DFG funding for universities of applied sciences

The DFG supports knowledge-driven research, regardless of the type of higher education institution. It explicitly welcomes proposals in this area from Universities of Applied Sciences (HAW– Hochschulen for Angewandte Wissenschaften and FH – Fachhochschulen, referred to collectively in the following as UAS).

The DFG offers online talks(interner Link) (in German only) for professors at UAS to address the most frequently asked questions about submitting proposals additional presentation formats(interner Link) (in German only) provide further insights into the DFG’s funding activities.

Funding Opportunities for UAS

The DFG offers a range of funding programmes for UAS. The examples below illustrate what is available. Programmes such as Research Impulses and Research Training Groups are directed at higher education institutions applying for funding, while also helping them to establish the structures required for effective research. Other funding opportunities are open to individual researchers. All programmes also allow collaboration with other institutions.

All the DFG programmes that are open to individual applicants are also available to researchers at UAS overview of funding programmes(interner Link).

Research Impulses

This instrument enables UAS to define research priorities and improve their eligibility for funding.

(International) Research Training Groups

As of summer 2024, UAS with the right to supervise doctoral candidates can apply as the lead institution under the Research Training Groups programme.

Funding of Knowledge Transfer

The DFG is committed to supporting the transfer of research outcomes to industry and society at large. Further details of these funding opportunities and the results they produce are available online.

Grafik für Trilaterale Transferprojekte - Hochschulpartner, Fraunhofer-Partner und Anwendungspartner

DFG-Fraunhofer Cooperation – Trilateral Knowledge Transfer Projects

These projects aim to bridge the gap between basic research and practical application.
A number of projects have already been successfully funded.

Approved Research Impulses

The following projects were approved in the first round of the Research Impulses programme:

Berlin Initiative for Applied Foundation Model Research
Berliner Hochschule für Technik; Review Board: Computer Science
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

CytoTransport - Mechanisms and Modulation of Cellular Transport processes
Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg; Review Board: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

DuraFuelCell: Multi-scale investigation for the development of durable and efficient hydrogen fuel cell systems for mobile and stationary applications
Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm; Review Board: Materials Science
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

A calibrated and virtual multiscale wave measurement laboratory to enhance and complement flow measurements: From basic research to industrial application
Hochschule Bochum; Review Board: Fluid Mechanics, Technical Thermodynamics and Thermal Energy Engineering
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

HWR Research Competence Centre: Challenges and Resilience of Global Supply and Value Chains
Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin; Review Board: Economics
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

Tailored Optics for Life Sciences Engineering: Multifunctional, Multiscale, Monololithic Optics for Biomedical Manipulation and Diagnostics (TOOLS)
Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena; Review Board: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

PA.H|LIFETIME.ai - Performing Arts Health - development and anaLysis of rIsk proFiles and prEdicTIve ModEls by artifical intelligence
Hochschule Osnabrück; Review Board: Art History, Music, Theatre and Media Studies
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

Smart Factory Grids: Methodologies for a service-based, highly flexible, dynamic distributed manufacturing with autonomous, adaptive and resilient systems
Hochschule Esslingen; Review Board: Production Technology
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

Ecosystem and landscape restoration across spatial and temporal scales to enhance biodiversity and climate resilience in agricultural landscapes (AgriRestore)
Hochschule Anhalt; Review Board: Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

Shaping Future Society (SaFe): The Mututal Constitution of Future-Oriented Practices and Community
Hochschule Fulda - University of Applied Sciences; Review Board: Social Sciences
Find out more about the project on GEPRIS(externer Link)

Targeted Measures for UAS

Since 2021, the DFG has introduced a wide range of targeted measures and funding programmes for UAS (both HAW and FH) in recognition of the specific structural conditions at such institutions that typically differ from those at universities. An overview of these UAS measures is provided on the DFG website. The DFG encourages UAS to make use of its established funding programmes in the future.

Transfer HAW/FH PLUS

This programme aimed to strengthen funding for knowledge transfer at UAS.

Internationalisation of research

The DFG’s initiative UDIF-UAS supported the internationalisation of research at UAS.

Research Grants Programme for Major Instrumentation

Three calls were held to enable UAS to apply for research grants to support the use of DFG-approved major instrumentation (2024(interner Link), 2023(interner Link), 2022(interner Link), in German only).

Major Instrumentation Campaigns

Dedicated calls were held (2023(interner Link), 2022(interner Link), 2021(interner Link), in German only) to enable UAS to apply for funding to enhance their existing instrumentation infrastructure for knowledge-driven research.

For each of these funding opportunities, contact persons are listed in the detailed programme descriptions.