Purpose

Realisation of a research project that is limited in time and scope through an individual research grant and in cooperation with foreign European partners.

Eligibility Requirements

Researchers of all disciplines from German research institutions who have completed research training (usually a doctorate) and their partners from other European countries, who must be eligible to apply for funding from the respective funding organisation in their country.

Not eligible for applying for a research grant from the DFG are: Members of organisations that are dedicated solely to commercial purposes; members of organisations that are not permitted to publish their results in a publicly accessible form.

Proposal Requirements

Weave aims at cooperative projects with closely integrated content, to which partners from all countries involved contribute scientifically in a substantial way.

The projects must compete with proposals submitted nationally. Research projects must therefore feature a high degree of scientific quality and originality at an internationally competitive level.

Proposals for bilateral and trilateral research projects with parts of the research conducted in Germany and in partner countries (with whose funding organisations the DFG cooperates in the context of Weave) are submitted to the Lead Agency in one of the partner countries. In any case, a proposal or respectively, a copy of the proposal, must also be submitted to the DFG. For more detailed information on the proposal formalities and the submission process, please refer to the “Supplementary Instructions for Proposals for Cross-Border Cooperation under the Weave Lead Agency Procedure (Weave LAP) [12/20]” (available at "Forms and Guidelines"). Please also consider our FAQs on Weave (to be found in the box at the top on the right).

If a project is approved, the different shares of the project are funded by the respective funding organisations in charge.

Type and Extent of Funding

The type and extent of funding for the German component of a project is based on the rules for research grants.

• Compact overview research grants(interner Link)

Funding Duration

Project-specific (up to 36 months)

Forms and Guidelines

• List of Forms and Guidelines (in German only)(interner Link)

After submitting the proposal to the Lead Agency, a copy of the proposal documents must be submitted to the Partner Agency within 7 days.

DFG as Lead Agency:

As a rule, proposals can be submitted to the DFG at any time.

Some foreign funding organisations work with application deadlines that must be observed. Please seek advice in this context at the respective funding agency.

DFG as Partner Agency:

Please contact the Lead Agency for information on their submission deadlines. Once the proposal has been submitted to the Lead Agency, a copy of the proposal documents must be submitted to the DFG by the applicants in Germany within 7 days.

• Austria: 
  Austrian Science Fund (FWF)(externer Link)
• Belgium
  • for researchers from the French-speaking Community:
    Fund for Scientific Research - FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS)(externer Link)
  • for researchers from Flanders:
    Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)(externer Link)
    • FWO as Lead Agency(externer Link)
    • FWO as Partner Agency(externer Link)
  • For proposals with the DFG as Lead Agency, please note: To ensure a decision can be reached in 2025, these proposals have to be submitted via elan before 1 April 2025.
• Czech Republic:
  Czech Science Foundation (GACR)(externer Link)
• Luxembourg: 
  Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR)(externer Link)
• Poland:
  National Science Center (NCN)(externer Link)
  • Information on Weave-UNISONO – with NCN in the role of the Partner Agency(externer Link)
  • Information on Weave-OPUS-LAP with NCN in the role of the Lead Agency(externer Link)
  • For proposals with NCN as Lead Agency, please note: NCN allows only one applicant on the DFG-side. Proposals with more than one applicant on the German side can only be submitted with the DFG as Lead Agency.
• Slovenia:
  Slovenian Research And Innovation Agency (ARIS)(externer Link)
  • ARIS’ website on (Co-)financing of research projects according to the Lead Agency Principle(externer Link)
  • ARIS’ guidelines for Weave Proposals(externer Link) (currently only available in Slovene)
  • ARIS’ website on DFG as Lead Agency(externer Link)  
  • Please note that ARIS allows one applicant per proposal on the Slovenian side, regardless of whether ARIS acts as the Lead or the Partner Agency. For further specifics please refer to the ARIS website and information.
• Switzerland: 
  Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)(externer Link)

Further information:

Currently, a three-year pilot phase for Weave is running between the DFG and the NWO Domain Science (Netherlands). During the pilot phase, proposals are not submitted under Weave, but in a slightly adapted procedure. Details on how to apply can be found at:

• Information for Researchers, No. 64 | July 15, 2024(interner Link)
• Funding Opportunity for Dutch-German Basic Research Projects in Fields of the Sciences (NWO Domain Science – DFG)(interner Link)

General information about the Weave process:

• weave@dfg.de(externer Link)

Discipline-specific matters:

• Programme contacts at the DFG Head Office(interner Link)

Please refer to the corresponding websites for information and contacts at the partner organisations (see Participating Foreign Funding Organisations above).