Overview of funding portals

National research funding

National funding institutions

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is the central self-governing organization of science in Germany and the largest provider of third-party funding in Germany and Europe. It funds individual projects, collaborative projects and infrastructure.

The various federal ministries represent a broad spectrum of research funding programs and measures. Information on basic and current priorities can be found on the websites of the respective ministries. The federal funding database is the central point of contact for researching all current calls for proposals.

In addition to the German Research Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMTFR) is another central funding institution in national research funding. It supports research and innovation projects through thematically oriented, mostly time-limited funding programs.

Selection of other central funding institutions:

DAAD

Academies Programme

Regional funding institutions

Technologie-Beratungs-Institut GmbH

Landesförderinstitut Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

EU research funding

Foundations

Depending on their focus and purpose, foundations offer various funding instruments, including project, conference and career funding. An initial overview is provided by the Stifterverband and the Foundation search of the Association of German Foundations.

Important foundations for scientific project funding are

Stifterverband

Volkswagen Foundation

Mercator Foundation

Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft

Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Foundation

Fritz Thyssen Foundation

Gerda Henkel Foundation

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Daimler and Benz Foundation

Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation

Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds