Philipp Schwartz Initiative

Type: Fellowship

Organization: the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Federal Foreign Office

Countries: Germany

Degree levels:

Funding:

Allowance for host institution: The host institution receives a lump sum allowance of € 20,000 for each individual sponsored.

Eligibility:

Researchers who are demonstrably at risk – irrespective of discipline and country of origin – are eligible for sponsorship under the Initiative. At-risk status can be verified either by

• a residence status in the context of an asylum-granting procedure within the EU that confirms a recognised threat
• or a credible threat assessment issued by a Due to the various global crises, our partner organisations SAR (email: sar-psi@nyu.edu; requests must be submitted by 19 January 2026 at the latest) and CARA (email: info@cara.ngo) can only process a limited number of risk assessments. We advise you to contact our partner organisations as soon as possible. Please note that requests for risk assessments can only be made by nominating institutions.third party.   

Candidates for a Philipp Schwartz Fellowship must, moreover, fulfil the following criteria:

• have completed a doctorate or comparable academic degree (PhD, CSc or equivalent); in the case of legal or medical doctorates, provide evidence of equivalence to a research PhD
• not be or have been resident outside their own country for more than five years at the time of application; researchers who hold German university entrance qualifications (“Bildungsinländer”) are not eligible
• have the language skills required to successfully conduct their research projects
• have academic qualifications (e.g. publications)
• have the potential to be integrated in the (broader academic) employment market

Deadline: February 13, 2026

Notes:

• Please note that researchers cannot apply for this programme directly. Interested researchers should contact potential host institutions in Germany that can then make an application.

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