Boerhinger-Ingelheim Fonds PhD Fellowships 2023-24, Germany

by Samrach · Published November 7, 2022 · Updated November 7, 2022

Deadlines for applications: February 1, June 1, October 1, Every year

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.

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.

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.

How to apply for a PhD fellowship

The application for a PhD fellowship of the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) consists of

An application form on our online portal (link below) including a PDF copy containing documents 1–7
Letter(s) of recommendation.

The application must be written in English by the applicants themselves. There are three deadlines each year:

1 February, 1 June, 1 October.

Project proposal

The project proposal consists of documents 1–3 and must be written by the applicants themselves. However, we strongly recommend that applicants discuss their draft proposal with their scientific supervisors and read our guide on how to write a research proposal.

How to write a research proposal

Download Tips on how to write a research proposal for a BIF PhD fellowship by Prof. Dr U. Benjamin Kaupp, former member of BIF’s Board of Trustees

Documents for application

Please order documents 1–7 for the PDF as follows

Title and summary of PhD project (max. 1,400 characters including spaces)
Project proposal: detailed presentation of PhD project containing the formulation of the problem, current status of research, applicant’s own groundwork, objectives, experimental strategy including methods of investigation (at least 4–5 pages for strategy and methods), references (including all authors and full titles of cited papers), work schedule indicating anticipated duration of entire project, and individual steps.
Reasons for wishing to work with the proposed group
Summary of final experimental thesis (e.g. bachelor, diploma, master thesis) preceding the PhD project; if none was performed, please provide the reason(s) in the field “Additional information” in the online application and provide a summary of your most important laboratory internship.
List of applicant’s publications (if applicable)
Scans of certificates of all academic qualifications (including grades) and certificates of professional education prior to university (if applicable); in chronological order, newest on top. If the language of certificates is other than English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Turkish, please provide a translation.
Scans of high school diploma/secondary school leaving certificate including grades (e.g. Abitur, Baccalaureate, A-Levels) and, additionally, where applicable, university entrance test (e.g. SAT/ACT, PAU, YGS/LYS, Joint Entrance Examination, etc.). If the language of certificates is other than English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Turkish, please provide a translation.
Letter(s) of recommendation emailed to us directly from the supervisors.

Letter(s) of recommendation

Letters are required from

The supervisor of the PhD thesis
The supervisor of the MSc or equivalent thesis (e.g. BSc, diploma), if different from PhD supervisor
If no final experimental thesis was performed, from the supervisor of the most important laboratory internship.

Letters of recommendation must be in English, on official letterhead, and signed. They must be sent separately by the supervisors themselves via email as a PDF attachment named as follows: applicant’s last name_applicant’s first name_MSc/PhD/other (depending on who has written the letter of recommendation) to: secretariat[at]bifonds.de. (Example: smith_john_MSc.pdf)

PhD online application

Please click here to start your PhD online application.

After registration, you can also login to the portal via the link at the top right hand corner of this website or in the menu if you are using a mobile device.

Source / More information: Official Website HERE.