Funding
Join PAIR with Your Own Funding
Have you secured a research fellowship, or are you planning to apply for one? PAIR welcomes independent researchers to join our community and advance their work at the intersection of AI and philosophy.
Finding the Right Funding
There are numerous funding opportunities for researchers at different career stages and from various countries. In order to give you the right support, we suggest that you reach out to us early in your application process. To make a decision, PAIR will need a short two-page exposé for assessment.
- Staying in Germany – there are various programs for national and international researchers at all career stages
- The DAAD funding database provides a comprehensive, searchable collection of scholarships and fellowships.
- The main government-funded foundations in Germany offer PhD scholarships.
- Coming to Germany
- The DAAD funding database provides a comprehensive, searchable collection of scholarships and fellowships to come to Germany from abroad
- “Research in Germany” offers an overview of funding opportunities specifically for international researchers.
- The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation provides a database for various fellowship programs.
- The main government-funded foundations in Germany offer PhD scholarships (for candidates from inside and outside Germany)
- Researchers at Risk can benefit from special funding (2+ year fellowships) of the AvH “Philipp Schwartz Initiative” (e.g. if freedom of expression is under threat, the researcher has applied for asylum, war is raging, …).
- Funding from your home country or institution – Many universities offer funding for research stays abroad. Check with your research office or international programs coordinator. Your country’s national research funding body and national foundations very likely support international research visits and PhDs abroad.
- Get support from FAU – our Faculty Office for Research and Young Scientists supports researchers who are at FAU or would like to come to FAU in securing third-party funding (see also this guide). The FAU has several web pages about such funding, e.g. for PhD Students and PostDoctoral Researchers.
Selected Funding Programmes
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation offers various fellowship programs, including the following:
- Humboldt Research Fellowship (postdoctoral researchers or senior researchers: from abroad to Germany)
- Georg Forster Research Fellowship (researchers in all disciplines from developing and emerging countries to Germany)
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) provides numerous funding lines, including the PRIME program and other specialized fellowships. Browse their scholarship database for different opportunities.
DFG (German Research Foundation) offers several programs accessible from abroad:
- Emmy Noether Programme for early career researchers (up to 4 years from PhD) to establish their own research group
- Independent PI positions for funding your own position, or establishing your own research group
- Walter Benjamin Programme for postdoctoral researchers (who move to a different institution after PhD)
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships are among the most prestigious European funding options, available for both Global and European fellowship tracks. These awards are typically tax-free.
The European Research Council (ERC) aims to support researcher-initiated and led cutting-edge research in all scientific fields. The ERC offers four main funding lines: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants, and Synergy Grants.
Get in Touch
Whether you’re in the application stage or have already secured funding, we’d like to hear from you. Please contact our Director of Research with your CV and a one-page research exposé outlining your project.
Contact: Director of Research