Application Deadline: June 30th 2022
Through the Georg Forster Research Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation sponsors researchers with above-average qualifications and from all fields. These researches must come from developing and transition countries – excluding PR China and India.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables highly-qualified scientists and scholars from abroad who are just embarking on their academic careers and who completed their doctorates less than four years ago to spend extended periods of research (6-24 months) in Germany. The research fellowship programme is financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung – BMZ).
The research is carried out in cooperation with academic hosts at research institutions in Germany. Applicants choose their own topic of research and their host in Germany and prepare their research outline independently. Details of the research outline including information on the intended duration of the fellowship must be agreed with the intended host before applying. Short-term visits for study and training purposes or for attending conferences are not eligible for sponsorship.
Eligibility 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.
- Academic publications reviewed according to international standards and printed in journals and/or by publishing houses.
- Choice of a research outline of major relevance to the future development of the candidate’s country or region of origin
- Confirmation that research facilities are available and mentoring agreement and a detailed expert’s statement by an academic host at a research institution in Germany.
- Expert reviews from the doctoral supervisor and one other academic qualified to give well-founded comments on the applicant’s qualification, preferably including reviewers not working at the applicant’s own institute.
- Necessary language skills: humanities or social sciences and medicine: good knowledge of German if it is necessary to carry out the research successfully; otherwise a good knowledge of English; natural sciences and engineering: good knowledge of German or English.
- Citizenship as well as principal place of residence and work in a developing country, emerging economy or transition state
Benefits
The fellowship is worth 2,670 EUR per month. This includes a mobility lump sum and a contribution towards health and liability insurance.
Additional benefits for research fellows:
- lump sum for the fellow’s return 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);
- 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.
How to Apply
If you would like to apply for the Georg Forster Research Fellowship, please submit the necessary documents to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation online only.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the Georg Forster Research Fellowships (HERMES) 2022
