Funding for universities of applied sciences and small institutions

• The Wissenschaftsrat refers to a Fachhochschule professorship with a teaching load (Lehrdeputat) of, as a rule, 18 SWS (Semesterwochenstunden, weekly teaching hours per semester).
• It states that Fachhochschulen as a rule have no Mittelbau (permanent academic mid-level staff) from which professors could be recruited.
• Professors are recruited mainly from professional practice outside higher education, so Fachhochschulen compete with companies as employers, particularly in STEM fields.
• It recommends that Fachhochschulen may designate up to 15 % of professorships as Schwerpunktprofessuren (research-focused professorships) with an average teaching load of 11 SWS.
• It also recommends additional staff for permanent tasks alongside professorships, so that professors can concentrate on core academic work.
• Academic staff without a professorship are largely employed in third-party funded projects, so posts end when projects end.

Sources: Empfehlungen zur Personalgewinnung und -entwicklung an Fachhochschulen (Drs. 5637-16) (Wissenschaftsrat, 2016-10-21)

• Agreement of 27 November 2023 (BAnz AT 30.01.2024 B10), amended by GWK decision of 19 February 2026 (BAnz AT 27.05.2026 B3); the programme as a whole has existed since 2003.
• Eligible: state HAW (including those run by a public-law foundation) and state-recognised HAW that are mainly publicly refinanced, represented by their leadership; the term HAW includes Fachhochschulen.
• Applications go to the Projektträger appointed by the BMFTR via the responsible state ministry, unless the state has waived this step.
• In joint projects led by an HAW, companies (primarily SMEs), universities and research institutes can also be funded; HAW must receive at least 80 % of programme funds.
• Eligible costs: personnel, consumables and project-related equipment; HAW receive an additional Projektpauschale (project lump sum for overheads) of 20 % of project expenditure.
• Funding volume: up to around EUR 493 million for the whole term, plus up to EUR 61 million from 2027 from the federal Sondervermögen Infrastruktur und Klimaneutralität (special fund) for research investments linked to the Hightech Agenda Deutschland.

Sources: Vereinbarung zwischen Bund und Ländern über die Förderung der anwendungsorientierten Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften nach Artikel 91b des Grundgesetzes (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz (GWK), 2023-11-27, amended 2026-02-19); Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz (GWK), accessed 2026-10-19)

• HAW-ForschungsSchub (guideline announced 26 May 2026): moves promising existing research towards application, with priority for key technologies and strategic fields of the Hightech Agenda Deutschland; open to all disciplines; associated partners such as companies must be involved.
• HAW-ForschungsSchub: up to EUR 200,000 per project for up to 24 months; two stages, expression of interest first, then up to 60 eligible HAW selected at random are invited to submit a full proposal.
• HAW-ForschungsSchub expression-of-interest deadlines: 15 September 2026 (passed; random selection completed per notice of 24 September 2026), 15 March 2027 and 15 September 2027.
• HAW-EuropaNetzwerke (guideline announced 23 August 2024): builds international networks and prepares proposals for European research programmes, including Horizon Europe and its successor from 2028.
• HAW-EuropaNetzwerke: up to EUR 75,000 per project for up to 12 months, usually ending with submission of the EU proposal; full proposals only, submitted continuously until 30 June 2029; at most three concurrent projects per HAW.
• Programme management for these lines: VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH.

