Call for proposals – Advanced Projects 2025

Dear Professor,
Dear Professor,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In preparation for the IZKF review by the Scientific Advisory Board in November 2025 in Erlangen, the IZKF is requesting the submission of clinically relevant project applications for funding in the IZKF by midnight on April 28, 2025 for all main research areas of the Faculty of Medicine.

All members of the Faculty of Medicine with an affiliation to an institution of the University Hospital Erlangen or FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg are eligible to apply. Members of other FAU faculties can apply as co-applicants. It is not possible to apply for an IZKF project if there is ongoing funding in the Jochen-Kalden-funding programme. Up to 3 applicants from the same or different institutions can apply per project. For each individual applicant, an own scientific contribution to the project recognizable from the work programme as well as a corresponding scientific qualification in the form of

• two original publications as first or last author in the last 5 years (2020-2024) and
• an ongoing third-party funded project in the application year (2025) with an external at least 2-fold LOM-listed funding agency (DFG, reviewed federal and state funds (e.g. BMBF), EU, Bavarian Research Foundation/Bavarian State Foundation, Dt. Stiftung für Herzforschung, Else-Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung, German-Israelian-Foundation (GIF), Humboldt-Stiftung, José-Carreras-Stiftung, Mildred-Scheel-Stiftung/ Deutsche Krebshilfe, NIH-Grants, Novartis Stiftung, Thyssen-Stiftung, Volkswagen Stiftung, Wilhelm-Sander-Stiftung)

provided.

The number of project proposals permitted for internal preliminary assessment in the current application period is limited to 1 project per applicant. Please note that the IZKF generally requires that the applicant’s own position is secured for the entire duration of the IZKF project and that at least 25% of it is financed from the operating budget / from a permanent position or free third-party funds / programme allowance.

One staff position can be applied for per individual project (one participating institution). The project volume applied for may not exceed the equivalent of one doctoral position (65% E13) or one MTA position as well as consumables amounting to €15,000 p.a. Pool funds are available to the funded projects to finance business trips, publication costs, microarrays and next generation sequencing, etc. Doctoral candidates at the IZKF are obliged to participate in the IZKF Research Training Group and Life@FAU.

For tandem projects (joint project application from at least 2 institutions), 2 staff positions and up to €35,000 p.a. in material resources can be applied for. The application for a 2nd doctoral position (instead of MTA) is expressly desired.

The duration of IZKF projects is generally 30 months. An extension of a further 6 months is granted if an application for funding for the project is submitted to an external funding institution listed at least twice by LOM within the project term and the IZKF administrative office is notified. The work programme should cover the entire possible funding period of 36 months. The approved projects will be allowed a flexible funding start date between 01.01.2026 and 01.07.2026. In the case of tandem projects, the end of the project will be determined depending on the appointment of the second project member (start of the second project member + 30 months, but max. 36 months after the start of the first project member).

The IZKF regulations provide a two-stage evaluation process. In the first stage, project outlines can be submitted, which are evaluated by the (extended) IZKF Management Board with the involvement of the Junior Scientist Committee. After the internal written evaluation, an application colloquium takes place at which all projects assessed as eligible or conditionally eligible for funding present their project orally as a basis for the final internal assessment. The application colloquium has been scheduled for July 15 and 16, 2025 (exact schedule and location to be announced).  Immediately after the application colloquium, the applicants will be informed of the result of the internal evaluation. Subsequently, those who have successfully completed the internal procedure must formulate the full project application (submission to the IZKF office by 22.09.2025). This will be evaluated by the external Scientific Advisory Board. As mentioned at the beginning, the assessment will take place in Erlangen in November 2025 (exact procedure and location to be announced).

The project outlines, including a research profile of all applicants and co-applicants, must be uploaded to the IZKF application tool by midnight on April 28, 2025 at the latest, as mentioned above. In addition, some additional information must be entered (see overview of IZKF project documents). The platform will be activated for this purpose on 01.01.2025. The formal requirements (use of the templates for project outlines and research profiles) are binding.

Please forward this call for proposals to interested researchers from your institutions. Detailed information and the templates for the current call for proposals can be found on our homepage at https://www.izkf.med.fau.de/projekte/izkf-projekte-3/.

The IZKF office (Dr. Faber, Tel. 46841 or Ms. Reichel, Tel. 46843) will also be happy to answer any questions you may have about the application process.

Kind regards

Prof. Dr. M. Wegner
Chairman of the IZKF

Contact:

Dr. Katrin Faber
IZKF Administrative Office
Phone 09131/ 85-46841
Fax 09131/ 85-35903

katrin.faber@uk-erlangen.de
www.izkf.med.fau.de