Application Deadline: : 18 September 2026, 13:00 CET
Applications are now open for the 2027/2028 Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) Early Career Fellowship Programme. The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) invites researchers with a completed doctoral degree and a maximum of eight years of post-doctoral experience to apply for the FRIAS Early Career Fellowship Programme 2027/28. The fellowships are available to researchers from any nationality and discipline based in Freiburg, Germany and abroad. The programme offers access to the resources, networks, and academic community of the University of Freiburg, enhancing your research through new perspectives and collaborative opportunities.
Benefits
- Fellowships are available to researchers from any nationality based in Freiburg, Germany and abroad.
- Fellowships can last for: 4 to 10 months between 1 September 2027 and 31 August 2028.
- Depending on their circumstances, selected applicants will either receive a fellowship contract with the University of Freiburg or alternative compensation (for details see “Financial Aspects” in the application manual).
- Fellows receive a research cost contribution and travel costs for the inbound and the outbound journeys (if applicable).
- Fellowships will allow researchers to conduct their own research projects. Since one of the aims of FRIAS is to foster cross-disciplinary communication, full-time presence at FRIAS is mandatory. Fieldwork conducted outside Freiburg cannot be funded during the fellowship period.
Selection Criteria
- Applicants must hold a completed doctoral degree plus a maximum of eight years of post-doctoral experience.
- Applicants must have 4 peer-reviewed publications since 1 January 2022.
- Applicants must have at least six months’ research or study experience at academic institution(s) in a country different from the country of their first academic degree by the time of application.
- Fellowships will be awarded to individuals with challenging and innovative research projects of top academic quality through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process (expected success rate: ~5% of eligible applications).
- Applications are welcome from any discipline that can be supported at the University of Freiburg. FRIAS encourages applicants to learn more about the University of Freiburg’s research strengths and areas of focus.
Application Requirements
Information on the candidate and project (abstract, Layman’s abstract to communicate the research project to a general public, ethical issue table, motivation statement) must be filled into the online application form (see below).
Applicants must provide contact information for 2 evaluators personally known to them and willing to provide an evaluation of the candidate. Additionally, the following attachments are required to be uploaded to the application portal:
- Project proposal (max. 3000 words including footnotes, headers, footers, and bibliographical references, 4 graphs) (PDF, for mandatory structure refer to the application manual)
- CV in tabular form (PDF, mandatory template available in the application portal)
- Publication list (PDF): Applicants must provide a list of publications that may not exceed 8 publications in total. 4 of those publications must be published after 1 January 2022 and must be peer-reviewed (PDF, mandatory template available in the application portal).
- Copy of the PhD diploma (PDF)
- Letter of support (PDF): identifying a host laboratory in Freiburg where the research project can be carried out; only applicable to experimental scientists
- Experiment sketch and timetable (PDF): only applicable to experimental scientists, who are required to submit a sketch and timetable of the experiments they wish to conduct in Freiburg
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