ZiF Visiting Research Groups 2027–2028

ZiF funds small interdisciplinary teams to spend one to three months working together at Bielefeld's institute for interdisciplinary research. Unlike most European institute schemes, there is no requirement to already hold a European post: applicants may be based at a university or research institute in Germany or abroad, and a Malawi-based academic can be a lead convenor. That makes this the most straightforwardly usable European residency in this digest.

Up to €50,000 total per group, covering economy travel and second-class rail, accommodation at approximately €750 per month or €100 per night for short stays, a daily allowance of approximately €50, and event catering of approximately €40 per day per person

Personnel costs and teaching buy-outs, fieldwork, laboratory facilities, and travel or accommodation for anyone already employed by Bielefeld University.

Submit a single English-language PDF containing a cover sheet, a project summary of up to 1,500 characters, a project description of up to 25,000 characters or about ten pages, a participant list, literature references, CVs of the convenors only at up to three pages each, and a preliminary budget. Selection involves external review with a decision roughly six months after the deadline. Enquiries to zif-proposalsupport@uni-bielefeld.de.

Timeline: Applications close 29 October 2026, midnight CET | External review | Decision approximately six months later | Stay begins around twelve months after the deadline