Application Procedure

You can submit your application anytime to the speaker of the ELAN programme committee, Prof. Dr. André Reis, via the ELAN portal.

To be eligible, an applicant must:

• be an employee of Universitätsklinikum Erlangen or Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
• have a doctoral degree

Funding is primarily available to applicants who have not yet reached the age of 38 at the time of application. Maternity leave, parental leave and care periods extend that limit. This does not include newly appointed professors without a management function, who can apply regardless of age, usually within the first two years after they have started their position. Additional funds are also available for applicants outside the age limit.

Follow-up projects of already funded projects cannot be funded. Simultaneous funding by the Marohn-Stiftung or IZKF junior projects is not possible. Cost for staff (1 position for a doctoral student or a technician) as well as consumables and costs for animal husbandry up to 15 T€ can be applied for. Deviations must be specifically justified. The duration of the project is limited to one year. For further information please check the guidelines.

If an ELAN project submits an application for third-party funding (with a review process) during the project term, the project receives a bonus for staff, consumables and investment of one third of the funding sum (max. 20 T€). These bonus funds must be spent within 6 months, otherwise they will be confiscated.

As part of an ELAN application, physicians working in clinical, can additionally apply for a laboratory rotation. Therefore, the regulations of the IZKF are valid and the funding decision is made independently of the project by the IZKF board.

You can submit your application anytime to the speaker of the ELAN programme committee, Prof. Dr. André Reis, via the ELAN portal.

To be eligible, an applicant must:

• be an employee of Universitätsklinikum Erlangen or Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
• have a doctoral degree

Bridging projects are intended to temporarily cover a critical situation. The funding limit for staff and consumables is max. 50 T€ (hiring of new staff, especially doctoral students, is not intended) with a duration of approx. 6 months.

Applicants who have not yet reached the age of 38 at the time of application can also apply for 100% funding of their own position for a maximum of 6 months or 50% funding for a maximum of 12 months if, at the time of application, an external third-party funding proposal has already been submitted for the further funding of the position (as own position or ad personam postdoc position applied for).

In the case of experienced scientists beyond the age limit, the aim is to maintain the continuity of the working group in an emergency situation (e.g. rejected external funding) and with good prospects of obtaining new external funding in the near future.

Bridging projects are not eligible for special programmes of the IZKF (travel, publication and high-tech pool.) The bonus fund for bridging projects also does not apply.

For Synergy Grants, the application and the calculation for consumables must be submitted togehter with a Research Profile. Applications can be submitted twice a year; the deadlines are 15.01. and 15.07. of each year.

An extension of the duration of Synergy projects is not possible.

Note for applicants: Synergy projects must be in the lead in the Faculty of Medicine; a maximum of half of the (co-)applicants can also be affiliated to institutions outside the Faculty of Medicine. Applicants from institutions in other FAU faculties can receive financial support. Non-university institutions (MPI, MPZ, Helmholtz, etc.) can only be involved without financial support.

An external evaluation is required if the requested amount exceeds 20,000 EUR. For projects up to 20,000 EUR, the internal rapporteur decides whether an external evaluation is needed.

Yes, you need to name 4 external evaluators with a “habilitation” from the German-speaking area, 2 of whom need to be affiliated at a university. This is independent from the requested funding amount. External evaluators cannot be members of FAU.

No, the programme office will do that.

No. The resources are limited. Not all applications can be approved. Therefore, accumulations of funds at individual groups should be avoided in order to be able to fund as many different groups as possible. Synergy projects are excluded

No. Applications can be submitted anytime. However, you should submit your proposal at least 8 weeks before the next ELAN programme committee meetings in order to allow evaluation. Additional time might be required in case of external evaluation or during general holiday time.

After the ELAN committee meeting, you will receive a brief notice about the decision. One to two weeks after that, you will receive additional details.

After the ELAN committee meeting, Fachabteilung Forschungsfinanzierung (Fe) generates a cost center for your project which is stated in your letter of approval. From that moment, you can use the funds. Your contact person at Fe will support you with financial management.