applicants... |
DFG-CAPES (German-Brazil)Deadline 15 Apr 2026DFG and CAPES invite joint German–Brazilian proposals in production engineering and manufacturing technology. Projects (funding up to two years, renewable) should apply advanced digitalisation, AI/ML,... Read more PIs (Germany and Brazil) |
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Choose Europe for ScienceDeadline 06 Apr 2027MSCA's Choose Europe for Science pilot supports organisations recruiting postdoctoral researchers into longer-term positions. MSCA co-funds the first 2–3 years (projects recruit at least 3 researchers for 48 or 60 months);... Read more A single legal entity in an EU... |
Visiting ProfessorshipsDeadline 01 Sept 2026The Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorships fund UK hosts to invite eminent overseas professors for 3–12 months (awards £10k–£150k). Focus is on transferring skills, delivering lectures and strengthening new or... Read more Academic staff at a UK unis... |
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STEP Scale UpDeadline 25 Nov 2026The EIC STEP Scale Up scheme offers equity investments of EUR 10–30M to scale strategic digital, deep-tech, clean-tech and biotech companies. It aims to catalyse larger funding rounds (EUR 50–150M), requires investor... Read more SMEs... |
EIC PathfinderDeadline 12 May 2026The EIC Pathfinder funds early-stage, high-risk/high-gain deep-tech research (TRL 1–4). It offers grants up to EUR 4 million, booster grants up to EUR 50,000, and access to coaching, mentoring and Business... Read more Consortia of at least 3... |
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Fulbright-Cottrell AwardDeadline 31 Mar 2026The Fulbright‑Cottrell Award supports junior group leaders and habilitated researchers in physics, astronomy and chemistry to run a three‑year integrated research and teaching project in Germany. Award: €63... Read more Jr. group leaders, Habilitated res... |
Future Value Creation (OdIn)Deadline 15 July 2026Two-year grants (up to €500,000) to create international, interdisciplinary "Places of Innovation" researching future international value creation and technological sovereignty. Projects must form international... Read more PhD holders; Postdocs... |
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ERC Advanced GrantDeadline 27 Aug 2026The ERC Advanced Grant funds established PIs to pursue ambitious, ground‑breaking projects across any research field. Grants may be awarded up to €2.5M (plus additional start-up/equipment funding)... Read more PIs (established res... |
Postdoc FellowshipsDeadline 09 Sept 2026The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 call supports postdoctoral researchers worldwide to undertake international research stays and develop their careers. The call provides guidance on eligibility, host finding, drafting... Read more Postdocs... |
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EIC PathfinderEIC Pathfinder Open Deadline 12 May 2026The EIC Pathfinder funds early-stage deep‑tech research (TRL 1–4) with grants up to €4M and booster grants of €50k. It supports consortia and, for Challenges, single applicants, offering tailored Business Acceleration... Read more Research teams; Consortia of at least 3 ... |
MSCA COFUNDDeadline 08 April 2026Guidance for organisations and consortia applying to the MSCA COFUND scheme. COFUND co-funds doctoral or postdoctoral programmes to recruit and train researchers, supports open recruitment, skills development... Read more One single beneficiary organisation (mon... |
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MSCA Staff ExchangesDeadline 16 April 2026MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026 supports international consortia to implement staff secondments (1–12 months) between organisations across sectors to share knowledge, develop skills and mentoring, and build long-term... Read more Higher education orgs... |
MSCA Doctoral NetworksDeadline 28 May 2026MSCA Doctoral Networks (2025) fund international consortia to create doctoral programmes (Standard, Industrial, Joint) that train PhD candidates across disciplines, promote intersectoral mobility, transferable skills and e... Read more International consortia of organisations... |
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innovate! centerDeadline 20 Apr 2026The Joachim Herz Foundation's innovate! center 2026 funds German universities and practice partners to set up a non-profit transfer gGmbH that translates water and soil research into practice. Up to €5M supports building s... Read more German unis together with practi... |
innovate! academyDeadline 31 Mar 2026innovate! academy 2026 "Water-Enabled Materials" funds interdisciplinary, transfer-oriented projects (TRL 3–6) that use water as an active design element. Benefits include a two-year TVL-14 staff position, up to €100,000 p... Read more PhD students at an advanced stage... |
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RAISE pilotDeadline 21 April 2026The RAISE pilot invites consortia of leading European research labs to form thematic Networks of Excellence applying AI to scientific research. Selected networks will develop strategic research agendas, carry out collabora... Read more Consortia of EU... |
Robotics for ManufacturingDeadline 15 Apr 2026Horizon Europe topic to advance robotics skills for manufacturing by developing AI-driven, transferable robotics capabilities and running a three-stage competition. Stage 1 selects teams; Stage 2 awards €200K... Read more SMEs, research orgs, public... |
