The Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) is offering fellowships to highly qualified scientists of all career levels, from postdoctoral researchers to senior scientists. Depending on the Fellowship project, Regular Fellowships and Junior Fellowships can be awarded for a minimum of three months and a maximum of ten months.

The Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) in Delmenhorst is an Institute for Advanced Study. HWK was founded in 1995 as a non-profit foundation under civil law in Lower Saxony and Bremen, as well as in the city of Delmenhorst.

Course Level: Fellowships are available for pursuing research programme.

Study Subject: HWK offers outstanding scientists the opportunity to focus on research without the distraction of everyday routines in academia, to interact with colleagues from other disciplines and to benefit from the large variety of scientific traditions represented at the Institute.

Scholarship Award: Due to the great diversity in Fellows’ situations, financial conditions for Fellowships are negotiated on a case-by-case basis. The following principles apply:

• An appointment for a Fellowship does not constitute a work contract and is not subject to legal provisions concerning the German social security system.
• Regular and Junior Fellows are provided with a fully furnished apartment on the HWK campus. No rent is charged for the apartments.
• Regular and Junior Fellows are eligible for a lump sum towards travel costs; even in case of split Fellowships, this lump sum is paid only once.
• If a Fellow is employed by a university, a research organization, or as a researcher by a company, he/she must seek for financial support (paid leave or sabbatical) from the employer first, considering the great benefit of the Fellowship for the employer, resulting from both the Fellow’s research and the creation of new networks.
• If appropriate, the HWK can provide the Fellow with a compensation to help maintain the Fellow’s standard of living. This compensation takes into account documented losses in earnings due to the Fellowship and the Fellow’s position as far as the budget of the institute allows for.
• Should an employer agree to continue paying the Fellow’s full salary during the Fellowship, the HWK can contribute to the costs of a substitute; a separate agreement between the employer and the HWK would be necessary in this case.
• For Junior Fellows, both personal stipends and compensation payments to employers are limited to a maximum of 2,000 EUR per month.

Scholarship can be taken in Germany

Eligibility: Calls are open for highly qualified scientists of all career levels, from postdoctoral to senior researchers. Fellows are selected, based on the quality of their proposed research project, their scientific qualification, the project’s fit with the scientific activities of the HWK, the willingness to contribute to and to profit from a highly interdisciplinary scientific community, and the availability of resources. Collaborations with colleagues at the regional universities and research institutes are appreciated but not a necessary condition for a Fellowship. Scientists based at institutions in the northwestern region of Germany cannot apply for Regular or Junior Fellowships. They are encouraged, however, to motivate national or international colleagues to apply for Fellowships

Nationality: German and international applicants are eligible to apply.

College Admission Requirement

Entrance Requirement:

• The Regular Fellowship is available for scientists whose Ph.D. (or comparable degree) has been awarded more than five years ago and who have already gained substantial professional experience in science and research.
• The Junior Fellowship is available for junior scientists whose Ph.D. has been awarded less than five years ago and who have gained first professional experience in science and research. Both, continuation of previous research activities as well as starting a new strand of research by using the scientific expertise within the northwestern region are welcome, preferably by crossing scientific frontiers

How to Apply: The following items should be submitted as part of an application for a Regular or Junior Fellowship, respectively:

• The completed application form,
• A formal cover letter to the Rector of the HWK,
• An abstract of the Fellowship project for a non-peer audience (max. 1500 characters incl. blanks)
• An abstract of the Fellowship project for peers (max. 1500 characters incl. blanks)
• A project proposal describing the planned research project containing a detailed work schedule (not more than ten pages including references),
• A curriculum vitae,
• A list of publications,
• One (recently) published article or paper or book chapter by the applicant;
• If applicable, letters of support/confirmation of access to necessary research infrastructure from cooperating colleagues in the Northwest,
• Applications for Junior Fellowships only: an abstract of the doctoral dissertation (“Ph.D. thesis”, maximum 1500 characters incl. blanks), and (all applications!)
• Two letters of reference from experts in the field, to be sent to the HWK directly.

Application Form

Application Deadline: The application deadline is July 15, 2017.

Scholarship Link