Joint Korean-German Research Projects 2025 in the Natural, Life and Engineering Sciences (NRF-DFG 2025)
As an expression of the fruitful scientific collaboration between their two countries, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) are pleased to announce the launch of the second call for joint Korean-German research proposals in the natural, life and engineering sciences.
This call provides funding for joint research projects carried out between highly qualified researchers in the Republic of Korea and their German counterparts. The joint proposals have to be based on a close interaction and exchange between the Korean and German research teams and should present joint project goals and a joint work plan with balanced contributions from all project partners.
The collaborative projects selected to take part in this joint initiative will receive research funding for a period of three years. The NRF will fund the Korean project components, whilst the DFG will fund the components to be carried out in Germany. Based on written reviews, a joint Korean-German panel will select approximately 20 projects for funding.
Scope
The present call is open to joint projects on knowledge-driven research in the fields of natural, life and engineering sciences, excluding humanities and social sciences.
Eligibility
Each research project must be jointly conducted by applicants from Korea and Germany. The principal investigators on each side must be eligible to apply to their respective funding agency.
The funding organisations retain the right not to process or reject proposals if they fail to comply with any national rules.
Project Requirements
Applicants should demonstrate how bringing together researchers based in Korea and Germany will add value and advance their research. It is expected that each partner contributes substantially to the common project. Projects should be integrated but do not have to be symmetrical in terms of funds applied for. However, work packages are expected to be delivered with a reasonably equal distribution between the partners and schedules should be well-coordinated.
Submission of Project Proposals
This bilateral call will be managed via a Lead Agency Procedure. The DFG will act as Lead Agency in this call, i.e. it will be responsible for conducting the written review process and for organising the joint Korean-German panel review. Proposals have to be prepared in accordance with the DFG guidelines (please see links below); all documents must be written in English. The joint proposals have to be submitted to the DFG by the principal investigator (PI) based in Germany. If several PIs are involved, only one PI from Germany should submit the joint proposal. The Korean principal investigator (PI) should submit the same document and a separate application form written in Korean to the NRF. The Korean application form will be posted on the NRF website and IRIS homepage (see links below).
In the case that private companies participate in a joint project, all project partners need to sign the DFG’s model agreement (link provided below) and the applicants need to submit it together with the proposal. The agreement needs to be reviewed and approved by the DFG prior to the funding decision.
All proposals must be submitted to the DFG by 26 February 2025, 12:00 noon CEST, and to the NRF by 26 February 2025, 17:00 Korean time. The NRF will grant host institutions an extra two days for the official signing of the proposals. Proposals submitted to only one organisation (NRF or DFG) will not be considered.
Specific instructions for applicants from Germany
- It is important to note that there are no separate funds available for these efforts; proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams in competition with all other proposals under the “Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants” funding programme.
- Applicants to be funded by the DFG are required to fulfil the eligibility requirements of DFG research grants. This includes the duty to cooperate (“Kooperationspflicht”) within Germany for members of non-university institutions with permanent positions. Any duty to cooperate for DFG applicants at non-university research institutions can only be fulfilled through cooperation with a partner at a German university (DFG form 55.01, see link below) and not with a university in Korea.
- If you are using the elan system for the first time, please note that you need to register yourself and your institutional addresses before you are able to submit a proposal. Also, if you are planning to move to a different institution, you need to register the new institutional address beforehand. Please make sure that all applicants for your project (if there is more than one) start their registration no later than 18 February 2025. The registration requests are handled manually by the DFG staff. Please prepare the joint proposal according to the Guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01, see link below).
- The proposal must include a description of the full proposed research programme, the research team and the total resources for the joint project (meaning the funds requested for the Korean and the German side). The resources and cost justification section should include a clear summary and justification of the costs for both sides (NRF and DFG). All budget items must conform to the rules of the respective funding organisation applicable to each applicant.
- Proposals must be submitted by the Germany-based principal investigator via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system. After logging in, please use the link “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Proposal Forms column (Proposal Submission > New Project > Individual Grants Programme > Proposal for a Research Grant). Please select “Südkorea-NRF-DFG-Research Projects-2025” under “Proposal Data”.
- Only one Germany-based applicant should upload the proposal to elan. Please note that this person will have to enter address details and funds for the other Germany-based applicants.
- For each module, please only enter the funds requested from the DFG in the elan system. Note that only Germany-based applicants should be entered as “Applicants” in elan. Korea-based partners should be entered as “Cooperation Partners”.
- A CV for each of the applying individuals in Germany and Korea should be provided, formatted according to the DFG guidelines (DFG template 53.200, see link below). Please upload the CVs of all principal investigators combined in one PDF document.
Specific Instructions for Applicants from Korea
At the time the proposal is submitted to the DFG, the Korea-based partner is required to submit a copy of the proposal to the NRF. The NRF may request additional documents (i.e. for the budget). For details, please view the NRF website and IRIS homepage (see links below).
Ethics Votes
If an ethics vote is required for the German or Korean part of the project, this must be submitted with the proposal. However, in exceptional cases, an ethics vote by the responsible local German ethics committee can be submitted no later than three months upon proposal submission. Otherwise, the funding organisations may stop processing the proposal.
Please note that the submission of an ethics vote of the local German ethics committee is also necessary if only the project part abroad is affected, as it is a cooperation project.
Notification of Results
Please note that funding recommendations from the panel will be subject to approval by the NRF and the DFG decision bodies, taking into account the availability of funds. Funding can only be granted if both organisations arrive at a positive decision.
Applicants will be informed in writing of the results and, where applicable, of the subsequent administrative steps according to the respective national regulations. The selection of the projects will be completed by the end of 2025.
Funding will be provided according to the funding rules (incl. reporting requirements) of the respective funding organisation.
Grant holders are requested, where possible, to synchronise their project components and initiate their grants in a timely manner.
Equity and Diversity
The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness.
Good Research Practice
According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practic in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Porta. If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity tea at the DFG Head Office.
Further Information
Proposal preparation
General information on the DFG’s Research Grants Programme:
Guidelines Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01) – including eligibility requirements:
Project Description Template (DFG form 53.01 elan):
CV Template (DFG form 53.200 elan):
The DFG’s “Model of a Cooperation Agreement between Academic Research Institutions and Commercial Enterprises” (DFG form 41.026):
Proposal submission
Joint proposals to be submitted by the German Principal Investigator via the DFG’s proposal processing system, which can be accessed at https://elan.dfg.de/e.
DFG’s review and decision process:
Guidelines for the Review of Research Grants (DFG form 10.206):
Arriving at a decision in individual grants programmes:
NRF Call for Proposals (to be updated):
(NRF) IRIS system for proposal submission (to be updated):
Contact Persons
For Germany
Inquiries related to this call:
- Dr. Wolfgang Wachter, Tel. +49 228 885-2454, wolfgang.wachter@dfg.d
Inquiries related to general questions on Korean-German cooperation:
- Raoul Wagner, Tel. +49 228 885-2217, raoul.wagner@dfg.d
For Korea
- Dr. Jong-Deok Kim, Tel. +82 2 3460-5681, jdkim@nrf.re.k
Privacy Policy
We, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), take the protection of your personal data and its confidential treatment extremely seriously. Therefore, please refer to the DFG’s Privacy Polic. If you intend to transmit personal data of third parties, please make sure to do so only if the necessary legitimation under data protection law exist. Before transmitting data of third parties to the DFG, please forward the DFG’s Data Protection Notice to the individuals affected (data subjects). If there is a legitimate interest not to inform individuals beforehand (e.g. for reasons of secrecy or in case of a nomination or candidate proposal), these individuals should be informed no later than at the time of publication.