National research funding

There are a large number of research funding bodies in Germany. Depending on the funding body and funding programme, funding can be provided for individuals, smaller research projects, large-scale facilities, networks or even large coordinated research programmes. On the following pages, you can find out about the funding programmes and objectives of individual funding bodies, what you should look out for in the application process and how our Research Unit can support you in your application.

National funding bodies and funding programmes

State Ministries

The state ministries primarily support collaborative research, e.g. through the funding programmes "Profiling" or "Networks". However, there are also programmes aimed at individuals, e.g. "Lamarr Fellow Network". The Intelligent Technical Systems Network OstWestfalenLippe (it's OWL) promotes projects in the field of innovation and transfer.

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Federal Ministries

Various federal ministries fund projects as part of their research programmes. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) administers a good half of all government funds for research funding. Learn more about our services and find helpful documents for the application process.

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German Research Foundation (DFG)

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is one of the largest funding bodies for basic research in Germany. The DFG offers individual funding, funding for large-scale facilities and also funding for large coordinated programmes such as Collaborative Research Centres and Research Training Groups. We are happy to accompany you throughout your application process.

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Alliance of Industrial Research (AIF)

The Alliance of Industrial Research (AIF) coordinates part of the research funding of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection. The Industrial Cooperative Research (IGF) programmes and the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM) play a key role here.

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European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The ERDF/JTF Programme NRW 2021-2027 supports projects that contribute to advancing innovation, research and technological development in NRW. Find out more about the latest calls for proposals and the special features of the application procedure.

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Useful documents for the application

Lump sums for personnel or travel costs are not always specified by the funding bodies. In these cases, our tables can help you to calculate personnel costs and break down travel expenses correctly