IEG Fellowships for Postdocs

Application   Reference   Value of Fellowships

 

Application Deadline: October 15, 2025
for a fellowship beginning in April 2026 or later

The IEG awards postdoctoral fellowships to young academics from Germany and abroad who have completed their doctoral dissertations and are pursuing a new research project. This fellowship is intended to help you develop your own research project in close collaboration with scholars working at the IEG and to contribute to its ongoing research activities. This includes the possibility of developing a perspective for further cooperation with the IEG.

Applicants should have been awarded their doctorate no more than three years before the beginning of the proposed fellowship (non-academic activities are not relevant to the application). The final examination or defence of the dissertation must have been successfully completed by the application deadline. It is not possible to avail of funding for the final phase of doctoral research and continuing into a subsequent postdoctoral project.

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Application

Necessary documents: 

1. completed application form (online form)
2. curriculum vitae; a list of publications (if available)
3. a brief description of the proposed project with a detailed working plan and schedule for the intended stay at the institute (5 pages/ 15,000 characters excluding spaces)
4. a digital copy of the dissertation
5. copies of university certificates and proof of language competence
6. if applicable: description (max. 250 words) of the research data collected as part of your dissertation (NFDI4Memory-FAIR-Data-Scholarship)

Please use the IEG online application: https://bewerbung.ieg-mainz.de/pb67g

In addition, you will need two letters of recommendation, which must be sent directly to the IEG by the two referees (see below for further information). You can write your application in either English or German. We recommend that you choose the language you are most proficient in. A good command of English is required.

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Reference

For your application, you will need a total of two referees' references on your research project. The referees send a current reference in a PDF by the application deadline by e-mail directly to: fellowship@ieg-mainz.de
 
The reference should discuss (please avoid a general letter of recommendation):

- the applicant’s academic qualifications
- topic, goal and current state of the proposed research project
- a synopsis of work to be done in Mainz along with possible time and work schedules

The first reference should be provided by the first academic supervisor of the dissertation. The second referee should come from another university or from a neighbouring discipline. Please inform the referees of your application with sufficient time in advance. You can find further information on the submission of references in our FAQs.


Letters of reference should contain information on the question, method, results, and representation of your research project. Additionally, they should also give an evaluation regarding the recent state of research on the topic.

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Value of IEG Fellowships for Postdocs

1. Fellowship rates 
The IEG Fellowships are jointly funded by the federal and state government. The fellowships are exclusively used for the purpose of pursuing the research project detailed in the application at the IEG. Fellows are therefore not permitted to pursue or avail of any other form of employment or funding for the duration of the fellowship.

IEG Fellowships for postdocs have a monthly value of € 1,800.

2. Family allowance

Fellowship holders whose partners accompany them to Mainz and do not have an income of more than 556 euros per month may receive a family allowance. Please indicate in your application whether your partner accompanies you to Mainz.  

Fellows who come to Mainz accompanied by their underage children can apply for child allowance.

Please direct your questions to the following address: fellowship@ieg-mainz.de

In case of doubt the German version is valid.