New training programme for young scientists

The Helmholtz Graduate Schools are institutions jointly run by Helmholtz Centres and Universities, are selected by competition, and are established on the basis of formal cooperation agreements. The doctoral students are given a structured academic training in their specific field coupled with professional skills and personality-building training to sharpen their profile and so to prepare them for careers in science and research or business and industry. The new programme is based on a framework agreement between the Helmholtz Association and the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz  – HRK).

"The highly-talented doctoral students at the Helmholtz Graduate Schools work on a cross-disciplinary research problem in a demanding and high-quality scientific environment. They get to know the significance of strategic alliances, interdisciplinary perspectives and international cooperation. We have developed an attractive range of teaching and support services with which we not only want to make a contribution to academic training in Germany, but also want to attract young scientists and researchers from abroad," commented Professor Dr. Walter Kröll, President of the Helmholtz Association. The aim is for around one third of the participants to come from abroad. "The yardstick for this joint venture is scientific training at the very highest international level," said HRK President Prof. Dr. Peter Gaehtgens. This is why the call for proposals targets proven academics, scientists and researchers working at Helmholtz Centres and German universities who would like to make a special contribution to this training.

The grants provided by the President's Fund will be used to finance the additional expenses required for the organisational structure, such as a coordinator position, and specialist and complementary services. Centres and universities will contribute to the programme by providing doctoral student positions. Each Graduate School can accept up to 25 participants in each annual intake, with a total funding term of up to six years planned for two generations of doctoral students. As always, the right to confer doctorates will remain with the university partner. Graduate Schools can be funded from all six Helmholtz Association Research Fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, and Transport and Space. Topics involving several Research Fields and/or interdisciplinary questions are particularly welcome. The Helmholtz Centre and University submit their joint application to the Board of the Centre in question, which must then forward it to the Helmholtz Head Office in Bonn by 31 July 2005 at the latest.

The current call for proposals complements the Helmholtz Association's present funding programmes for young scientists and researchers. These include, for example, the Young Investigators Groups with tenure option and the Five Point Programme on Equal Opportunity.

With its 15 Research Centres and a budget of around 2.2 billion euros, the Helmholtz Association is the largest scientific research organisation in Germany. The 24,000 staff of the Helmholtz Association produce excellent scientific findings in six Research Fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, Transport and Space. The Helmholtz Association identifies and addresses the grand challenges facing society, science and industry, in particular by researching systems of great complexity.