Sources: HAW-ForschungsSchub: funding line (BMFTR / Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften, accessed 2026-10-19); HAW-EuropaNetzwerke: funding line (BMFTR / Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften, accessed 2026-10-19)

• HAW-ForschungsAkzente (guideline 22 August 2024): open-topic funding to develop new or deepen existing research focuses; two stages; up to three outlines per HAW per call; one FTE of academic staff for the full project term; call 1 (spring 2025) full proposals in processing, call 2 (spring 2026) under assessment. No date for a further call is published.
• HAW-ForschungsPraxis (guideline 23 August 2024): open-topic projects with at least two non-university partners from industry, business or administration, at least two professors and at least two FTE of academic staff; call 1 (autumn 2024) in project phase, call 2 (autumn 2025) outline selection completed. No date for a further call is published.
• HAW-OpenSpace (guideline 16 April 2026): research infrastructure for an open innovation space, up to EUR 2 million per project for up to 36 months, one application per HAW, at least one industry partner; deadline was 3 August 2026, applications are under review.
• HAW-ForschungsraumQualifizierung (guideline 30 August 2024): research space, research project and qualification concept in one application; deadline was 2 December 2024; projects are running.
• FH-Personal: Bund-Länder programme for recruiting and developing professorial staff, up to EUR 431.5 million, approval rounds in 2020 and 2022, projects ending by 2026 (round 1) or 2028 (round 2); applications are no longer possible.

Sources: HAW-ForschungsAkzente: funding line (BMFTR / Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften, accessed 2026-10-19); HAW-ForschungsPraxis: funding line (BMFTR / Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften, accessed 2026-10-19); HAW-OpenSpace: funding line (BMFTR / Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften, accessed 2026-10-19); HAW-ForschungsraumQualifizierung: funding line (BMFTR / Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften, accessed 2026-10-19); FH-Personal (Projektträger Jülich on behalf of the BMFTR, accessed 2026-10-19)

• Eligibility (Antragsberechtigung): completed academic training, usually a doctorate, and employment of at least 20 % of a full-time post with research tasks at a research institution in Germany.
• The host institution must be legally independent, public or recognised as non-profit, provide the needed infrastructure and allow immediate, unrestricted publication of results.
• Forschungsimpulse, 4th call (Information für die Wissenschaft Nr. 103, 16 December 2025): one sketch per HAW/FH, no joint applications, up to EUR 1 million per year, up to 5 + 3 years; letter of intent was due 4 March 2026 and sketch 13 May 2026; invitations to full proposals expected in Q1 2027, funding start 1 July 2028.
• Since 1 June 2024, HAW/FH can be applicant institutions for Graduiertenkollegs if they can take doctoral candidates to the doctorate in the relevant subjects, alone or with a doctorate-granting institution depending on state law.
• Earlier HAW measures (Transfer HAW/FH PLUS, UDIF-HAW, Großgeräteaktionen and Großgeräte-Sachbeihilfe for HAW) are described by the DFG as completed.
• The DFG announces an information event on Sachbeihilfe (research grants) for HAW professors on 4 December 2026, 10:00-11:30.

Sources: DFG-Förderung für Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften und Fachhochschulen (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, accessed 2026-10-19); Forschungsimpulse: 4. Ausschreibungsrunde für HAW/FH (Information für die Wissenschaft Nr. 103) (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, 2025-12-16); Informationen zum Programm Graduiertenkollegs für HAW/FH (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, accessed 2026-10-19); Grundsätze der Antragsberechtigung (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, accessed 2026-10-19)

• Projektförderung I: projects to build strategic partnerships and networks that are institutionalised at the HAW; the three-year projects for 2027-2029 were selected (notice of 15 October 2026).
• Projektförderung II: short-term measures such as conferences, summer schools or joint courses; call for 2027 published 1 October 2026, application deadline 13 January 2027.
• The DAAD page gives the 2027 short-term funding period as 1 June to 31 December 2027 in the call, but a news item mentions January to July; the call document is decisive.
• Individual scholarships: study stays (3-6 months), research stays for final theses (1-6 months) and conference attendance, the latter open to HAW master's students, project staff, doctoral candidates and professors.
• Accompanying measures: advice via KIWi and HAW-specific training via the Internationale DAAD-Akademie (iDA).

