Fully-Funded Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds PhD fellowships 2023-24, Germany

Deadline for applications: 1 February 2023

The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) awards PhD fellowships of 2 to 3.5 years to outstanding junior scientists worldwide who wish to pursue an ambitious PhD project in basic biomedical research in an internationally leading laboratory.

The peer-review selection process evaluates the applicant’s achievements, as well as the scientific quality of the project and host laboratory. The process is highly competitive, with less than 10% of applicants receiving a fellowship.

On top of the monthly stipend, we offer our fellows seminars, travel allowances, individual and personal support, and a worldwide network of fellows and alumni.

Our PhD fellowships offer

A Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) PhD fellowship offers a competitive monthly stipend. It is initially granted for 2 years and may be extended once for up to 1.5 years.

In addition, you receive travel allowances, e.g. for scientific conferences, and participate in tailor-made seminars for BIF fellows and alumni. 

As a BIF fellow, you also become part of a lively and worldwide network built on trust, helpfulness, and many personal encounters. No matter which challenges lie ahead, you will find an open ear and individual advice from like-minded peers or the BIF’s staff.

The monthly payment

Your monthly stipend may come with a country-dependent premium. The final sum usually also includes a fixed monthly amount to cover minor project-related costs. Together, they add up to, e.g. 2,100 euros in Germany, 2,000 euros in Spain, 2,450 euros in Austria, 2,600 euros in the Netherlands, 2,570 euros in the United Kingdom, and 3,500 euros in the USA and Switzerland. The stipends are usually tax-free.

We advise applicants wishing to work in countries where stipends are subject to strict legal or tax regulations, e.g. Austria, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland, to refer to our PhD fellowship conditions.

Depending on your personal situation, you may receive additional monthly benefits, e.g. a child care allowance of up to 500 euros and/or a spouse allowance of 200 euros. For further details, please refer to our PhD fellowship conditions.

Travel allowances

In addition to the monthly stipend, you can receive funds to:

• Present your data at international scientific conferences
• Participate in methods courses useful for your PhD project
• Perform research in cooperating laboratories.

We are there for you

At the BIF, we put people first. We meet our fellows face-to-face whenever possible. This enables us to support you individually. Whether you have questions concerning career choices, face hurdles during your PhD, or need advice on other topics, we will listen to you and offer our expertise. We operate as flexibly and unbureaucratically as possible, so that you can concentrate on your PhD.

Our seminars

You will profit from tailor-made BIF seminars during and after your fellowship – for scientific exchange, communication training, and networking. We are present at all seminars and encourage an open, friendly, and constructive atmosphere. At our seminars, fellows and alumni have started scientific cooperations, discussed career options, and forged lifelong friendships.

Who can apply for a PhD fellowship

The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) awards PhD fellowships to European citizens working in Europe or overseas and to non-European citizens pursuing their PhD projects in Europe *.

The PhD projects must be experimental, in the field of basic biomedical research, and aimed at elucidating basic biological phenomena of human life and acquiring new scientific knowledge.

For further requirements, see below as well as FAQs.

Deadlines: February 1, June 1, and October 1 of each year

At the deadline

• Your first university entrance qualification (secondary or high school leaving certificate, A-levels, or entrance/access test for first university studies after finishing school) must not have been completed more than 8 years, i.e. 96 months ago.
• Natural scientists should have been awarded their last university degree before embarking on their PhD (BSc, diploma, MSc, or equivalent). If you have not yet finished your MSc studies and/or have not received your MSc degree certificate by the deadline, you can submit it up to four months after the deadline.
• Physicians, veterinary surgeons, and pharmacists should have passed their state examinations.

Candidates from the same laboratory

If two candidates from the same laboratory apply for a PhD fellowship at the same time, only one of them may receive a fellowship. We, therefore, recommend that they apply at different deadlines.

Timing of application

You should apply when you are about to start, or have just started, your PhD project, no preliminary results are expected. If you have begun your project more than six months prior to the deadline, you are no longer eligible to apply.

Definition of the start of a PhD project

• If you continue to work in your MSc/BSc thesis research group: the date at which you obtained your highest degree (e.g. BSc, MSc, diploma, DEA, licenciatura, laurea) before embarking on your PhD.
• If you change the research group: the month of arrival at the laboratory in which you pursue your PhD project, irrespective of the project you started to work on.
• If your PhD programme requires initial lab rotations and your last lab rotation is in your PhD lab: the end of your lab rotation period.

In other cases, e.g. when participating in MSc/PhD programmes or graduate schools without an official final examination prior to the PhD project, please contact us.

What we do and do not fund

We do not fund

• Applied research, such as biotechnological and pharmaceutical development (e.g. development of assays for diagnostic purposes or drug screening, optimization or screening of substances for therapeutic use, development of drug delivery systems or vaccines)
• Studies on the course of diseases or the treatment of symptoms or clinical studies
• Botanical and prokaryotic investigations, unless they are of general biological importance
• Education. As we can only support research, fellowships may not be used during the course and rotation phase of PhD programmes, but only for the duration of the PhD project.

For further examples, please see What we fund and do not fund.

We fund

We support only experimental projects in basic biomedical research, including in silico projects.

For example:

• Analysis of RNA polymerase I structure and transcription regulation
• The role of spontaneous activity in the development of neural circuits
• Intestinal symbionts induce distinct populations of regulatory T cells
• Heterochromatin protein 1 secures survival and transmission of malaria parasites
• Epigenetic reprogramming in the maternal germ line.

For further examples, please see What we fund and do not fund or browse the summaries of completed PhD projects in Futura, the BIF’s international journal.

Funding from others

The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds must be notified if an application is submitted to any other research-sponsoring institution. Should an applicant take up an award from another institution prior to the decision of the BIF, the application to the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds is considered withdrawn and the BIF must be notified immediately.

Exceptions are made for fellowships exclusively covering tuition fees. 

Please refer to our PhD fellowship conditions.

Working contracts

The PhD fellowship is intended to cover your living expenses, so that you can fully concentrate on your PhD. Therefore, you may not receive a regular personal income from an employer while being funded by a BIF fellowship. However, one working contract of up to five hours a week yielding a marginal income may be acceptable.

Applicants wishing to work in countries where stipends underlie strict legal or tax regulations, such as Austria, Denmark, Norway, or Switzerland, please refer to our PhD fellowship conditions.

Source / More information: Official Website HERE.