Daimler and Benz Foundation Postdoc Scholarship 2027: €50,000 for German-Based Postdocs and Junior Professors

Daimler and Benz Foundation Postdoc Scholarship 2027: €50,000 for German-Based Postdocs and Junior Professors

The Daimler and Benz Foundation’s 2027 Scholarship Program supports postdoctoral researchers and junior professors who have begun to work independently but have not yet reached a permanent academic position. The Foundation plans to award 12 scholarships, each worth €50,000 over two years. The program is open across the humanities, social and cultural sciences, natural and engineering sciences, medicine, and life sciences, with no subject-specific research restriction stated in the official call.

The application deadline is 30 September 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Applications must be complete, including confidential recommendation letters, and submitted through the Foundation’s online portal. The program is aimed at applicants active at a German research institution or affiliated with a German academic institution abroad. It is not a personal living stipend: the grant may pay for research travel, conferences, temporary academic assistance, computers, laboratory equipment, and special chemicals, but it cannot pay the recipient’s ordinary living expenses or their own tenure.

That distinction makes this a particularly useful opportunity for an early-career academic whose host institution already provides salary or other subsistence support. The scholarship can give an independent researcher practical room to build a project, travel to necessary collections or collaborators, organize a conference, or buy equipment that would otherwise be difficult to fund. It is less suitable for someone who needs the award itself to finance a move, a salary, or the basic cost of remaining in academia.

Key details

What the scholarship is designed to fund

The Foundation presents the award as career support at a specific transition point. The applicant has completed a doctorate, has begun to make independent decisions about research, and is pursuing an academic career, but does not yet hold a permanent position. The award is meant to reinforce that autonomy rather than replace an employer’s basic responsibility for salary and infrastructure.

The €50,000 total is flexible within the program’s boundaries. A scholar might use it for research trips, attendance at conferences, or the organization of a conference of their own. The call also names temporary involvement of academic assistants, computers, laboratory equipment, and special chemicals. “At the applicant’s discretion” does not mean that every expense will be accepted automatically. The proposal should connect each requested cost to the research plan and distinguish project-specific needs from normal institutional outlay.

The Foundation specifically excludes overhead, publication costs, basic chemicals, and office equipment that should ordinarily be supplied by the research institution. Applicants should therefore avoid building a budget around generic departmental expenses. A request for a specialized instrument, a defined field visit, or short-term help with a research task needs a clearer justification than a request for general supplies.

The grant is issued through the third-party funding office of the applicant’s research institution. Any other funding received by the applicant is not offset against the scholarship, according to the call. That can be helpful for researchers who already have a separate project grant, but it does not remove the need to explain how the different sources fit together and avoid paying for the same item twice.

Who is likely to fit

The intended applicant is not simply any researcher with a PhD. The Foundation is looking for a young scientist who has made a conscious decision to pursue an academic career and has already attained a meaningful degree of research autonomy. The call gives examples of evidence: obtaining independent funding, publishing independently, or managing a research group. A junior professor or independent head of a junior research group may fit naturally, but a postdoc in another type of leadership role can also be relevant if the application demonstrates the same underlying independence.

The program is open to all disciplines listed in the call. A humanities researcher could request archival travel or support for an academic event. An engineer or life scientist could request specialized equipment or chemicals. A medical researcher might need a defined research trip, project assistance, or a tool that is not part of normal host-laboratory provision. The absence of a narrow thematic restriction does not make the proposal generic; it makes the applicant’s explanation of the research problem and personal independence more important.

Applicants must be active at a German research institution, or hold an affiliation with a German academic institution abroad. They must also have their own research project. The project may be new or a continuation of existing work, but the application should make clear what the applicant personally directs and what the scholarship will make possible.

The doctorate must have been awarded no more than a few years before application. The Foundation says it follows the German Research Foundation’s approach to the early-career stage rather than giving a single universal year cutoff in the call. If the timing of your doctorate, career interruptions, or appointment is unusual, ask the Foundation before submitting rather than assuming that a broad interpretation will be accepted.

Employment and financial eligibility

The scholarship cannot be used to cover the applicant’s living expenses or to finance their own tenure. For the entire scholarship period, applicants must either be in temporary employment or demonstrate that their living expenses are covered by other means. This requirement should be resolved before the application is finalized.

In practice, the application needs two separate financial stories. The first is the salary or subsistence arrangement that allows the applicant to remain active for the full two years. The second is the project budget showing how the €50,000 will be used. Mixing these stories can make a strong application look infeasible. A host confirmation that covers only the current contract, for example, may not establish support through the full scholarship period.

Permanent employees are not eligible according to the call. The Foundation is supporting researchers who still need career-building resources before securing a permanent academic role. Applicants should check the exact nature and duration of their appointment, particularly if they are junior professors, group leaders, or employed through a time-limited project.

Documents required

The Foundation does not provide an application template. Applications may be written in German or English, must use margins of at least 2 cm, and must use a clearly legible font of at least 11-point Arial. The call warns that applications with smaller type, including in figures or charts, will not be considered. Treat these presentation rules as eligibility conditions, not cosmetic preferences.

The required package includes proof of affiliation with an institute for the entire scholarship period. The call gives confirmation from the head of the institute or its administrative office as an example. If selected, the scholarship period can start no earlier than 1 March 2027, so the affiliation evidence must cover the relevant period through 28 February 2029 unless a different arrangement is agreed.

