Application requirements
Can I apply before I have completed my doctorate?
You may apply if you will complete your doctorate within the next six months. If this is the case, you should submit the manuscript of your dissertation or publications containing the results of your dissertation along with your application. If selected, you must complete your doctorate before commencing the research fellowship.
What determines the date of a doctorate?
The relevant date is that of completing the final academic part of the doctoral process (e.g., defence of thesis, doctoral viva). This date will usually be included on your doctoral certificate alongside the date of issue. The key date for calculating the period following your doctorate is the date on which your application is received by the Humboldt Foundation. If you already held an academic position equivalent to or higher than an Associate Professor/ Senior Lecturer/ Reader before completing your PhD/C.Sc. the relevant date is the one on which you assumed this position.
Which date is valid if I have several doctorates?
In the case of multiple doctorates, the effective date is that of the first doctoral degree (Ph.D./C.Sc.).
Will you take into consideration the time I devoted to bringing up my children?
If you have ever interrupted your academic career for child-rearing purposes, either partially or completely, please list all periods of leave on the application form. We will assess whether these periods can be taken into account in calculating your eligibility in relation to your career stage. The time limit set by the programme for the period after completing a doctorate may be extended by a maximum of two years per child if you did indeed interrupt your academic career for the periods stated and claim for these periods. If you have any further questions please contact
info@avh.de.
I'm a physician (MD / Dr. med.). Are there any special admission requirements?
Preparation/Planning
Are there deadlines for submitting applications?
No, we process all applications as we receive them and present them to the Selection Committee at the first possible selection meeting. Since an application takes three to six months to process, the complete application should be submitted in good time prior to the Selection Meeting at which you would like your application to be presented
When and how often do Selection Committee Meetings take place?
There are three Selection Committee Meetings each year: in February, June and October.
Can I apply for a fellowship from another institution at the same time I submit my application to the Humboldt Foundation?
On principle, it is possible to file parallel applications. You must, however, indicate this on the application form and inform us immediately of any other applications you submit and any other sponsorship decisions that occur while we are considering your application.
What is the earliest date I can start the fellowship?
JSPS and NSC applications that have been approved at the selection meeting must await the final decision of JSPS or NSC which is usually announced within three months.
Start of the Fellowship (only JSPS fellowships): If the application was approved in the February or May/June selection meeting, the Fellowship in Japan must commence between 1 April and 30 November of the same year. If the application was approved in the October selection meeting, the Fellowship must commence between 1 April and 30 November of the following year.
What is the value of the fellowship?
Please refer to our current programme information for details. Kindly understand that we cannot precalculate specific individual amounts prior to application.
Will you pay the fellowship retroactively if I am already at the host institute at the time of being selected?
No, the fellowship cannot be paid retroactively.
When can I start my fellowship?
In most cases, the research stay can begin two months after the final selection decision.
JSPS candidates whose applications have been approved must wait for the final decision in Japan, which is usually taken within two months after the selection meeting.
Application documents
Where should I send my application?
Please send your application directly to the Selection Department of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Jean-Paul-Str. 12, 53173 Bonn, Germany. If this is not possible, you may submit your application via the branch offices of the DAAD or the German Embassy or Consulate, which will then forward them to the Humboldt Foundation.
Can I submit my application via e-mail?
No. Please send your application by air mail or surface mail.
What form should the application documents take?
Should my expert references be sent directly to the Humboldt Foundation or enclosed with the application?
Expert references may be submitted with the application or be sent directly by the reviewers to the Selection Department at the Humboldt Foundation. Please ask your reviewers to use the
form for expert reviewers. References should not be more than six months old at the time of application.
What happens if references are submitted before the complete application is received?
References that cannot be immediately matched to an application will be kept on file for up to six months.
Who should provide references for my application and how many references are required?
Expert references should address your development as a researcher, your potential, and your academic accomplishments to date. Therefore it is important that reviewers are really familiar with your academic work. You should submit three references. Please note: The host's statement does not count as an expert reference! For further important details on how to select reviewers effectively, please refer to our
Guidelines for completing the application for
researchers coming to Germany and for
researchers going abroad.
Which publications should I enclose with my application?
You should submit copies of three publications, one of which must have appeared in the last two years. Please choose the most important and recent publications that include as much of your own work as possible. Applicants for a postdoctoral research fellowship should please submit their doctoral thesis, too (on CD-Rom, if possible). For more important details please refer to our
Guidelines for completing the application for
researchers coming to Germany and for
researchers going abroad.
Should I include manuscripts that I have already submitted or planned for publication on the list of publications?
You should only include manuscripts that have already been submitted for publication. Once your manuscript has been accepted, please send us a copy of the publisherīs letter of acceptance. We cannot include rejected manuscripts in our evaluation of your publication record.
I have not yet completed my doctorate. Do I have to hand in my doctoral certificate later?
Yes. As soon as you complete your doctorate, we need at least official confirmation from your university. You will not be able to start the fellowship without this confirmation.
Selection procedure
Will you confirm receipt of my application, as well as other documents and references?
As soon as we receive your application, we will notify you (usually by e-mail). Due to the number of applications, we cannot confirm the receipt of further documents and references separately. If, however, important documents or information should be missing from your application, we will notify you.
How much time do I have to submit further documents or update my application?
You should submit a complete application. References should be sent either together with or as soon as possible after submitting the application in order to avoid unnecessary delays. If any of your manuscripts are accepted for publication while the application is being processed, you should immediately send us a copy of the publisher´s letter of acceptance. Addenda to the list of publications can be taken into consideration until the date of the Selection Committee Meeting. Please send us these additions by e-mail as a separate attachment to your list of publications.
Will I be notified of the date the Selection Committee will decide on my application?
As soon as the formal examination of your application has been completed, you will be notified of the anticipated decision date. Should the specialist review of your application take longer than expected, you will be notified if it proves necessary to postpone the decision. We shall inform you and your academic host of the selection committee’s decision by email in the days immediately following the selection committee meeting. If there have been a large number of applications it may take a few days longer to inform all the candidates and hosts.
Who will review my application?
Your application will be reviewed by independent peer reviewers.
Will I be notified of the reasons for a rejection?
Because the top 30-35% of applicants are selected for a fellowship in each selection round, approval or rejection of an application is always directly related to the qualifications of the other applicants. Thus, it is often impossible to provide detailed reasons for a rejection.
If, in principle, the Selection Committee considers an applicantīs qualifications to be among the top third, but certain aspects militate against the application, the committee may issue a rejection note inviting the candidate to submit an amended application at a later stage. In such cases, applicants are notified of those aspects of the application which the Selection Committee believes to be in need of improvement, such as the publication record or the research plan.
Will my application documents be returned to me at the end of the selection process?
No. Some of the documents will be archived, the rest will be destroyed. Please only submit copies, no originals.
Books that you submit as part of your publication record will be returned to you at the end of the selection process.
Selection
What are the most important selection criteria?
The essential aspect of the application is the individual applicantīs academic qualification.
Please refer to the relevant programme information for more details on the selection criteria.
Can I re-apply after being rejected?
It is possible to re-apply. The new application should, however, differ significantly from the original, rejected application. Generally, it makes sense to re-apply after developing oneīs academic profile, e.g. after academical publications have been accepted by internationally reviewed journals and publishing houses. Our experience shows that applicants should wait about two years before re-applying. Submitting a new application that differs little or not at all from the rejected original may result in a formal rejection of the new application.