Independent Junior Research Group Leaders

Junior Research Group Leadership -

An Excellent Opportunity for Young Researchers

Independent Junior Research Group Leaders offer outstanding young researchers an excellent opportunity to advance their careers in academia.

As an attractive alternative to a habilitation or a Junior Professorship, they enable:

Independent research with a dedicated budget
Establishment of one’s own research group
Early scientific independence

Definition

The position is based on a highly competitive funding program for Early-Career Researchers (e.g., DFG Emmy Noether, ERC Starting Grant, BMBF Young Researcher Groups, Volkswagen Foundation). The funding is inextricably linked to the candidate’s personal excellence and covers the candidate’s salary and the Junior Group Leader's team.
The group leader has sole authority over the budget for the secured funding.
The junior group leader has full responsibility for personnel. The team (doctoral candidates, postdocs) selects, hires, and manages its own staff.
The group is not subordinate to any Chair. The Junior Research Group Leader operates with complete scientific autonomy.

Advantages

Financial Resources: Junior Research Group Leaders generally have their own staff positions and operational funds
Independence: They are not bound by directives and enjoy nearly ideal conditions for establishing an early research profile

Challenges

Limited involvement in institutional procedures and decision-making processes
of the university or research institution
Often no teaching duties
Generally not authorized to serve as a doctoral dissertation reviewer

To counteract these disadvantages, TU Dresden has created the
TUD Young Investigator Program.

Funding Programs | An Overview

The application processes for independent Junior Research Group Leaders are highly competitive. The primary award criterion is scientific excellence.

German Research Foundation (DFG):

Emmy Noether Program
Heisenberg Program

European Union:

ERC Starting Grants
Top researchers of all nationalities (2 to 7 years after earning their doctorate)

Volkswagen Foundation:

Change! Fellowships
All fields of study; Requirement: transformative research involving 1–3 practice-oriented, non-academic partners; 2 to 15 years after earning a Ph.D.

Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung

CZS Nexus
Interdisciplinary research in STEM fields at the intersections of life sciences, computer science, and materials research

Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung

Exploration Grants
Young researchers in the life sciences and medicine, to advance high-risk, outstanding basic biological research.

Other programs: