Humboldt Research Hubs in Africa and the Middle East

To apply, you must be an alumna or alumnus of a Humboldt Foundation fellowship or awards programme working in a leading academic position (at least associate professorship or equivalent) at a university or research institution in one of the following target countries: Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, South Africa or Turkey.

Your post in the target country must be central to your academic work.

Your permanent employment in this role should be ensured throughout the funding period of the Humboldt Research Hub. Retired academics and emeriti are not eligible to apply.

If the application is approved, the applicant will become the sponsorship recipient and thus the head of their proposed Humboldt Research Hub. The home institution of the sponsorship recipient is expected to take on the fiduciary responsibility for administering the funding amount.

The sponsorship recipient is responsible for implementing the approved research concept and may use the funding amount to cover all expenses that serve this purpose, in particular the costs of employing junior researchers at the Humboldt Research Hub and at cooperating institutes in Africa or the Middle East, of reciprocal visits and mobility for collaborative partners and junior researchers, of conferences and workshops, conference attendance, scientific equipment, consumables, management costs and salary supplements. Please note the information in the Regulations on the Use of Funds (III. Purpose, use and provision of funding amount). See also the FAQ regarding “Collaborative partners” and “Junior researchers”.

As the head of their Humboldt Research Hub, the funding recipient can spend up to three months per year conducting research at the institutes of their collaborative partners in Germany. They may take daily allowances from the funding amount to cover their cost of living during these visits, up to the level of the applicable fellowship rates of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (currently max. €3,600 per month).

Alumni currently receiving sponsorship through a research group linkage or a Humboldt Alumni Award may apply for a Humboldt Research Hub under certain conditions. They are however required to discuss the matter with the Humboldt Foundation before submitting an application. Enquiries can be sent to the following email address: h-rh[at]avh.de

The requested projects must have a clearly apparent high degree of utility for overcoming global challenges that exist in all countries participating in the Humboldt Research Hub, albeit at differing intensities and in differing manifestations. Relevant global challenges are listed in the programme information.

Applications are open to all disciplines that are able to make relevant and lasting contributions to these causes.

In developing solutions to these global challenges, applicants are expected to use AI and other key and cutting-edge technologies listed in the programme information in ways that serve the common good.

Yes, you may apply if an appropriately specialised collaborative partner in Germany and potentially a further collaborative partner in Africa or the Middle East are included in the application. You can also ensure the required additional expertise by delegating some of the leadership responsibilities at the Humboldt Research Hub to advanced junior researchers.

Each collaborative partner must contribute and pursue their own research questions that reinforce the global relevance of the concept. This participation of all collaborative partners in the Humboldt Research Hub’s research project must be described in the application outline.

Every collaborative partner must hold an active position (at least W2/associate professorship or equivalent) at a research institution in the respective country, and their permanent employment in this role should be ensured throughout the funding period of the Humboldt Research Hub, whether they are located in Germany or elsewhere. Retired researchers or emeriti cannot be suggested as collaborative partners.

Collaborative partners do not become funding recipients.

The researchers participating in the Humboldt Research Hub are generally free to define the details of their collaboration through bilateral agreements between the involved institutions, provided these agreements comply with the Regulations on the Use of Funds.

The following country-specific regulations apply:

1. Collaborative partners in Germany
   A researcher working at a research institution in Germany must be involved, and their participation in the research project at the Humboldt Research Hub must be described in the application outline.
    
2. Collaborative partners in countries in Africa or the Middle East

• For alumni applying from Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya or Turkey:

  You may involve a collaborative partner from a country in Africa or the Middle East, but are not required to do so.
  We recommend the involvement of a second collaborative partner if they would bring additional expertise to the research project that significantly enhances its work. Their participation in the research project at the Humboldt Research Hub must be described in the application outline.
  The collaborative partner must be working in an academic leadership position (at least associate professorship or equivalent) at a university or research institution in a country in Africa or the Middle East that is eligible for ODA, i.e. a country that can receive public development funding (Official Development Assistance, ODA) as per the regulations of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC).
  Researchers in countries in armed conflict situations and countries subject to sanctions limiting international monetary transactions may not be suggested as collaborative partners.
  The collaborative partner may, but does not have to be an alumna or alumnus of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
  Persons working at the same institution as the applicant cannot act as collaborative partners.

• For alumni applying from South Africa:

  You must integrate a further collaborative partner in another African country.
  The requirements listed above must also be met when selecting collaborative partners from African countries.

All expenses incurred by a collaborative partner in the course of conducting the joint research may be covered from the funding amount: research stays at the Humboldt Research Hub in the target country and at the institutes of the collaborative partners in Germany and in Africa or the Middle East, research trips and conference attendance, organisation of joint conferences and workshops at the cooperating institutions, consumables, scientific literature, sundries (e.g. costs for publications, conducting field research). These outlays and expenses on the part of the collaborative partners must be reimbursed by the head of the Humboldt Research Hub or the office administering the funding amount at their home institution. 

The funding amount may be used to employ support staff at the Humboldt Research Hub and at cooperating institutions in Africa and the Middle East.

The funding amount may not be used to employ support staff at the institution of the collaborative partner in Germany. A share of the costs for support staff e.g. for events may however be reimbursed.

The funding amount may also be used to finance scientific equipment for collaborative partners in Africa and the Middle East.

Scientific equipment at the institute of the collaborative partner in Germany cannot be funded.

The head of the research hub may spend up to three months per year at the institute of the collaborative partner in Germany to conduct joint research.

No, you may include no more than two collaborative partners, one of whom must be from Germany and the second from Africa or the Middle East.

Other researchers from around the world may however be involved in the academic work of the Humboldt Research Hub, in particular as part of events and joint publications.