The research project description for specialist reviewers may be no more than four A4 pages, with references allowed on later pages. You must also provide a one-page description for non-specialist reviewers, without references, explaining the project’s title, purpose, and scientific or societal relevance in accessible language. A one-page time schedule and a one-page tabular indication of the planned use of the grant are also required.

The CV must present the academic career in tabular form and include publications, scholarships, awards, third-party funding already received, and achievements in academic communication. Copies of the Master’s and doctoral certificates are required. Provisional certificates are not accepted. Foreign certificates must include a certified German or English translation.

Finally, the application needs two confidential recommendation letters. The referees should not be from the same academic institution. The Foundation says it is advisable for one letter to come from the institution where the applicant currently works or intends to conduct research. Letters must be on the referees’ official institutional letterhead, and informal or unsigned letters can lead to disqualification.

How to prepare a convincing proposal

Start by connecting independence, research need, and spending plan. A reviewer should be able to see what you already direct, what remains difficult to accomplish, and why the requested expenses are the right next investment. A project that simply lists an interesting topic is weaker than one that identifies a defined question, a feasible method, and a two-year set of results.

Write the specialist project description for an expert who wants methodological precision. State the research question, explain the evidence or material you will study, identify the method, and show how the work will advance beyond what is already known. Then use the non-specialist page to explain why the question matters without importing technical language or citations. These are different documents with different audiences; compressing the specialist version and pasting it into the public-facing summary usually fails both tests.

The grant-use table should mirror the timetable. If a research trip is necessary for a specific source or collaboration, place it alongside the stage of the project that requires it. If equipment or an assistant is requested, explain what work it enables and why the host cannot reasonably provide it. Make clear which costs are one-time, which recur, and how the project will proceed if a cost changes.

Ask your institutional research office to review the affiliation evidence and grant-routing details early. Ask your referees to address both you and the project, because the Foundation requires both elements. Their letters should support the independence claimed in the application rather than merely repeat that you are productive or pleasant to work with.

Timeline and selection process

The complete application, including the confidential recommendations, must arrive through the online portal by 30 September 2026 at 11:59 p.m. The deadline is not only for the applicant’s form. Recommendation requests need to be initiated early enough for both referees to upload their letters through the system.

After the deadline, the Foundation conducts a comparative preselection. Selected candidates are expected to receive an invitation to a selection seminar in December 2026. The project presentations are planned as video conferences in January 2027, with specialist and non-specialist reviewers and Foundation representatives. Personal participation is a prerequisite for receiving a scholarship.

The announcement of selected scholarship holders is expected in February 2027. Disbursement can begin from March 2027 at the earliest, or at another time agreed between the Foundation and the scholarship recipient. The award runs for two years, and recipients must submit an interim research-progress report after one year and a final report when the scholarship ends. Attendance at gatherings of current and former scholarship holders is mandatory, so applicants should treat that participation as part of the commitment.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most serious mistake is treating the €50,000 as salary. The call expressly rules out living costs and personal tenure. Confirm the separate funding that pays your living expenses and show the scholarship budget as project expenditure.

Another mistake is presenting institutional necessities as project costs. Basic chemicals, ordinary office equipment, publication costs, and overhead are excluded. If a requested item is specialized, say what makes it specialized and how it advances the named project.

Do not rely on a provisional degree certificate, an unsigned recommendation, or a late reference upload. The Foundation states that these defects can disqualify an application. Check that foreign degrees have certified translations and that referees use official letterhead.

Finally, do not hide the autonomy question inside a long publication list. Explain your own role in funding, project design, supervision, management, or communication. The reviewers need evidence that the scholarship will strengthen an already developing independent career, not only evidence that the applicant has worked in a successful group.

Frequently asked questions

Can researchers from any discipline apply?

Yes. The call names humanities, social and cultural sciences, natural and engineering sciences, medicine, and life sciences, and does not restrict the program to a particular research topic.

Is the award a salary or living stipend?

No. The €50,000 is project funding over two years. The Foundation says it cannot cover the recipient’s living expenses or own tenure, so applicants need temporary employment or another confirmed means of support.

Can the money pay for a research assistant?

Yes, the call lists temporary involvement of academic assistants as an example of an eligible use. Tie the assistance to a defined task and timetable, and confirm the arrangement with your institution.

Can I apply with a continuation of an existing project?

Yes. The Foundation accepts an applicant’s own new research project or the continuation of an existing project. In either case, describe what the scholarship adds and why you are the person directing the work.

Are permanent employees eligible?

No. Scientists in permanent employment are not eligible according to the official call. Applicants must have temporary employment for the scholarship period or demonstrate that their living costs are otherwise covered.

When can the funds start?

Disbursement is possible from March 2027 at the earliest, or at another time agreed with the Foundation. The call says the scholarship period may start no earlier than 1 March 2027.

Can an unsuccessful application be resubmitted?

No. The Foundation states that unsuccessful applications are not eligible for repeated submission. That makes a complete, carefully checked first submission especially important.

Official application link and final checks

Read the official 2027 Scholarship Program call from the Daimler and Benz Foundation before drafting. Use the Foundation’s online portal named in the call, confirm your institute’s support through the full scholarship period, and contact your referees early. Questions can be directed to Marion Hartmann at [email protected].

Before submitting, check the deadline time, page limits, font and margin rules, degree documentation, certified translations, grant-use table, and recommendation-letter status. The strongest application will make three things easy to understand: the applicant is already becoming independent, the research project is feasible and significant, and the €50,000 will buy specific research capacity that the host institution does not ordinarily provide.