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CZS Wildcard 2026Deadline 20 Apr 2026The CZS Wildcard 2026 funds bold, unconventional interdisciplinary STEM projects. Consortia of 3–5 scientists from at least two disciplines can apply for a two-year grant (€750,000) to pursue high-risk/high-reward research... Read more Jr. group leaders, Professor... |
CodeChiDeadline 24 Jun 2026DFG invites proposals for the second three-year funding period of Priority Programme SPP 2416 CodeChi to decipher the molecular, structural and biophysical principles of chitin/chitosan/COS and translate insights... Read more PIs... |
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Quantum tech & photonicsDeadline 30 Apr 2026BMFTR funds pre-competitive R&D projects (single or consortium) to develop open, low-cost hardware, interfaces and software for research and teaching in quantum technologies and photonics. Projects must... Read more SMEs, Unis... |
Prospect UtopiaDeadline 15 Apr 2026Prospect Utopia is a Gerda Henkel Foundation 50th‑anniversary programme inviting postdoctoral researchers across supported disciplines to propose creative, scholarly projects exploring visions of the future. Fifty proj... Read more Postdocs, provisional PhD... |
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Bayer Foundation FellowshipsApply by 15 April 2026The Bayer Foundation offers fellowships for outstanding master, PhD, medical students, early career researchers and STEM teachers to support international research projects, internships and activities. Awards... Read more MSc, PhD, Medical students... |
WISER FundingDeadline 31 March 2026Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research (WISER) invites paired proposals from women PIs in India and Germany across any STEM field. Grants of up to 3 years cover basic project costs, travel and... Read more Women PIs with a regular/long-term... |
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Change! FellowshipsDeadline 16 April 2026Change! Fellowships (Volkswagen Foundation) fund interdisciplinary research on societal transformation. The scheme offers 1.5–1.8 million euro for a position over 4–5 years to postdocs, junior professors and... Read more Postdocs (2 to 15 years after... |
ERC Plus GrantDeadline 02 Sept 2026ERC Plus Grants fund outstanding principal investigators worldwide to pursue transformative research at Host Institutions in EU or associated countries. Grants last 4–7 years, awarded as a lump sum up to €7M. Open... Read more Researchers at all career stages... |
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AI-based mobility systemsDeadline 27 March 2026The BMFTR funds inter- and transdisciplinary R&D consortia to develop and test AI-based climate‑neutral mobility systems in model regions. Projects may run up to five years (two phases); funding is non‑repayable and should... Read more Unis, R&D Institutes... |
SE Asia-EU ProjectsDeadline 31 March 2026The 10th Call invites interdisciplinary consortia from Southeast Asia and Europe to submit joint proposals on New Materials & Green Transition or Climate Resilient, Smart Agriculture using AI & IoT. Projects mus... Read more Higher Ed. Orgs.,... |
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R&D Projects for AI methods & ML modelsDeadline 30 Apr 2026BMFTR funds research projects developing foundational AI and ML methods with emphasis on hybrid approaches (combining learned methods with symbolic, causal or simulation-based techniques), efficiency, robustness and reprod... Read more Unis, R&D Institutes... |
International Collaborative Bioeconomy ProjectsDeadline 03 June 2026The BMFTR funds international bioeconomy R&D consortia with partners in Japan or Queensland/Australia under Bioeconomy International 2027. German partners in selected transnational projects can receive non‑repayable grants... Read more Unis, R&D Institutes... |
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Croatia-Germany Collaborations (HRZZ)Deadline 31 Dec 2026The DFG announces a Weave Lead Agency collaboration with the Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ) to support bi‑ to trilateral collaborative research via a single review process. Teams from 2–3 European countries may submit ... Read more PIs from 2–3 EU countries... |
Adolf Martens Fellowship ProgrammeProjects Reviewed 31 Mar, 31 July, 30 NovBAM’s Adolf Martens Fellowship funds up to 10 post‑doc junior scientists for one year to carry out independent projects aligned with BAM’s scientific directions. Applicants (PhD obtained outside Germany ≤3 years) must cont... Read more PhD holders, Postdocs... |
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EU-Ukrainian Initiative LUKEDeadline 15 May 2026The BMFTR participates in the LUKE Joint Call to fund transnational, multilateral research consortia with Ukrainian partners in energy, cybersecurity, medical & health research and humanities/social sciences. German partne... Read more Unis, R&D Institutes... |
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© 2025–2026 Matthew Brian Plutschack. All rights reserved. Bergmannstr. 97, 10961 Berlin, Germany VAT-ID (USt-IdNr.): DE370042164 Not a subscriber yet? subscribe here. The newsletter provides regular information on new calls for proposals and research funding programs. The information published is carefully compiled, but does not claim to be up-to-date, factually correct or complete; no guarantee is given in this respect. Furthermore, MBP R&C is not responsible for the content of external sites that can be accessed via a link. The provider of the linked website is solely liable for illegal, incorrect or incomplete content and for damages resulting from the use or non-use of the information. |
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