Sources: Internationalisierung der Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW.International) (DAAD, accessed 2026-10-19)

• Bavaria, Initialprogramm Forschung (guideline of 21 December 2016, in force from 1 March 2017): premiums for state HAW and Technische Hochschulen on applied R&D contracts from non-public clients, either won within four years of appointment or with at least two further professors in a research focus.
• Bavaria, Initialprogramm Forschung: premium of 20 % for contracts up to EUR 25,000 and 10 % above, contracts counted up to EUR 475,000, maximum EUR 50,000 per contract; applications by the university leadership by 1 March for contracts started in the previous year. Whether the 2016 guideline is still applied unchanged is not confirmed on the ministry website.
• Rhineland-Palatinate, Forschungskollegs (since 2018): joint research projects of at least one HAW and one university with cooperative doctorates, HAW professors acting as supervisors and examiners; recent rounds 2024-2027 and 2025-2028; example: PHOENI-X, EUR 750,000 for July 2026 to June 2029 (press release of 14 September 2026).
• Rhineland-Palatinate, Forschungsinitiative: long-term research funding through target agreements with 4 universities and 7 state HAW, focused on profile areas (Potential- und Profilbereiche); no open call.
• Rhineland-Palatinate, HAW-direkt 2025: around EUR 1 million for project-related research equipment at six state HAW (press release of 15 July 2025); a further round is not announced.

Sources: Richtlinien für das Programm zur Förderung von anwendungsbezogenen Forschungs- und Entwicklungsaufträgen an den staatlichen Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften und Technischen Hochschulen in Bayern (Initialprogramm Forschung) (Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus, Wissenschaft und Kunst (now Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst), 2016-12-21); Forschungskollegs Rheinland-Pfalz (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Weiterbildung und Gesundheit Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 2026-10-19); Land fördert KI-Forschungskolleg PHOENI-X mit 750.000 Euro (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Weiterbildung und Gesundheit Rheinland-Pfalz, 2026-09-14); Forschungsinitiative (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Weiterbildung und Gesundheit Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 2026-10-19); Land stellt mit HAW-direkt 2025 rund eine Million Euro für die Forschung an Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften zur Verfügung (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Weiterbildung und Gesundheit Rheinland-Pfalz, 2025-07-15)

• CZS Stiftungsprofessuren HAW: EUR 1.5 million over five years for a new W2/W3 research professorship plus a doctoral position, with further staff, material, investment (max. 20 %) and science communication costs; plus an overhead lump sum of 20 %.
• Conditions of the 2024 call: teaching load reduced to at most 11 SWS, professorship made permanent by the HAW after funding, appointment within two years of approval; topics Künstliche Intelligenz, RessourcenEffizienz and Life Science Technologies within STEM.
• The 2024 call named the eligible HAW in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia individually, with one or two applications each; a successor call is not published.
• CZS Research Boost: up to EUR 200,000 over two years for newly appointed HAW professors to start their first application-oriented research project, including costs for teaching substitutes; no current deadline is shown.

Sources: CZS Stiftungsprofessuren HAW 2024: Ausschreibung (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, 2024-03-05); CZS Endowed Professorships at Universities of Applied Sciences (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, accessed 2026-10-19); CZS Research Boost (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, accessed 2026-10-19)

• Regulation (EU) 2021/695, Article 22(2): unless the work programme provides otherwise, a consortium needs at least one independent legal entity in a Member State and at least two other independent legal entities in different Member States or associated countries.
• MSCA Doctoral Networks: consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses and other non-academic organisations; at least three independent legal entities in different Member States or associated countries, at least one in a Member State; up to 4 years (Joint Doctorates up to 5).
• MSCA Industrial Doctorates: doctoral candidates spend at least 50 % of their time outside academia, with joint academic and non-academic supervision.
• MSCA Staff Exchanges: at least three organisations in three countries, two of them in different Member States or associated countries, mixing academic and non-academic organisations; secondments of one month to one year for researchers and for administrative, technical or managerial staff.
• Call deadlines are published on each call's page in the Funding & Tenders Portal; EU funding rates and lump sums are covered on the separate guide page on funding rates.

