Deadline: 15 October 2020
Applications for ‘Freigeist’ Fellowships 2020 is now open for young researchers with a strong personality, a creative mind, an ability to identify and use freedom, dedicated to overcoming resistance.
A ‘Freigeist’ fellow opens up new horizons and combines critical analysis with imagination and innovative solutions. By thinking ahead the ‘Freigeist’ fellow will act as a catalyst in overcoming existing disciplinary, institutional and even national boundaries.
Scope for Funding
The main focus is on junior researchers (up to 4 years of postdoctoral experience) working at the borders of neighbouring fields or disciplines. The ‘Freigeist’ initiative offers freedom for creative thinking, whilst at the same time providing security for at least 5 years and in the long run the opportunity to establish a career within a scientific research organization or university in Germany.
Initial Funding Period
- The funding offer encompasses two funding phases with a maximum funding period of eight years and funding of up to 2.2 million euro.
- The first funding phase can encompass either five or six years. This also allows the Fellow to be hired as a W1 Junior Professor for the duration of the grant. Depending on project requirements, research field and career stage, funding may be requested for:
- The Fellow’s position (salary scale TV-L 15 or W1-junior professorship)
- Positions for scientific personnel (doctoral students, postdocs)
- Non-personnel costs relevant to the project (e.g. consumables, travel expenses, equipment)
- The maximum amount applied for in the first funding phase should be based on the requirements of the respective project and should not exceed 1.8 million euro.
- A second funding period of two or three years is possible, whereby the total funding period (including the first funding phase) must not exceed eight years.
General Conditions
- Anyone can apply who identifies with the goals of a ‘Freigeist’ Fellowship and whose proposed research project fits in with the aims pursued by the Freigeist initiative.
- Candidates must, however, conform to the following conditions:
- Their doctorate must have been obtained not longer than four years but at least one year previously (with regard to the date of the defense relative to the deadline of the initiative).
- The Fellowship must be integrated within a university or an extra-mural research institution in Germany.
- Candidates must already have changed their academic environment and moved to a new location – at the latest when starting the Fellowship. A return to the working context of the doctorate will only be accepted under exceptional circumstances.
- A previously completed research sojourn abroad, at the latest integrated in the proposed research project.
Participation in Academic Teaching
It is expected that Fellows participate in academic teaching (including examinations), involving generally a teaching load of between two and four weekly hours per semester. They are also expected to participate in academic self-administration. This holds also good for Fellows affiliated to extra-mural research institutions. The Fellows are granted the right to award a doctoral degree and assume responsibility for the supervision and examination of doctoral candidates in their projects. In the opinion of the Foundation, these rights and duties are important for the establishment and leadership of an independent junior research group and contribute significantly to the development of the Fellow’s individual research profile.
Selection Criteria
- The applicant’s personal qualifications
- The scientific quality and originality of the project
- Accuracy of fit between the project proposal, applicant’s personal profile, and aims of the funding initiative
- A capability for independent research
- The potential for breakthroughs, new methodological approaches, interdisciplinary cooperation
- A constructive approach to possible risks.
For more information, visit https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en/funding/our-funding-portfolio-at-a-glance/freigeist-fellowships