Postdoc Phase
The postdocs group is made up of those scientists and academics with a doctoral degree who are in the transition phase of (ongoing) qualification and developing a profile on the way to acquiring scientific autonomy (junior professorship, junior research group leader, professorship). They make a significant contribution to research and teaching at the TU Dresden.
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Funding
What opportunities are there for continuing and advancing one's scientific career as a postdoc? The career paths for young scientists in the German science system are diverse. Get an overview of the most common funding models for the postdoc phase on the funding website of the Graduate Academy.
In addition to research and project grants from third-party funding institutions, there are other interesting funding opportunities, such as travel grants for conferences or stays abroad, funding for international cooperation between working groups (WGs), or funding opportunities for the development and sharpening of the scientific profile. The Graduate Academy and TU Dresden offer a wide range of funding opportunities for postdocs. Get an overview right now!
The team of the Graduate Academy will be pleased to help you with any questions you may have about funding the postdoc phase. Make a personal appointment or visit the Graduate Academy website for more information.
Do you need professional and financial support in preparing a proposal for third-party funding? Please take note of the broad range of services offered by the teams in the departments 5.1 - Research Promotion and 5.2 - European Project Center. Your applications will be competently accompanied and supported in many ways, from the initial idea to submission and implementation.
Professional training
In comparison to a professional career outside academia, an academic career is characterized by long periods of education and further qualification. Therefore, also during the postdoc phase further education is an important issue. In addition to raising your scientific profile, it is reasonable to obtain further professional training within the following areas:
- University didactics and teaching experience,
- Publishing and presenting skills,
- Preparing project proposals,
- Project management and leadership skills.
The Graduate Academy offers qualification programs specifically tailored for postdocs. Moreover, there are numerous further providers of professional training and continuing education at TUD and beyond.
International mobility
Research stays abroad help sharpen your scientific profile and gain international experiences during the postdoc-phase. They are an asset when applying for research funding and within the appointment procedure. There are various forms of international mobility during the postdoctoral phase:
If you are planning to spend the whole postdoctoral phase abroad (usually one to three years), there are i.e. the DFG with the Research Fellowships, the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation with the Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers or the European Union with the Marie Curie Actions where you can apply for funding. Also the DAAD awards postdoctoral fellowships for research stays abroad of a duration of one to two years. In addition to these cross-disciplinary funding programs, there are numerous subject- or country-specific funding possibilities. For further information please visit the webpages of the Graduate Academy.
As an alternative to applying for funding from German funding institutions, it might be promising to search for funding options within the target country, even though this might be somewhat more time-consuming. For a European-wide search for funding possibilities, it is recommendable to use the EURAXESS database.
However, also if you are working as a postdoc in Germany, a shorter research stay abroad may be beneficial for your postdoctoral project. Funding for short research stays abroad is provided mainly by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), by the DFG (German Research Foundation) as well as by the Fritz-Thyssen-Foundation (travel grants). Postdocs in the humanities are supported by the Max Weber Foundation (Gerald D. Feldman-Travel Grants). Postdocs of the TU Dresden who are members of the Graduate Academy can apply for travel allowances for short research stays abroad (up to three months).