National Science Fund Conference Sofia, 29 September 2005 The DFG’s Portfolio for Funding Cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe National Science Fund Conference Sofia, 29 September 2005 Dr. Alice Rajewsky Programme Director International Cooperation Central and Eastern Europe; CIS

The Mandate Central self-governing organisation for funding research in Germany Serving all fields of science and research Supporting scientific excellence in competition Bottom-up funding policy Peer review Promoting international cooperation Promoting young researchers Advising parliaments and governments on scientific matters Budget: 1,3 billion € p.a. Die DFG ist diezentrale Selbstverwaltungseinrichtung der Wissenschaft zur Förderung der Forschung an Hochschulen und öffentlich finanzierten Forschungseinrichtungen in Deutschland, zuständig für alle Fächer. Der Rechtsform anch ist die DFG ein eingetragener Verein, dessen Mitglieder wissenschaftlichen Hochschulen, Akademien der Wissenschaft, MPG, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft und Forschungseinrichtungen von allgemeiner Bedeutung sind. Das wichtigste, grundlegende Prinzip ist das bottom-up Prinzip – demzufolge sich die Förderung nach der Nachfrage aus der Wissenschaft richtet, sowohl inhaltlich als auch programmatisch. Erst in jüngster Zeit, als eine Ergebnis der Systemevaluation von DFG und MPG, gibt es in Ergänzung zu diesem bottom-up-Prinzip stärker strategische Ansätze in der Forschungsförderung der DFG. Hauptaufgabe ist es, die besten Projekte in einem transparenten, fairen Wettbewerb auszuwählen, durch peer review, wobei wissenschaftliche Exzellenz immer das wichtigste Kriterium ist. Das Rückgrat dieses Prozesses sind die gewählten Fachgutachter in den Fachausschüssen, die wissenschaftliche Qualität und Unabhängigkeit garantieren.

Our goals Internationality Promotion of Young Researchers Drei satzungsmäßige Aufgaben Internationalität: Öffnung aller Programme Internationalisierung der Begutachtung und der Gremien Intensivierung der institutionellen Kooperation Übergreifendes Ziel: Internationalisierung der Wissenschaft und der Wissenschaftsförderung Präsenz im Ausland Beijing (seit Oktober 2000) Washington (seit Mai 2002) Moskau (ab Sommer 2003) Interdisziplinarität koordinierte Programme, Reform des Begutachtungswesens Nachwuchs: insbesondere ein Anliegen des amtierenden Präsidenten „frühe Selbständigkeit“ , Emmy Noether Promotion of Young Researchers Interdisciplinarity Illustration unter Verwendung von: http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~jpdesign/MPR.html

DFG Funding Programmes International Co-operation Membership in Inter-national Organizations Bilateral collaboration Project Funding Sabbatical Publication Costs Individual Grants Programme Mercator- Visiting Professorships Promoting Scientific contacts International Academic Conferences in Germany Travels to Conferences Priority Programmes Research Units Humanities Research Centres Collaborative Research Centres / Transfer Centres DFG-Research Centres Centres of Excellence Coordinated Programmes DFG Funding Programmes Infrastructure funding Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Programme Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Programme Communicator Prize Eugen and Ilse Seibold-Prize Albert Maucher-Prize Prizes Research Training Groups (national & international) Programme "Independent Position" Research Fellowships Emmy Noether Programme Heisenberg - Programme Direct Funding of Young Researchers

International Dimension of all Programmes All fellowship-programmes are open to candidates from abroad, as long as they intend to be based in Germany for a longer time All programmes have been opened for international cooperation: funding for travel costs, research stays, inviting guest scientists bilateral research projects integration of research groups abroad

