Call for proposals
Small Grant Scheme for Doctoral Researchers of the MGK – CRC 1102
Deadline for applications: October 15, 2023
In 2023 we want to implement a new measure that aims to promote the Doctoral researchers’ skills in writing grant proposals and to stimulate their scientific independence and creativity. With this Small Grant Scheme we want to give the Doctoral researchers the opportunity to apply for a small budget for the support of (1) small research projects or (2) research visits to other institutions.
The aim of the Small Grant Scheme is to foster the development of the skills necessary to independently plan a research activity and to convince a scientific audience of its merit. Therefore, the scheme will not support activities that are integral parts of the doctoral researchers’ genuine PhD projects, but will support additional research activities by one or more doctoral researchers that are planned relatively independently from their PhD supervisor(s) (i.e., the supervisor(s) is/are invited to provide feedback, but the idea and responsibility for the activity should be with the PhD applicant(s)).
The Small Grant Scheme offers financial support of up to € 4.000 per individual activity of single-applicant proposals and up to € 6.000 for a joint project by multi-applicant proposals (from different working units). Requested costs may be associated with conducting the proposed research and/or with required travels and accommodation.
In 2023 Doctoral researchers of the MGK can apply once for this new opportunity (October 15). One to two applications will be selected in 2023. Starting in 2024 there will be two calls per calendar year, (March 15 and September 15). Doctoral researchers can apply twice per year and up to two applications will be selected for each call. The proposed activity has to be conducted within 12 months after receiving the support notice. A project report including justification of funds spent has to be submitted at the end of this period.
The main selection criteria will be (1) the scientific merit of the proposed project or research visit and (2) the compelling communication of the significance of the activity. In case of more excellent applications than available funds, we will give priority to projects that are submitted jointly by more than one MGK member as an internal cooperation.
Applicants should submit brief proposals of up to 4 pages until October 15, 2023 by e-mail to sfb1102@uni-saarland.de, subject: Small Grant Scheme, using the proposal template provided. Applications for small research projects should include (a) a description of the research question, (b) a commentary on why it is important to address it, (c) a description of the proposed research, (d) a time schedule, and (e) a justification of the requested funding. Applications for research visits should describe (a) what you will be working on during your visit, (b) the significance of the research visit for your scientific career, and (c) how the visit relates to your genuine research interests.
The application should be accompanied by a scientific CV and a brief letter of confirmation of the primary supervisor indicating that the supervisor approves the application. We are looking forward to your application!
Axel Mecklinger, Ingo Reich & Heike Przybyl