Junior researchers who are integrated into a Humboldt Research Hub are usually doctoral candidates or researchers who attained their doctorate within the past ten years.

As a rule, these junior researchers should be working at the respective applicant’s or collaborative partner’s home institution. It is possible to integrate junior researchers from other departments at the same research institution if this makes sense from an academic point of view. Junior researchers from other research institutions cannot usually be considered.

Junior researchers integrated into a Humboldt Research Hub who successfully apply for a fellowship at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation or another research funding organisation in Germany during the sponsorship period may be replaced by other suitable junior researchers.

1. Employment for junior researchers
   Junior researchers can be employed at the Humboldt Research Hub in the target country as well as at the institutes of collaborative partners in Africa and the Middle East.
   The costs of employing junior researchers at the institute of the collaborative partner in Germany cannot be covered.

2. Reciprocal research stays by junior researchers at the research hub and the institutes of the collaborative partners
   Reciprocal research stays of up to six months at the respective Humboldt Research Hub and at the institutes of the collaborative partners in Germany, Africa and the Middle East can be covered for junior researchers from all participating countries who are involved in the Humboldt Research Hub.

3. Mobility for junior researchers
   Research trips and conference attendance necessary for the academic work on the research concept can be covered for junior researchers from all participating countries who are involved in the Humboldt Research Hub.

Junior researchers who are employed at the Research Hub in the respective target country, advanced in their careers and in the process of becoming academically established (usually having graduated with a doctorate over five years ago) may be integrated in leading roles at the Humboldt Research Hub to prepare them for future leadership roles. They may, for example, be given responsibility for parts of the research concept that correspond especially well with their qualifications.

1. A complete application outline, for which this template must be used. Applications submitted in any other format will not be accepted. Briefly outline the major points of the planned research concept in the section “Description of the research concept of the Humboldt Research Hub”. You must adhere to the limited number of characters that can be entered into the respective fields. Additional information submitted on extra sheets of paper will not be taken into account in the evaluation of the application outline;
2. CVs and publication lists from the past five years for the alumna or alumnus and the suggested collaborative partners;
3. Statements from the directors of all institutions involved in the cooperation (= home institutions of the collaborative partners), which must meet the following requirements::

• Director of applicant’s home institution
  The director of the institution (usually the university president) where the applicant works must confirm that if the application is granted, they agree to the establishment of the planned Humboldt Research Hub and will support the set-up and development of such for the entire sponsorship period and make the required resources available. In addition, the director of the applicant’s home institution must confirm that if the application is granted, the home institution will take on fiduciary responsibility for administering the funding amount in the name of and on behalf of the head of the Humboldt Research Hub and is willing to enter into a corresponding agreement after funding is awarded. This agreement must be submitted to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation by the head of the research hub before the first instalment of the funding amount is paid out (see form in Enclosure 1 of the Regulations on the Use of Funds for the Humboldt Research Hubs programme).
• Directors of the home institutions of the collaborative partners
  The directors of the institutions (usually the university president) where the collaborative partners in Germany and, where applicable, a further country in Africa or the Middle East work must confirm that if funding is granted, they agree to the collaborative partner’s participation in the planned Humboldt Research Hub and will support the relevant measures at their institutions.

For reasons relating to funding availability, all Humboldt Research Hubs selected for funding must start their work at a specific point in time. Funding recipients will be advised of this point in time in the award letter; the start of funding generally cannot be postponed.

The “Humboldt Research Hubs in Africa and the Middle East” alumni sponsorship programme aims to increase research capacities in the target countries and strengthen mutual academic collaboration in the long term. A shorter period than five years is therefore not an option. Funding is initially only awarded for three years. Funding for the fourth and fifth year will be granted following a positive interim assessment of each Humboldt Research Hub.

Formally eligible application outlines will be evaluated by the Selection Committee of the “Humboldt Research Hubs in Africa and the Middle East” programme.

Alumni who are invited to submit a full application following a positive assessment of their application outline will be provided with all the necessary information and documents by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the appropriate time.

Yes. The full application must expand on the plans presented in the application outline regarding the collaborative partners and the research concept. Fundamental changes from the application outline to the full application are not permitted.

Other points regarding which the application outline requests preliminary estimates (especially funding amount, official title of the Humboldt Research Hub) or no information at all (e.g. involvement of private-sector stakeholders in the target countries, details of junior researchers to be included) must be added in the full application.

Remarks from the selection committee requesting that further information be added or aspects described in greater detail in the full application must be observed.

A brief report on work carried out and results achieved in the preceding calendar year must be submitted together with a numerical (interim) report on the use of funds (see form Regulations on the Use of Funds, Enclosure 3) by 28th February of each year. The report on work carried out and results achieved should be created by the head of the Humboldt Research Hub. The numerical (interim) report including lists of receipts should be created by the head of the Humboldt Research Hub’s home institution responsible for administering the sponsorship funds.

A detailed and final report on work carried out and results achieved, and a numerical (total) report (cf. form Regulations on the Use of Funds, Enclosure 3) on the use of funds must be submitted no later than three months after the sponsorship period has come to an end.

All reports on work carried out and results achieved must present the results achieved in detail and address the most important items in the numerical report.

The interim assessment is prepared by the responsible Evaluation/Statistics division of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and conducted with support from external reviewers.

A report on the results is then submitted with a recommendation regarding sponsorship of the Humboldt Research Hub for a further two years.

The heads of the Humboldt Research Hubs will be informed of the interim assessment and any involvement of persons participating in the Humboldt Research Hub in good time prior to the beginning of the interim assessment.

There is no option to extend the funding period.

Heads of Humboldt Research Hubs cannot usually make use of other Alexander von Humboldt Foundation alumni instruments that serve similar sponsorship purposes to the individual sponsorship elements of the Humboldt Research Hub during the Hub’s sponsorship period.