Promoting International Cooperation Research Stays (max. 3 months) enable researchers to build up or intensify cooperation Inviting researchers from CEEC to take part in conferences in Germany Both instruments: Application to be submitted by the German partner Joint research projects (2-3 years) narrowly-defined research project funding: personnel, consumables, travel cost co-funding for the non-German partner should be secured from other sources (national funding organization, EU) Cooperation within Coordinated Programmes Bilateral Symposia can be held in either country application to be submitted by the German coordinator International Research Training Groups Collaborative Research Centres DFG-Research Centres etc. co-funding needed http://www.touropnet.com/beytours/allied_tours/images/scuola.gif http://www.n-tv.de/images/200108/2266436_Lufthansa.jpg (2) http://www.flightpix.com/pix/big/t_010.jpg (air china) Illustration taken from: http://www.n-tv.de/images/200108/2266436_Lufthansa.jpg; http://www.flightpix.com/pix/big/t_010.jpg http://www.bgo.ch/Berufsvorbereitung/Bilder/Arbeitsgruppe.gif; http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/01/0604/m/wang.jpg; http://www.wet.kuleuven.ac.be/wet/mercator.gif ; http://www.touropnet.com/beytours/allied_tours/images/scuola.gif

A Focus on Promoting Young Researchers Excellency Early Independence DFG Internationality Illustration unter Verwendung von: http://nest.csusb.edu/graphics/owl.gif

Research Training Groups (Graduiertenkollegs) excellent – innovative – international thematically focussed research and study programme 5 - 10 faculty, 1 - 2 postdocs, 12 - 24 PhD students 3 - 4 research students, coordinator established at centres of scientific excellence selected on a competitive peer-review basis limited duration (max. 9 years, 2 funding periods)

Research Training Groups: Funding Fellowships/positions for PhD students, B.A. students, and some postdocs Positions advertised world wide Local selection by Research Training Group PhD fellowships 3 years, postdocs 2 years Means for research students (undergraduates) Research materials, consumables, and travel funds for students Workshops, excursions, and a visiting scientist programme Costs for soft skill seminars Co-ordination costs DFG provides fellowships for Postgraduates and for 1 or 2 Postdocs, but not only stipends, but also considerable funding for acutally to do research: materials, consumables... to meet the scientific community to exchange results in a broader forum Graduiertenkollegs provide substantial funds for travel and international contacts, made even more attractive by the fact that students are encouraged to participate in funding decisions.

Research Training Groups: Figures 272 RTGs in all scientific fields, 41 International RTGs 6.600 doctoral students currently funded, 41% female, 28% foreign doctoral students (of these 35% from CEEC = largest group) ~ 10% of Germans doctoral students complete their doctorate in RTGs Averaged budget of one RTG: ~ 450.000 € p.a. Programme budget 68 m € p.a. (6% of DFG´s total budget) Individual PhD funding: stipend up to 1.350 €/month or position (applied Maths, Physics, Informatics, Engineering, Chemistry) Annually ~ 100 new proposals, going up Funding rate: ~ 35%, going down After its inception in 1990 the programme has been built up to include some 300 Gradu­iertenkollegs in all disciplines. Humanities have a particular emphasis. Some 10% of German PhDs are now completed by participants in a Graduiertenkolleg.

& International Research Training Groups DFG Research Training integration of complementary expertise at centres of excellence systematic coordination of bilateral research projects / joint supervision 6-12 months mobility period at partner university complemetary funding needed http://www.aas-ra.org/pics/worldmap.jpg  allows to profit from cooperation & counteracts brain drain DFG Illustration taken from: http://www.aas-ra.org/pics/worldmap.jpg; http://www.touropnet.com/beytours/allied_tours/images/scuola.gif

International Research Training Groups with CEEC Particularly attractive because: many existing long-term scientific cooperations good structural preconditions in PhD-Training based on principle of balance; no brain drain  IRTGs have become the most visible model for scientific cooperation with CEEC  partner organizations have introduced similar programmes / increased budget  many initiatives: Russia: 15, Poland: 13, Hungary: 5, Čech Republic: 5 (to compare: France: 10, NL: 6, India: 3) ----- hopefully soon Bulgaria?

Institutional Cooperation Aim: to build a transparent network of bilateral structures on an institutional level, promoting a more intense collaboration of researchers Implementation: carry out joint thematic workshops extend existing thematic and structural networks develop joint procedures and instruments evaluation funding staff exchange European dimension: prepare for European Research Council increase attractiveness of European Research Area

Thank you for your Attention! Dr. Alice Rajewsky Programme Director International Cooperation Central and Eastern Europe; CIS alice.rajewsky@dfg.de Tel.: +49-228-885-2292 Further Information at www.dfg.de