Sources: Regulation (EU) 2021/695 establishing Horizon Europe (European Parliament and Council (EUR-Lex), 2021-04-28); MSCA Doctoral Networks (European Commission, last updated 2026-09-29); MSCA Staff Exchanges (European Commission, accessed 2026-10-19)

• Participants: any public or private organisation in an EU Member State or associated third country; HEIs must hold a valid Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE).
• Minimum: three organisations from three different EU Member States or associated third countries; no maximum.
• Duration 12 to 36 months; lump sums of EUR 120,000, EUR 250,000 or EUR 400,000.
• The coordinator applies on behalf of all participants and must have been legally established for at least two years before the deadline; partners carry no such requirement.
• 2026 Programme Guide deadline for education, training and youth (excluding European NGOs): 5 March, 12:00 Brussels time, with an optional second round on 1 October; deadlines for 2027 are set by the next Programme Guide.

Sources: Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026: Cooperation Partnerships (European Commission, 2026 edition); Nationale Agentur für EU-Hochschulzusammenarbeit (DAAD, accessed 2026-10-19)

• Creative Europe European Cooperation Projects: small scale at least 3 partners from 3 eligible countries, medium scale 5 from 5, large scale 10 from 10; maximum duration 48 months.
• Per the German Creative Europe Desk Kultur: small scale up to 80 % and max. EUR 200,000, medium up to 70 % and max. EUR 1 million, large up to 60 % and max. EUR 2 million; purely audiovisual projects are excluded.
• Per the German Creative Europe Desk Kultur: the 2026 deadline for small and medium projects was 5 May 2026; the next call is expected to open on 5 January 2027 with a planned deadline of 5 March 2027 (planned, still to be confirmed by a call document); large projects every two years (2025, 2027).
• The Bund-Länder agreement on HAW research defines eligible institutions as HAW (including Fachhochschulen and named dual universities); design programmes within an HAW are covered through the HAW, while Kunsthochschulen are not named. Eligibility of a stand-alone art university should be confirmed with the Projektträger.
• DFG eligibility does not depend on the type of institution: the institution must meet the general criteria (legal independence, public or non-profit status, unrestricted publication of results) and the applicant the personal criteria.

Sources: European cooperation projects (European Commission, Culture and Creativity, last updated 2025-09-10); Europäische Kooperationsprojekte (Creative Europe Desk Kultur Deutschland, accessed 2026-10-19); Vereinbarung zwischen Bund und Ländern über die Förderung der anwendungsorientierten Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz (GWK), 2023-11-27, amended 2026-02-19); Grundsätze der Antragsberechtigung (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, accessed 2026-10-19)

• Nationale Kontaktstellen (National Contact Points, NCPs) for Horizon Europe: named by the federal government, coordinated by the EU-Büro des BMFTR; they support from idea to project closure, and their advisory services are confidential and free of charge.
• Horizon Europe Front Office at the EU-Büro des BMFTR: first point of contact when the relevant NCP is unclear.
• KoWi (Kooperationsstelle EU der Wissenschaftsorganisationen): DFG-funded service platform in Bonn and Brussels for information, advice and training on EU research funding; part of the ERC National Contact Point; keeps a list of EU liaison officers; some services are reserved for members of its supporting association.
• NA DAAD: the central contact point in Germany for Erasmus+ in higher education, acting on behalf of the BMFTR.
• HAW-EuropaNetzwerke: up to EUR 75,000 for up to 12 months to build networks and prepare EU proposals; continuous submission until 30 June 2029.

Sources: Horizon Europe Advisory Service (EU-Büro des BMFTR, accessed 2026-10-19); About KoWi (KoWi, accessed 2026-10-19); Nationale Agentur für EU-Hochschulzusammenarbeit (DAAD, accessed 2026-10-19); HAW-EuropaNetzwerke: funding line (BMFTR / Forschung an Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften, accessed 2026-10-19)