Applicantguidelines:
generalinformationonapplyingfortheLeibnizCompetition
1. Eligibility and funding capacity
EveryinstitutewithintheLeibnizAssociationcansubmitapplications.
To take part in the competition procedure for 2018, each institute can, as previously, submit
either one application (funding generally up to 1 million EUR) or two applications for total
fundingnotexceeding1millionEURandindividualfundingnotlessthan250thousandEUR.
Each institute can also make an additional application for the Leibniz Programme for Female
Professors, though initially only in the 2018 and 2019 competition procedures. In this
programme,amaximumoffiveprojectscanbefundedperprocedure.
An annual sum of approx. 24 million € is available to fund projects as part of the Leibniz
Competition.
2. How the procedure is implemented
Theprocedurefor applying,forassessingapplicationsand fordecidingwhichprojectstofund
encompassesthefollowingstages:
 Expressionofinterest,includingthenominationoffourpotentialassessors
 Drawingupandsubmittingacompletedapplication
 The administration office assesses whether the applications are complete and meet the
formalcriteria
 The administration office procures at least two written, academic assessments by
external,internationallyaccreditedacademicexperts
 The Senate Competition Committee (SAW) decides which funding recommendations to
maketothesenate
 ThesenateoftheLeibnizAssociationdecideswhichprojectstofund
When submitting their expression of interest, the institutes nominate four potential
assessors. Only such persons may be nominated who can assess the project without any
riskofbias.Thecriteriaforpotentialbiascanbefoundintheseparateinformationleaflet.
The persons nominated by the institutes should not be informed about their nomination.
TheremustbenoconsultationbetweentheLeibnizinstitutesandpotentialassessors.
The administration office will procure at least two academic assessments per application.
Applications and all accompanying documents should be written and submitted in English in
order to enable international assessors to participate in the assessment process. The
chairpersonoftheSAWwilldecideonanypotentialexceptions.
Applicants whose application has been denied can submit a new application in the next
applicationround,i.e.afteroneyearattheearliest.
ThepresidentoftheLeibnizAssociationandthechairpersonoftheSAWdeclaretheapprovalof
the senate. They inform the responsible government departments, both nationally and in the
Applicantguidelines
state in which the successful institute is located, that funding has been approved. The Leibniz
Association’sheadofficeprovidestheprojectswiththefundsinaccordancewiththedecisionsof
thesenate.Inafinalreport,thefundedprojectsprovideinformationontheimplementationof
their work programmes. In May, the Leibniz Association submits an annual report to the Joint
ScienceConference(GWK)onthecompetition’simplementationandtheapprovedprojects.The
head office of the Leibniz Association is responsible for documenting and evaluating all the
stagesintheprocedure.
3. Application schedule for the Leibniz Competition 2018
Applicationsaresubmittedelectronicallyviaadedicatedportal,andareonlydeemedtobe
completeupontheheadoffice’sreceiptofthesignedapplicationform.Intermsofdeadline
adherence, receipt of the application via the electronic application system will be deemed
sufficient.
Publicationofthecallsfor
applications
19October2016
3April2017
Expressionofinterestin
applyingbymeansofaone‐
pageoutlineandnomination
offourpotentialassessors
Submissionsdeadlinefor
submittingthecompleted
applicationstothehead
office1
2May2017
SummersessionoftheSAW
July2017
SelectionsessionoftheSAW October2017
Senatesession
29November2017
Dispatchoftheapproval
notifications
30November2017
Fundingoftheapproved
projectsbegins
1January2018
4. Reporting and quality assurance
After two years, the funded projects will provide the SAW with an interim report (of no more
than10pagesinlength,excludingallappendices),whichparticularlyengageswiththeextentto
whichthemilestonesformulatedintheapplicationhavebeenachieved.TheSAWwilltakethese
reportsintoaccountand,whererequired,providerecommendationsfortheproject.Afterthree
years,theSAWwillbeprovidedwithafinalreport.Thereportingprocesswillalsotakeplacevia
anelectronicprojectmanagementsystem.
1Weherestressthatregisteringandsubmittinganapplicationdoesnotrepresentatwo‐stageassessmentprocedure.
Registeringtoapplymerelyservesthepurposeoffacilitatingaspeedyimplementationoftheprocedure,i.a.bybeing
abletoselectassessorsingoodtime.
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Applicantguidelines
5. Publication of results and data management
Itisexpectedthattheresultsoftheresearchfundedbythecompetitionwillbepublicised,
digitallypublishedwhereverpossible,andmadefreelyavailableonline(openaccess).The
frameworkforthisisprovidedinthecurrentversionofthe“Guidelinesonopenaccesswithin
theLeibnizAssociation”.
Ifsystematicdatahavebeengeneratedaspartoftheproject,these–asequallyvaluable
researchresults–shouldbestoredforposterityandmadeavailableforfutureusetothe
greatestextentpossible.Whereavailable,thestandardsoftherespectivefieldandtheofferings
ofexisting,sustainablymanageddatarepositoriesshouldbetakenintoaccount.
6. Information regarding the application form
a) The application text should not exceed a total length of 20 pages (excluding all
appendices).
Toensurethatthesubmitteddocumentscanbecompared,thefollowingformatguidelines
mustbeadheredtowhenformattingthepagesandtextintheapplication:
 Page margins: The right, left and top margin must be 2.5 cm in width, the bottom
margin2cminwidth.
 Fonttypeandsize:YoushoulduseArialfont.Pleaseuse11ptforbodytext,14ptfor
mainheadings,11ptforcaptionsandsubheadings

Linespacing:SinglelinespacingThelinespacingaftersubheadingsandparagraphs
shouldbe6pt.
b) Thefollowingdocumentsmustbesubmittedwitheachapplication:
 For all applications with collaboration partners: Confirmation that you have a
declarationofparticipationfromthecollaborationpartner.2
 For international collaboration partners: Declarations from the collaborating
institutestowhatextenttheywillsharethecostsofthejointproject.Pleasenote:In
general,internationalcollaborationpartnersshouldthemselvesmeetthecoststhey
incur. If the application for funding is absolutely necessary for the collaboration
partnersinorderfortheprojecttobefeasible,anappropriateexplanationmustbe
provided in a separate document. The SAW will decide individually on whether to
approvefunding.
 For collaborations with commercial partners: Cooperation agreement using the
DFG’scooperationagreementtemplate(form:FDGform41.026).
 Declaration(viaconcludingsignature)thattheapplicationinthisorasimilarformat
has not been submitted to any other funding body (DFG, BMBF, EU, etc.) or been
registeredasaspecificspecialcase(aso‐called‘Sondertatbestand’).
 Pleaseseetherespectivecallforapplicationsforthedocumentationrequiredbythe
specificfundingprogramme.
 If one or several mandatory documents are missing, or if you submit applications
whichfeaturesubstantialformalerrorsorfailtomeettheformalstandards,thismay
leadtoyourapplicationbeingexcludedfromthecompetitionprocedure.
2Pleasebeawarethatyoumusthaveadeclarationofparticipationfromthelegal(not:natural)personwhichmeets
theminimumformalrequirements(inparticular,itmustcontainaletterheadandsignature)andcontainsabinding
memorandumofunderstanding.ThedeclarationsofparticipationmustbeprovidedtotheLeibnizAssociationatany
timeuponrequest.
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Applicantguidelines

Surplus documents or ones which have not been requested will not be taken into
accountintheprocedure.
c) Applications should be composed and written in English. If individual documents are
submitted in another language, they must be accompanied by a translation. The
chairpersonoftheSAWwilldecideonanypotentialexceptions.
Theapplicationandallnecessarydocumentationmustbesubmittedelectronically.
7. Information on the presentation of the cost and finance plan


Intheapplication,alumpsumofupto20percentoftheentirefundingrequestedcanbe
listedforindirectcosts.
Thefinanceplanmustbecompletedinsuchawaythatitprovidesinformationabouthow
therequestedfundswillbeallocatedtothedifferentinstitutesinvolved.
8. Contact for further questions and advice on applying
TheLeibnizAssociation
DrKarinEffertz
HeadofDivision,LeibnizCompetitionProcedure
E‐mail:effertz@leibniz‐gemeinschaft.de
Chausseestraße111,D‐10115Berlin
Tel.:+493020604939
Fax:+493020604955
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