Scholarships & Fellowships
The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities supports outstanding talent at all career levels – from undergraduates to doctoral researchers and postdocs through to junior management positions. In doing so, it creates opportunities for further career development and offers attractive conditions in the science hub of Bavaria.
Synopsis Kolleg (in cooperation with the University of Würzburg)
The one-year certificate programme of the University of Würzburg is aimed at young school-leavers with the Abitur exam. As part of a small group, they can explore their personal interests, strengths and goals before deciding on a third-level course. The Academy supports the Synopsis Kolleg programme with two scholarships.
Graduate Center for Doctoral Researchers (Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation - bidt)
The bidt funding programme supports doctoral researchers at Bavarian universities with networking and further qualification opportunities as well as a scholarship of 3,000 euros per year for up to four years.
Graduate Center for Postdocs (Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation)
The funding programme supports postdocs at Bavarian universities in developing an independent research profile in the field of digitalisation. The objective is to help them qualify for tenure track chairs or take on the leadership of junior research groups or comparable positions. The funding is aimed at outstanding young researchers from the first or second year after their doctorate whose digitalisation projects are relevant in terms of technology, commercial potential or benefits for society.
The next application phase is expected to start in 2028.
Young Academy
The Young Academy (Junges Kolleg) offers the next generation of talented researchers the freedom to address creative and innovative topics outside of a university setting. The projects are characterised by their innovation and can cover any discipline, in particular those at the interface with established scientific fields.
Visiting Fellowship for Transcultural Philology in Munich (in cooperation with LMU Munich)
The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the cluster of excellence “Munich Center for Cross-Cultural Philology” (MCCP) of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) award two visiting fellowships for established international researchers. As well as funding of 25,000 euros, the fellowships include a minimum stay of three months in Munich with access to offices at LMU. Applicants need to have several years of postdoc experience and their project must be directly related to those of the cluster or of the Academy.
Link to current call for applications
Research Fellowship
With the research fellowships, the Academy supports early career researchers who address topics in the context of projects conducted by the Academy or its institutes. The maximum total funding available is EUR 10,000 for three to six months. Applications are open to candidates who have not yet reached the age of 38 at the time of applying for the fellowship. Another condition is that no more than five years have elapsed since they obtained their doctorate. Time spent raising children or caring for relatives may be taken into consideration. Project leaders at the Academy or any of its institutes are eligible to nominate candidates.
Link to call for applications
Tanzanian-German Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies (in cooperation with the University of Bayreuth)
As part of the Tanzanian-German Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies at the University of Bayreuth, the Academy provides funding for four scholarships per year aimed at young legal talents from partner states of the East African Community. Two LLM scholarships and two PhD scholarships are awarded. The programmes are organised in conjunction with the School of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam. The scholarships are structurally integrated into the academic programmes and support academic qualification in a targeted way while also preparing the scholarship recipients for positions of leadership and responsibility in their countries of origin.
Consolidator Fellow Global South (in cooperation with the Historisches Kolleg in Munich)
The Consolidator Fellowship Global South aims to promote international exchange and primarily seeks postdocs from the Global South, in particular from Africa. With funding from the Academy, the fellowship at the Historisches Kolleg in Munich offers a tranquil working atmosphere to complete a second book within a year.
Ukraine Fellowship (in cooperation with the Max Weber Foundation)
The Research Centre Ukraine of the Max Weber Foundation and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities awards up to two fellowships per year for research stays in Germany or Ukraine. The fellowships are aimed at outstanding history and social studies researchers with a focus on East-Central Europe. Funding is provided for archive and library searches as well as stays for project development or manuscript work. One of the programme’s principal aims is to strengthen academic links between Ukrainian and German research institutes.