Atlas: France > Germany

The Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) and the Franco-German Institute for Historical and Social Sciences (IFRA-SHS) in Frankfurt are offering post-doctoral students or young researchers residing in France a mobility grant for a 1 to 2 month research stay in Germany.

All projects in the humanities and social sciences will be eligible, although priority will be given to projects that are in line with IFRA-SHS's thematic areas, in synergy with its researchers and partners. Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged.

This call is part of the Atlas short-term postdoctoral mobility programme launched by the FMSH and its partners.

Financial terms and conditions

Financial assistance of €1,700 per month (paid at the beginning of each month of stay) is awarded to successful applicants. It is intended to cover travel and accommodation costs.

Please note: the granting of this assistance is subject to the availability of the corresponding funds from the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Eligibility criteria

• Nationality/residence: be a national of a European Union country and reside in France
• Degree/status: be a postdoctoral student in the social sciences and humanities and have defended their thesis no earlier than 2019. Be associated with a research centre/laboratory in France.
• Discipline: Any discipline in the humanities and social sciences. Particular attention will be paid to projects that are in line with the main themes of IFRA-SHS: "Dynamics of religion" and "Imperial spaces".
• Location: residence in Frankfurt/Main is desirable but not compulsory. Research stays in Berlin or the surrounding area will not be preferred.
• Language: proficiency in German.

Obligations of the researcher hosted at IFRA-SHS

Researchers living in Frankfurt take part in the scientific life of IFRA-SHS, where they have access to workspace whenever possible. If their field of research is not in Frankfurt, they are strongly encouraged to come and present their work there.

Application form

The application consists of a form and a scientific dossier. It must be submitted via an online platform. This platform will be accessible from 20 January 2025. Complete applications must be uploaded to the online platform no later than 5 p.m. (Paris time) on 31 March 2025.

The application form and scientific dossier must be submitted in French.

Contents of the scientific dossier

• a project (between 10,000 and 20,000 characters maximum) which must present the research topic and the theoretical and methodological framework used, and indicate precisely the field envisaged as well as the activities and stages to be completed during the stay, and include a timetable,
• a signed letter of motivation, setting out the scientific and organisational reasons for the request for financial support, and identifying the German institutional partners of interest for the proper conduct of the research,
• a CV of no more than 2 pages, together with a list of the 5 most important publications,
• a letter from the director of the laboratory/research centre with which the applicant is associated in France

How to apply ?

1. Go to http://calls.msh-paris.fr and enter the "Researcher Workspace" area.
2. Identify yourself if you have already created an account; if not, create an account.
3. Fill in your profile and click on "create a new application".

4. Select "Atlas outgoing 2025 programme" then the specific call "FMSH-IFRA-SHS: France > Germany".
5. Fill in all the tabs of the form.
6. In the "Documents" tab, upload your scientific dossier in the form of a single electronic document in pdf format, which will include the following documents
research project,

• signed letter of motivation,
• CV (maximum 2 pages) and list of 5 publications
• letter from the director of the laboratory/research centre with which the applicant is associated in France

You can save your application without submitting it to come back to it later, or submit it definitively. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an automatic confirmation email. Please note that your application will not be considered if it is not submitted. Applications that are incomplete or do not correspond to the description above will not be considered.
For any information about the platform, or if you have any problems using it, please contact fadili@msh-paris.fr.

Selection criteria and process

A selection committee made up of members of the FMSH, IFRA-SHS and external experts will analyse and select applications on the basis of the following criteria:

• The quality of the scientific file and the methodology developed,
• The relevance of the stay in Germany in terms of the project developed, the researcher's career path and the field planned,
• The ability to identify local scientific contacts.

Preference will be given to researchers who have not previously benefited from the scheme.