Information for hosts

Become a host for a Georg Forster Research Fellow

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Georg Forster Research Fellows require academic support and a point of contact at their host institution during their stay in Germany. If you are a researcher actively working at a research institution in Germany, you can act as a host for outstandingly qualified researchers in all disciplines coming to Germany from developing and transition countries.

If a fellowship is granted, the Humboldt Foundation will provide your institution with a monthly subsidy of €500 (humanities and social sciences) or €800 (natural sciences and engineering) towards research costs.

Please refer to our website or the Georg Forster Research Fellowship programme information to find out exactly what is required of applicants.

The research proposal

First, applicants must coordinate their independently developed research proposal with you. The proposal outline should come to approximately five pages in total (including bibliography) and cover the following questions:

  • What is the current state of research (evidenced by approx. five relevant publications from the research area; one page max)?
  • What questions are to be examined? What is the significance of these questions for the advancement of the research area?
  • What scientific methods are to be used to achieve the objectives of the proposal (substantiated by references, where applicable)?

Alongside the applicant’s previous academic career, the quality of their key publications and their prospects for the future, a further criterion that plays a crucial role in the independent peer reviewers’ and Selection Committee’s evaluation of an application is the originality of the research proposal. It is therefore important that the applicant has developed the research proposal her- or himself.

The applicant’s research must be of great significance for the further development of his/her country and/or region of origin as well as contributing to the exchange of knowledge and methods between Germany and the country of origin. If these criteria are not met, you may refer the applicant to the Humboldt Research Fellowship Programme as an alternative.

Your statement

To enable you to submit a meaningful statement on the applicant’s qualifications and on the proposed research, you will generally require the following documents:

  • research outline
  • CV
  • key publications
  • the names of the expert reviewers

Your statement is crucial to the review process and very important to the Selection Committee. Your expertise should focus on the applicant’s creative potential and the innovative idea underlying the intended research.

In drawing up your assessment please refer to the list of questions for the statement by the host (PDF) and answer these questions in the order given, where possible. Upload the completed document together with the signed confirmation of research facilities (DOC) and support to a secure area associated with the application; the applicant will send you the corresponding link to this area by email. Your statement will, of course, be treated as confidential.

Please note: If the applicant intends to spend their research stay at two host institutions, separate host’s statements and confirmations of research facilities and support are required. If both hosts are working at the same institution, a single confirmation of research facilities is sufficient; the joint host’s statement and the data privacy statement must, however, be signed and uploaded by both hosts.

Please note

The applicant cannot submit an application online until your host’s statement andthe signed confirmation of research facilities and support have been provided. We therefore recommend that you upload the necessary documents as soon as possible once you have been notified by the applicant.

As soon as we have received and formally reviewed the application documents in their entirety, we will forward them to external peer reviewers and notify you and the applicants of the scheduled selection date. Selection meetings are held three times a year (in February, June and October); the selection procedure takes between four and eight months. After the selection meeting we will inform you of the outcome as quickly as possible by email.

If the application is unsuccessful, we may provide you with reasons for our decision. Please request this information informally by email. You and the applicant will receive a letter with the outcome of the application approximately five weeks after the decision has been made. General information on the selection procedure can be found in the Timeline of Selection procedure.

When integrating your guest researcher into your working group you undertake to

  • abide by the Principles of Scientific Ethics
  • comply with the Rules of Good Scientific Practice
  • observe the regulations relating to the prevention of arms-relevant technology transfer
  • stay alert to the danger of illegal or undesired knowledge transfer.