Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Logo der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Zur Startseite

Junior research groups

A junior research group is an independent research group led by postdoctoral researchers (R3). Researchers in the early stages of their career are given the opportunity to take on leadership responsibility and gain valuable experience for a later professorship.

Prerequisites

To lead a group, you must:

  1. Provide evidence of complete scientific independence. You must have completed at least a two-year postdoctoral phase that is independent of the doctoral position.
  2. You must provide evidence of an independently assessed scientific qualification. Proof can be provided by
  • Appointment to a position following an internationally competitive selection process, either via an international competitive call for applications
  • or a successful application to corresponding third-party funding programmes (e.g. Emmy Noether Programme/DFG, ERC Starting Grant/EU, Change! Fellowships/Volkswagenstiftung, BMFTR or similar)

What are the tasks of a group leader?

  1. Independent research on a defined topic
  2. Acquisition of third-party funding
  3. Supervision of doctoral candidates and staff
  4. Teaching activities

What support programmes are available?

The Emmy Noether Programme offers scientists in the early stages of their career the opportunity to qualify for a university professorship by leading a group. Details on the requirements and funding volume can be found on the website of the German Research Foundation.

Further information on the Emmy Noether Programme

ERC Grants (European Research Council Grants) are available for different career stages. The ERC Starting Grant and Consolidator Grant are particularly suitable for junior research groups.

Further information on the ERC Starting Grant

Further information on the ERC Consolidator Grant

The Heisenberg Programme is aimed at academics who have gained their professional status through the Emmy Noether Programme, DFG project positions, research activities in industry or in academic mid-level positions. The target group also includes junior professors, post-doctoral researchers and researchers who wish to work in Germany. Researchers who have completed habilitation-equivalent work are also eligible to apply.

Further information on the Heisenberg Programme

A database of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy can be used to research specific funding programmes for junior research groups.

To the federal research database

The funding programme "Volkswagen Foundation Change! Fellowship" is aimed at postdocs and junior professors from two years after their doctorate (R2-R4) who are researching transformation processes.

Further information on the Change! Fellowship

Service and advice

We support you with questions about financing

The Research Service Centre advises postdocs on finding suitable funding providers and provides support from the initial project idea to the submission of the finished application.

Advice for your next career move?

The Humboldt Graduate School supports academics in the early stages of their careers. It also supports them on their path to leadership.

 

Postdocs Academy

Together with Freie Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin and Charité, Humboldt-Universität has launched the Postdoc Academy as the Berlin University Alliance. It offers postdocs support with their careers