The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2018, the DFG had a funding budget of almost 3.3 billion euros.
Function
The DFG supports research in science, engineering, and the humanities through a variety of grant programmes, prizes and by funding infrastructure. The self-governed organization is based in Bonn and financed by the German states and the federal government. As of 2017, the organization consists of approx. 100 research universities and other research institutions. The DFG endows various research prizes, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. The Polish-German science award Copernicus is offered jointly with the Foundation for Polish Science. According to a 2017 article in The Guardian, the DFG has announced it will publish its research in free online journals.
Background
In 1937, the Notgemeinschaft der Wissenschaft was renamed the Deutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderung der Forschung, for short known as the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Even before the election of the National Socialists to power in 1933, projects funded by the NG had worked diligently on Nazi-aligned research, especially German ethnographic research in Eastern Europe that would lay the foundations for the Hitlerite "Lebensraum" and extermination policies; during the National Socialist period, the NG leadership showed itself ready and willing to adapt to the “new era” by gearing its funding practices towards issues related to armaments and autocracy, essentially aligning its goals with the those of the new regime. By the end of World War II in Germany, in 1945, the DFG was no longer active. In 1949, after formation of the Federal Republic, it was re-founded as the NG and again from 1951 as the DFG.
The Heisenberg Programme of the DFG is aimed at young outstanding scientists who meet all the requirements for appointment to a permanent professorship. The programme was named after the German physicistWerner Heisenberg, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics at the age of 31. The funding programme aims to enable scientists to prepare for a scientific leadership position and to work on further research topics during this time. The maximum funding period is five years. Normally, the habilitation is a prerequisite for applying for admission to the programme. However, services similar to habilitation are also included in the selection. The program consists of the following variants:
The Heisenberg Scholarship
The Heisenberg position is a DFG-funded temporary research assistant position at a university.
The Heisenberg professorship a DFG-funded professorship with the aim of establishing a new research area within a scientific focus of the university.
The Heisenberg temporary substitute position for clinicians is intended for clinically working scientists who can take some time off for research.
