Funding organisations

There are various organisations in Germany that fund research projects and individual researchers.

The largest organisations that award financial support to individuals and their research projects are the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In addition to these large funding organisations, many other public and private bodies provide financial support for science and research. Important donors include not only Germany’s federal and state governments, but also the European Union. A large number of charitable foundations have also set themselves the goal of supporting research and junior researchers.

When it comes to the support and funding of research projects, non-university research institutions and industry play a major role in Germany’s funding system. They especially support young researchers with job offers.

Below we will provide an overview of Germany’s most important funding organisations.

The following links provide information for the respective group of researchers:

PhD students Postdocs and junior researchers Senior researchers and academic staff Research projects

Overview of funding organisations

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes research collaborations between excellent international and German researchers. It awards over 900 research fellowships and research grants every year.

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD is the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers.

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

The DFG is the central research funding organisation in Germany. It supports research projects and funds cooperation between researchers – also at an international level.

European Union

The EU is funding research in a variety of ways through Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. These measures do not only include support for basic and applied research, but also funding programmes for collaboration and exchange in higher education.

German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF)

The German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF) offers various opportunities for project funding for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Companies

More than two-thirds of the annual funds invested in research come from industry. Companies either conduct research themselves or collaborate with research partners. (Junior) researchers are supported not only with job offers, but also with scholarships and prizes from corporate foundations.