Selection Procedure

There are two paths to candidacies for fellowships: Candidates can either apply by themselves or they can be nominated. Applications and nominations can be submitted at any time. We operate an electronic application platform for researchers applying on their own behalf.

In accordance with the Charter, the Rector and the Permanent Fellows meet to discuss candidacies.

The Academic Advisory Board meets twice a year, in May and in November, to discuss all candidacies and to recommend invitations. External evaluations are commissioned to judge the disciplinary profiles; these are presented to the Academic Advisory Board.

After the conclusion of these consultations, the Rector issues the invitations.

Essential for the selection procedure are the comparative weighing and evaluations of the candidacies in terms of discipline-specific selection criteria and the composition of the Fellow “class”.

The qualitative judgment comprises considerations of research achievements, the evaluation of the stringency and originality of the submitted project, and careful reading of the selected publications.

All persons taking part in the selection of candidates are requested to reveal any possible conflict of interest in the decision-making process. This is based on the rules passed in 2018 to avoid conflicts of interest.

Criteria of conflict of interest for the selection process of the Wissenschaftskolleg