Information for Researchers
In light of the war in Ukraine, we have put together some information on funding opportunities and support available for Ukrainian researchers.
Support from the University
Assistance for Researchers
The Welcome Center for international researchers can advise Ukrainian postdocs with regard to available scholarships and support the search for potential scientific mentors at the University of Bonn.
Please contact colleagues at:
Email: welcome@uni-bonn.de
Research funding
The Research Funding section can help Ukrainian researchers find suitable schemes for financing their research at the University of Bonn. We also provide advice to Bonn-based professors keen to offer a home to colleagues from Ukraine.
Please contact colleagues at:
Email: foerderberatung@verwaltung.uni-bonn.de
Research
Funding for researchers
The Philipp Schwartz Initiative enables universities and research institutions in Germany to offer a full scholarship to researchers whose lives are at risk. The funding comprises either a scholarship for a fixed amount or an actual employment contract. It is envisaged for a period of up to 24 months, with researchers able to apply for an extension of up to 12 months before the initial scholarship term has even finished. Please note that researchers cannot apply for this program themselves. Anyone interested should contact potential host institutions in Germany, which will then be able to submit an application.
Who can obtain a Philipp Schwartz scholarship?
The initiative can fund researchers from any country and in any discipline who can demonstrate that their lives are at risk. This can be proven either by holding residency status under asylum proceedings within the EU that confirms the existence of a recognized threat or by a credible assessment of a threat issued in the past 12 months by an external body such as the Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) or the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA).
Here are the contact details of our colleagues:
Email: welcome@uni-bonn.de
The German Research Foundation (DFG) helps refugee researchers by making it easier for them to take part in research projects and apply for funding under the Walter Benjamin Programme. In so doing, the DFG is also underlining its solidarity with researchers from Ukraine and Russia whohave had to flee their homeland as a result of the ongoing war.
Walter Benjamin Programme
The program enables refugee researchers to propose their own project to be carried out in Germany. Although the program is usually only open to early-stage postdocs, this restriction is lifted for refugees.
Supplementary applications/integration into ongoing grant programs
All project managers and universities can submit supplementary applications in order to integrate qualified refugees (i.e. prospective or postdoctoral researchers) in DFG projects that are already receiving funding. A supplementary application can be made for all forms of funding that allow refugees to be integrated into a project, particularly guest funding, staff posts and the Mercator module. Refugee researchers can also be funded directly as part of Research Training Groups, Collaborative Research Centers and other DFG-funded collaborative projects. There is no need to submit separate supplementary applications for the corresponding funds as these measures can be financed from funding that has already been released.
The German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) is now running a special program offering fellowships for Ukrainian university graduates in the fields of environmental protection and nature conservation. It is intended for graduates who are living in or who have fled Ukraine and who hold a good or very good Master’s degree, as well as PhD students. Applicants will need good English and/ or German skills.
The fellowship allows graduates to spend six to twelve months researching and undertaking continual professional development at German research institutions, environment agencies, NGOs or companies in order to gain experience across the whole environmental protection and nature conservation spectrum. The fellowship includes at least one intensive German course. The DBU organizes an extensive program of events accompanying the fellowship that comprises seminars, subject-specific events and workshops.
As part of the “Argelander Program for Early-Career Researchers – Reaching for the Stars,” the University of Bonn awards Argelander Grants in the Starter-Kit (A) grant program, called “Stepping Stone.” The grant program is designed to enable early-career researchers who are looking to continue their academic career by switching to the University of Bonn to secure initial “start-up” employment and help them obtain third-party funding. The funding comprises human resources to cover start-up financing for a dedicated position and material resources for research work required to put together proposals as well as advice sessions on writing applications for third-party funding and preparing for an academic career.
Support for researchers
The Humboldt Foundation applies special rules to funding recipients from Ukraine regarding alumni stays and scholarship extensions. If you have not received any funding from the Humboldt Foundation in the past and would like to apply for a research fellowship for the first time, you are also welcome to contact the consulting team.
List of contacts
A list of researchers who can offer research opportunities in their institutes (funded and unfunded).
On the website of DAAD’s National Academic Contact Point Ukraine you can find information about Germany and the German higher education and research system, in addition to an overview on different support options in academia. The website is also available in Ukrainian.
On its special website “ERA4Ukraine”, the pan-European initiative EURAXESS provides researchers fleeing the war in Ukraine an overview on available support and measures at European and national level.
Ukrainian students and scientists can find job and scholarship opportunities from universities worldwide on the website #ScienceForUkraine. The website is a successful initiative of volunteer students and research scientists from academic institutions in Europe and around the world.
The University of Bonn is actively supporting researchers at risk who can no longer work in their home countries due to persecution or violence.
As a founding member of the German section of the worldwide Scholars at Risk network, the University of Bonn is explicitly committed to the principle of academic freedom.