Research Grants

Research Grants are awarded to aid medical and dental students, licentiates, and doctors in research work.

Research grants are awarded as work grants to medical and dental students, licentiates, and doctors for 6, 12 or 24 months to fund full-time research. (Note: grant applications have been extended from 2022 onwards.)

In order to increase the attractiveness of research grants, the grant has been staggered so that the amount of grants awarded to postdoctoral researchers is EUR 2,500 per month and to dissertation authors EUR 2,250 per month. The research grants to be applied for are the authors of the dissertation € 13,500 (6-month grant), € 27,000 (12-month grant) or € 54,000 (24-month grant) and € 15,000 (6-month grant), € 30,000 (12-month grant) or € 60,000 (24 month grant).

The research grant can be paid to the researcher as a personal tax-free scholarship (to the applicant’s bank account) or as a salary. If the scholarship is paid as a scholarship, the applicant must take out employment pension insurance with Mela. From 2021, a research grant may, at the request of the applicant, also be paid to the research institute for further payment to the grant recipient as salary. At least 50% of the research work is a prerequisite for receiving salary funding, and grant applicants are required to provide a letter of support from an employer such as a university or hospital. The employer then manages the withholding tax and the pension insurance on behalf of the applicant.

By accepting the grant, applicants commit to full-time research work. The goal is a continuous research period. If the research is split into smaller instalments, each instalment must last at least one month. Any additional paid work must not exceed 25% of working hours during the research period. The goal is to complete the research in the year following the grant being awarded. Part-time research work covering at least 50% of working hours is possible for eight and twelve-month Research Grants, and the minimum research period is extended accordingly. Research Grants may be awarded twice.

Research Grant recipients must write a report describing how the grant was used. This report must be completed by the end of the year following the grant being awarded. It can be completed after the research period has ended. The report will describe periods of time spent on full-time research, the research subject, the research’s primary achievements and information about the research being published. Reporting duty applies to grants awarded in and after 2012. Reporting forms can be found in our Grant Service.

Grants are primarily paid in the calendar year following the grant being awarded. Payments are made in January, March and August.