Selection Process

YIG Prep Pro provides individualized support for career development and proposal preparation:

• Professional Mentor
  Your host institute assigns a mentor to guide your career steps and help you build a professional network.
• Proposal Support
  Experts from the research office offer consultations, intensive feedback, and advice on funding instruments, including presentation coaching.
• Training Program
  A tailor-made program with individual coaching, workshops, and an optional development plan in cooperation with the personal development department.
• Networking
  Connect with peers through YIG Prep Pro sessions and join KIT’s Young Investigator Network (YIN) for exchange with successful group leaders and junior professors.

International researchers who obtained their PhD no more than 3 years ago. Applicants should have substantial international research experience (as a PhD candidate and/or postdoc).

Applicants should meet the following criteria

• Strong international research background – demonstrable experience as a PhD candidate and/or postdoctoral researcher, preferably including at least one period of 6 or more months abroad after your degree. 
• Promising research idea – a well‑defined project that fits within one of KIT’s research domains. It should also align with the research activities of the prospective host institute at KIT (list of KIT institutes and Scientific Computing Center). Please contact the head of the institute early in the process. Both thematic fits should be explicitly addressed in the proposal.
• Excellent scientific track record – highly visible and relevant publications that qualify you to provide academic leadership for a junior research group, or that clearly show the potential to do so in the near future. The length of postdoctoral experience will be considered.
• Outstanding communication and teamwork skills – ability to convey complex ideas clearly, collaborate constructively, and manage projects analytically. A willingness to assume responsibility and to continue developing both research competencies and personal attributes is expected. 
• Willingness to relocate – readiness to move to Germany for an extended period of time.

Please note that once your proposal for third-party funding of a junior research group is successful, you will be expected to establish your junior research group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

How to apply?

Application documents

• Application form including the desired fellowship option: It is important that you indicate an institute with a contact person at KIT that matches your research idea and that could also be a suitable host institute for preparing and establishing your junior research group (institutes at KIT and Scientific Computing Center (SCC)). We strongly recommend that you contact the head of the institute you are interested in before you apply to discuss your options.
• CV in tabular form: Please include your research and teaching experience (no more than 2 pages).
• List of publications: Please distinguish between peer-reviewed publications and other publications. Please mark the publications that are relevant as preliminary work for the planned project with an asterisk “*”.
• Brief outline of your research idea: Please provide your approach on how the project can be integrated within the research environment at KIT (up to 5 pages + additional references page).
• Certificates: University degree and doctoral degree certificates (or notarized copy using the Latin alphabet)