Humboldt Research Fellowship

Postdoctoral researchers can apply up to four years after completing their doctorate, for 6 to 24 months. Experienced researchers can apply up to twelve years after the doctorate, for 6 to 18 months, and must also hold a leadership role suited to their career stage, such as assistant professor, lecturer or head of an independent research group, and have publications on which they were the thematic lead. Where a doctorate is not possible or customary in a subject or country, an application can be made up to sixteen years after a master's or diploma, if the publication record matches the career stage. Recognised periods of child-rearing and other career breaks can extend these limits by up to six years.

The fellowship can be split into up to three stays, each at least three months long, used within 36 months of the start. Short visits for training, study or conferences are not funded. Applicants of any nationality may apply except, in principle, Germans; German citizens are eligible only if they work abroad permanently and will return abroad after the stay.

The monthly rate is 3,000 euros for postdocs and 3,600 euros for experienced researchers. On top of that, fellows receive a mobility allowance of 100 euros a month for conferences, archive visits and research trips, a subsidy towards health and liability insurance, a lump sum for travel to and from Germany, and an initial lump sum on arrival. Before the fellowship begins, the foundation offers an intensive German course of two or four months, open to accompanying partners too.

Families are supported. A family allowance is paid for partners and for children under 18 who stay in Germany for at least three months, with insurance subsidies for them, a flat-rate allowance for single parents, and extensions for fellows with children or for maternity. There is further support for fellows with disabilities or chronic illness. The host institution can also claim a research cost allowance of 800 euros a month in the natural and life sciences and engineering, or 500 euros in the humanities and social sciences.

Fellows work on the outline they agreed with their host, at the host institution. For fellowships longer than six months, research stays outside Germany are possible where the project needs them, up to a quarter of the total period; a Europe allowance of 550 euros a month (700 euros with a partner) may be paid for stays in another European country. Fellows and hosts are expected to follow the rules of good scientific practice and the binding principles of research ethics.

The foundation also brings fellows together. New fellows are invited to regional network meetings in German university towns. Every summer, in June or July, the annual meeting in Berlin gathers Humboldtians staying in Germany and their families, and ends with a reception given by the Federal President. In the second half of August there is a study tour of about two weeks through other parts of Germany, in groups of 30 to 40 fellows.

The foundation's stated aim is to support its fellows for life. Former fellows can apply to return to Germany for short visits of up to 30 days or research stays of up to three months, and the foundation usually decides on the longer stays within three months of receiving a complete application.

Alumni who return to research institutions in Central and Eastern Europe or in developing and threshold countries can apply, within six months of the end of the stay, for a return fellowship of 500 euros a month for a year to build their own group, plus 500 euros for literature. Other alumni measures include donations of books and equipment, subsidies for printing costs, funds to invite German colleagues, Research Group Linkage programmes that fund long-term collaborations, and the Humboldt Alumni Award for Innovative Networking Initiatives.