DFG: open calls

Second funding period (2027–2030) of SPP 2431 'New Data Spaces for the Social Sciences'. Open to researchers at German institutions. Covers four areas: data integration/linkage, respondent-driven designs, instrument validity, and multimodal data acquisition. Proposals must be submitted via the DFG elan portal. Host institution must have implemented DFG Code of Conduct for Good Research Practice.

Call for the second three-year project funding period (2027-2030) of a long-term Infrastructure Priority Programme on new data spaces for social science panel surveys, covering four research areas including AI-based data integration and multimodal data acquisition. Proposals must follow DFG forms 53.01 and 53.200 and be submitted via the elan portal.

Call for the third funding period (beginning 2027) of the annually open Priority Programme on continental scientific drilling; proposals must have a clear link to a future, ongoing or past ICDP drilling campaign and must be written in English and submitted via the DFG elan portal.

Joint international call supporting collaborative research on quantum technologies (algorithms/encryption, communications, computing, materials, sensing). German applicants at non-university institutions must submit DFG form 55.01 and apply via the elan portal alongside the NSERC submission.

Trans-Atlantic Platform (TAP) call supporting collaborative transnational social sciences and humanities (SSH) research on societal preparedness for uncertain futures. Requires international, interdisciplinary research teams; submission via the elan portal or national partner agencies.

Infrastructure Priority Programme funding natural science research in Antarctica, extended 2025-2030, with annual proposals for funding periods up to three years. Proposals must be written in English and submitted via the DFG's elan system; geological projects should focus on Antarctica's recent history (not older than ~34 million years).

Open to researchers at German universities, universities of applied sciences, and research institutions. Proposals must be written in English and submitted via the DFG elan portal. Focuses on four Antarctic research topics (climate dynamics, environmental change, polar connectivity, polar processes). Projects with geological questions must address Antarctic history ≤34 million years. Partner infrastructure (e.g. AWI) required for Antarctic access.

Call for projects starting in 2028 ("HALO 2028") using the HALO research aircraft for atmospheric and Earth system science; proposals must be in English and submitted via the DFG elan portal. Funds cover development of mission-specific high-tech sensors/instruments; permanently installed instruments aboard HALO are not fundable.

Individual project proposals within the existing Priority Programme on combinatorics, covering themes such as enumeration, matroids, convexity, lattice points, statistics and mathematical physics. Applicants must register and submit via the DFG elan portal; both new project and renewal proposals are accepted.

Third call under SPP 2520 for participation in vessel expeditions and initial analysis of samples/data aboard German research vessels (e.g. RV METEOR, RV SONNE, RV POLARSTERN); proposals must be in English and submitted via the elan portal; funding starts January 2028 or later for cruises from May 2028 onward.

Call for the second three-year funding period of a Priority Programme studying cortico-subcortical loops in adaptive sensing in mammals. Projects must study/model corticofugal connections and microcircuit-level neuronal activity in awake mammals; non-mammalian model systems and purely anatomical or disease-focused studies are excluded.

Joint DFG-SSHRC scheme funding one German-Canadian International Research Training Group in social sciences and humanities (non-health-focused), supporting doctoral researcher exchanges, PhD positions, and reciprocal research visits between German and Canadian institutions. Canadian lead PI must be affiliated with an SSHRC-eligible institution; proposal must meet SSHRC subject-matter eligibility.

Joint DFG–SSHRC call for German-Canadian IRTGs in social sciences and humanities (excluding health-focused topics). German team based at a university with doctoral degree-granting rights; Canadian lead must be at an SSHRC-eligible institution. Funds PhD positions (up to 48 months), research visits (6–12 months reciprocal), workshops, and seminars. ~30 doctoral researchers funded on the German side; 14–20 on the Canadian side.

Joint Lead Agency Procedure for Dutch-German research teams in NWO Domain Science areas (Astronomy, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics). Applicants must be based in Germany (DFG) or the Netherlands (NWO). Proposals outside the defined scope cannot be considered. Unilateral funding of only one national part is not possible.

Three-year pilot for a joint Lead Agency Procedure between DFG and NWO (Dutch Research Council), open from 6 August 2024 until 30 July 2027. Facilitates bilateral research projects between researchers in Germany and the Netherlands through mutual opening of individual funding procedures.

Joint basic research proposals within NWO Domain Science (Astronomy, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics) and corresponding DFG review boards. Commercial companies excluded. Non-university German researchers must fulfil DFG 'duty to cooperate' with a German university partner. No fixed budget cap; standard DFG Sachbeihilfe rules apply. Proposals compete with all other individual grants.

DFG and SSHRC joint call for German-Canadian International Research Training Groups in Social Sciences and Humanities. Requires collaboration between German and Canadian institutions. Published 18 August 2026.

DFG Heisenberg supports established researchers who have qualified for a professorship (habilitation or equivalent) to continue at a German institution — the senior career bridge above Emmy Noether. Excludes existing permanent W2/W3 professors.

DFG Walter Benjamin funds early postdocs integrated into the German research system. The Fellowship module sends the researcher to a host ABROAD; the Position module funds them in Germany. Origin = DE, outgoing-mobility option (the German equivalent of NWO Rubicon).

DFG Emmy Noether funds outstanding early-career researchers (≈up to 4y post-PhD with international experience) to lead an independent junior research group at a German institution. The German equivalent of NWO Vidi / ERC Starting tier.

Joint call between DFG and Canada's SSHRC for International Research Training Groups in Social Sciences and Humanities. Requires collaboration between German and Canadian research groups; each agency funds its own side.

Sino-German bilateral call for short-term workshops targeting students and early-career researchers. Requires collaboration between German and Chinese institutions. 2026 call published 24 April 2026.

DFG Research Grants (Sachbeihilfe) is Germany's standing single-PI project grant, open to qualified researchers at a German institution at any career stage. No fixed deadline.