DFG-SSHRC German-Canadian International Research Training Groups

Funding to promote cooperation between Germany and Canada through joint research and corresponding qualification measures for doctoral researchers in the social science and humanities.

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG – German Research Foundation) is one of the biggest research funding organisations in Germany. It is a self-governing organisation for the promotion of science and research in Germany and serves all branches of science and the humanities. It is almost entirely financed by the German federal government and by the federal states.

In line with its activities in the interest of research, the DFG maintains partnerships and relations with a large number of partner organisations on all continents, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). As part of their partnership, DFG and SSHRC are offering  funding of one joint research project in the International Research Training Groups (IRTG) programme.

International Research Training Groups (IRTG) offer German universities the opportunity to cooperate with research institutions in other countries and regions. They combine innovative top-level research and the structured promotion of excellent early career researchers. As a bilateral programme set up by experienced researchers with a track record of previous collaboration, IRTGs promote systematic academic cooperation through joint research and corresponding qualification measures for doctoral researchers. A central feature of IRTGs are coordinated and reciprocal research visits by doctoral researchers to the respective partner institutions.

Proposals for German-Canadian IRTGs intended for DFG-SSHRC funding are open to all subject areas covered by SSHRC, particularly in social sciences and humanities that are not primarily focused on health or health service delivery. Interdisciplinarity in IRTGs is encouraged. 

The programme should provide for regular exchanges of academic staff and doctoral researchers for the purposes of joint research and training. Doctoral researchers should spend a period of at least six months (and up to one year) in total during their PhD project at the respective partner institution for research and training, and each doctoral researcher should have both a German and a Canadian supervisor.