Joint Project Funding

  Woman working in lab Copyright: © University Hospital Aachen

The IZKF funds two Joint Research Projects with a funding sum of EUR 800,000 annually for a period of three years.

The applying joint projects should be able to generate high-volume third-party funds (SFB, Transregio, Resaerch Unit, BMBF, EU) in a reasonable period.

Only 1 joint project proposal could be filed per core research area:

  • Medical Technology and Digital Life Sciences
  • Translational Neurosciences
  • Organ Crosstalk
  • Phase Transition in Disease

The projects - both the full proposal and the sub-proposal of the joint project - were externally assessed in writing according to their scientific excellence, their ability to generate the intended measures and their prospect to receive third-party funds through the project.

Further information on the external review process

The full proposals of the joint projects (4 max., each from every core research area) were assessed anonymously by subject-specific external experts (not comparatively). To minimise possible conflicts of interests, three external experts will be selected for each joint project in accordance with the articles of association. The prospect for third-party funds set forth in the proposal was considered in respect to the selection of the experts.

 

Assessment Criteria

The assessment criteria generally comply with those of the German Research Foundation (DFG):

1. Quality of the Project / Qualification of the Applicant

  • Originality
  • Expected advancement of knowledge (also in relation to costs)
  • Scientific significance (in its own field and/or across different fields)
  • Soundness of the preliminary work, quality of publications and for
  • renewal proposals also the results obtained so far
  • Broader impact (in terms of science policy, social policy, commerce/technology)

2. Working Environment / Scientific Environment

  • Staff, institutional, spatial and instrument requirements

3. Objectives and Work Program

  • Clear working hypotheses
  • Reasonable limitation of the topic
  • Appropriateness of the methods
  • Feasibility, particularly with respect to the proposed timeframe

4. Recommendation Concerning the Scope of Funding

4.1 Staff

Justification of proposed staff requirements in the work program

4.2 Equipment

  • Necessity and utilisation of the proposed equipment
  • Categorisation of proposed instrumentation as modern standard equipment
  • Necessity of the proposed performance category or the proposed equipment with accessories

4.3 Small equipment (acquisition costs up to €10,000),
                        Consumables, travel expenses and other costs

4.4 Publication Costs

If requested, an allowance of generally up to €750 per year can be awarded
                       for the publication of scientific project results.

5. Diversity and Equal Opportunities in German Research

Proposal reviews should not disadvantage applicants due to non-scientific criteria such as age, gender or disability. The applicant’s scientific career development rather than his/her age should be considered for example. Certain non-scientific disadvantages may be compensated for; unavoidable delays in the applicant’s scientific career (for example childcare responsibilities causing longer periods of qualification, gaps in publications, or less time spent abroad) should be taken into consideration.

6. Prospects with regard to obtaining subsequent third-party funding

The projects - both the full proposal and the sub-proposal of the joint project - will be externally assessed in writing according to their scientific excellence, their ability to generate the intended measures and their prospect to receive third-party funds through the project.