Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award

Eligibility

Eligible for nomination are researchers whose outstanding academic qualification is internationally recognised and can be demonstrated through corresponding successes in research. Nominees must moreover offer a well-founded expectation of future outstanding academic achievements that will have a lasting impact on their discipline beyond their immediate research area. The individual nominated must additionally meet the following criteria:

• The nominated individual must have gained her/his doctorate no more than 18 years ago. An exception to this rule may be made where justified
  (e.g. in the case of career breaks to raise children).
• The nominee may not previously have received an award from the Humboldt Foundation for her/his academic work.
• The nominee must have lived and worked outside Germany for over five years at the time of nomination.
• The nominee must not yet have entered permanent employment in Germany at the time of selection.

Self-nominations are not possible, nor may you nominate close relatives or your marital/registered partner. We particularly encourage the nomination of qualified female researchers.

Summary

Scientists and scholars from abroad, internationally renowned in their field, who completed their doctorates less than 18 years ago and who in future are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements which will have a seminal influence on their discipline beyond their immediate field of work, are eligible to be nominated for a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award.
Award winners are honoured for their outstanding research record and invited to spend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany. The stay may be divided up into blocks.
The Humboldt Foundation grants about 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually. The award is valued at 45,000 EURO.
 

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

There is no nomination deadline for this Award. Nominations can be sent at any time.

Nominations may be submitted online by established academics in Germany. Nominations may also be initiated by award winners of the Humboldt Foundation working abroad, provided that the nomination is made jointly with a colleague working in Germany. Self-nomination is not possible, nor may you nominate close relatives or your marital/registered partner.

• Programme information (PDF, 115 KB)

Online nomination