Applications are now open for the 2024/2025 DAAD Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience (PRIME) Program. Click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
About DAAD Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience – P.R.I.M.E. 2024/2025
DAAD PRIME funds the international mobility of postdoctoral researchers with temporary positions at German universities. Postdocs who see their long-term career perspectives in Germany receive funding for an independent research stay abroad, based on temporary employment at a German university. The grant also includes a mandatory return phase for reintegration into the German science system. The program aims to provide participants with an important qualification for a continued career in science. The target group are postdoctoral researchers who see their long-term professional career in Germany. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) provides the funds for this program.
Benefits of DAAD Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience – P.R.I.M.E. 2024/2025
Funding
- DAAD provide funding for an 18-month employment contract at a German university to conduct a 12-month research stay abroad with a subsequent return phase to Germany. During your 12 months abroad, you may combine stays at several research institutions in one or several countries.
Funding Duration
- DAAD provides support for 18 months: the first 12 months are spent abroad, and the remaining 6 months of the return phase are spent in Germany (funding cycle 12+6). If your science or insurance and residence law requires an alternate schedule, other models may be chosen with approval of DAAD.
- Integration into the German social security system is a prerequisite for the research stay abroad, therefore funding may have to begin with a 1-month starting phase in Germany (funding cycle 1+12+5).
- The respective local statutory insurance determines your status.
Support
The DAAD will conclude a grant agreement with the respective German university covering the costs for the regular salary and the monthly expatriate allowance.
- Salary: temporary 18-month employment contract at a German university according to pay scale TV-L EG 13. Your exact pay is determined by the universities based on your previous work experience.
- Expatriate allowance: A monthly expatriate allowance for the research stay abroad is based on an area classification of the destination and the gross income of the fellows.
- Travel allowance: PRIME Fellows receive the DAAD lump sum travel subsidy for postdoctoral scientists. Spouses (either by marriage or according to German law on civil partnerships) and children are also eligible if they accompany the fellow for at least one month during the research stay abroad. The travel allowance is not part of the grant agreement with the German university but is paid directly by DAAD.
DAAD Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience – P.R.I.M.E. 2024/2025 Requirements
- Applicants with above-average qualifications from all faculties may apply.
- They must have completed their doctorate with excellent results before the start of funding. There are no restrictions regarding nationality and current residency. However, depending on nationality and place of residence, restrictions may apply when choosing the destination country for the stay abroad (see application requirements).
Eligibility requirements
- Only candidates with an excellent scientific record, including at least one publication (coauthorship is accepted), will be considered. You must have completed your doctorate before the start of funding with excellent marks. If the doctorate is not graded, the decision lies with the DAAD selection committee. While not recommended, it is possible to apply in the final stages of the doctorate.
- You can apply up to six years after the (first) doctorate. Parental and care periods are considered. o Applicants must comply with the programme's mobility rule, ie, they are free to choose any country (except Germany) as destination for their research stay abroad, provided they have not resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in that country for more than 12 months in total during the three years preceding the application deadline of 30 August 2024. Time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention will not be considered.
- Applicants who are EU nationals, resident citizens, or have been continuously active in research for three years' full-time equivalent in the EU prior to the time of recruitment may spend their research staying outside of the EU. All other applicants must stay in the European Union for their 12 months “abroad” phase.
- To be considered for funding, applicants living abroad are expected to state their intention to continue their research careers in Germany upon completion of the return phase.
- Applicants who already have a permanent employment contract with the prospective host institution for the intended research activity are not eligible for funding.
- Applicants must accept that the research stay abroad and the return phase to Germany are both mandatory parts of the program.
- With your application, you agree to the “Rules of good scientific practice” and the ethical guidelines of the program.
- Re-application is only possible once – within a maximum of 2 years – after consultation with the PRIME team. The improvements must be labeled in your project proposal and explained on an extra page.
Application Date and Process
The application form is available in the application portal. To get to the portal please click on Stipendiendatenbank für Deutsche, fill in "Fachrichtung" (subject of your research), "Zielland" (country of the period abroad) and "Programme für: Promovierte", and select the programme.
Please mind the instructions on registering on the portal, choose English as portal language, activate, if necessary, the compatibility view of your browser and choose English as browser language. After registration in the portal, please click on the tab "personal funding".
Please note that the selection committee will only consider applications that are complete and submitted prior to the deadline.
Other Downloadable Forms
Application Deadline
20 August, 2024
Scholarship Application Portal
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DAAD Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience – P.R.I.M.E. 2024/2025
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