Intra-mural research funding

The grant is awarded to outstanding post-doctoral scientists with a doctorate (clinician scientists or medical scientists) from Germany and abroad, who have already distinguished themselves with high-ranking publications, their own third-party funding and proven their potential as independent scientists. 

The previous High Potentials Grant Fellows of the University Medical Center Mainz are presented on this page.

Purpose and aim of the fellowship

This grant is intended to give the candidates the opportunity to establish themselves as independent researchers with their own research profile and to achieve their academic independence - ideally by establishing their own research group and/or by being appointed as a (junior) professor. During the grant, candidates are expected to acquire significant third-party funding.

Successful candidates will be employed at the University Medical Center (UMC) Mainz. A funding of €100,000 p.a. to finance their own position and further project costs will be available to the candidates for a duration of 3 years. Clinician scientists who, due to their clinical obligations, only apply for funding of their proportionate employment (at least 50%) by these means can apply for a cost-neutral extension of the funding period to a maximum of 4 years.

The candidates will be advised by two mentors (if applicable, a clinician scientist and a basic researcher), who actively support them in achieving the scientific and professional goals as well as the milestone plan described in their proposal. At least one of the mentors must be employed at the UMC, while the second may belong to another institution.

The candidates may take part in the advanced training program of the Mainz Research School of Translational Biomedicine. A mandatory prerequisite for an application is the commitment of the Department head to finance the applicant’s position after the end of the intramural funding for the duration of the third party-funded project, in case the financing of a third-party funded project has been successfully obtained. In this regard, please note that the regulations of the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetzes (WissZeitVG) apply.

Eligibility information

Medical and clinician scientists with “Habilitation” are not eligible.

For clinician scientists, the directorate of their host institute is required to release the candidate of their clinical commitment for at least 50% of their working time for the duration of the fellowship. This will have to be confirmed by the host institute directorate and will be verified during the funding period.

Clinician scientists and medical scientists who are already permanently employed at UMC are eligible for a High Potentials Grant. However, the host institute is required to explicitly outline how it will ensure the long-term support of the career of the candidate after the funding by the High Potentials Grant ends.

Application procedure

The application process has two stages. Candidates are nominated by potential mentors from the UMC. The Vice Dean for Research, supported by the Committee for Research Funding (AFF) and external reviewers, makes the decision on inviting full proposals and awarding the High Potentials Grant. Direct applications are not accepted.

A specified catalog of criteria (Pdf, 231,8 KB) is used to assess the candidates and their proposal in both stages of the review process by the AFF and external reviewers, respectively.



1. Stage: Candidates are nominated by their potential mentors at the UMC. After careful review of their CV and previous research achievements, the Vice Dean for Research invites suitable candidates to submit a full proposal. The documents must be sent electronically to prodekan-forschung.um@uni-mainz.de by 19.06.2022.

• All candidates use this template for
  • Academic CV,
  • List of publications, including impact factor,
  • List of previously applied for and attracted third-party funding,
  • Title and short description of the planned project, and
  • Short description of the career perspective after the grant funding period.
• Additional documents (for all candidates):
  • Form declaring times of special burdens,
  • Signed data privacy statement, and
  • Institutional support form – signed by mentor and host institution.
• Additional document for clinician scientists only:
  • Signed declaration by the institute directorate to release the candidate of their clinical commitment for at least 50% of their working time.
• Additional document for candidates with permanent employment at UMC only:
  • Description of host institute on how it will support the research career of the candidate after the granting period ends.

2. Stage: Full proposals must be sent electronically to prodekan-forschung.um@uni-mainz.de (tentative deadline 15.08.2022). Based on at least two external reviews and supported by the AFF, the Vice Dean for Research will select candidates for an interview. A maximum of two candidates will be awarded.  

Required document (in English):

• Full proposal (use this template).

The interim evaluation of the project takes place 18 months after the start of funding and is also carried out by the AFF. For the interim evaluation, the achievement of the milestones set out in the application as well as any third-party funding acquired is assessed.