Following its successful launch in 2021, the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) is once again inviting outstanding postdocs from the excellence alliance to apply for a Career Development Award. The award winners can work intensively on a scientific project of their choice during a research semester and thereby further develop their independent research profile. The salaries will continue to be paid, while, at the same time, the scholars and scientists will be granted leave from teaching and other obligations. The goal is to allocate half of the awards to female postdoctoral candidates, so applications from women are especially encouraged.

Within the framework of the objective Promoting Talent, the BUA aims to promote the career development of outstanding junior researchers from all disciplines. The deadline for the current call and for funding in the winter semester 2022/23 is March 9, 2022.

In the first round, eleven postdocs will be funded, who represent a wide range of topics and subjects – from psychology to African studies to history of science. Almost all of them have in common that they collaborate with scholars and scientists from at least one of the other BUA partner institutions. For the postdocs, the award is a potential career booster for their further scientific career.

Whether it is finally finishing the paper, learning a new method, or establishing contact with a research group abroad – all this will require time, space, and, quite often, a new perspective. After two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, this freedom comes in handy for many: “Especially in the past two years, it was not always easy to reconcile teaching under pandemic conditions with my research,” says Dr. Nino Vallen, award winner from Freie Universität Berlin. “It is a great privilege that I can now fully focus on the research work and the funding application.”

For further information, see Page for the calls for proposals for the “Career Development Awards”