Funding is provided for the establishment of working groups to strengthen sustainability research in Germany and support scientists in the development of relevant research activities.

Deutsches Komitee für Nachhaltigkeitsforschung in Future Earth (DKN – German Committee Future Earth) is an independent scientific advisory body of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG – German Research Foundation) and the national contact point for developments within the international research programme for global sustainability Future Earth and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

The DKN supports the establishment of working groups which bring together up to nine researchers in a team. The working groups are intended to strengthen sustainability research in Germany and support scientists in the development of relevant research activities within the international context of sustainability science.

References are desirable to:

• Topics from the Sustainability Science Summit 2025.
• The DKN position paper ‘Research priorities for sustainability science‘.
• Focus topics within the international Future Earth network and/or the WCRP.

The group’s work is to be concluded with a concrete output, which may be a publication, a research grant application, or a research project with a clear perspective for a funding proposal.

Applications may be submitted by researchers working at German research institutions. Working groups may bring together up to nine members from at least three different institutions. They should be as interdisciplinary as possible. Besides scientists from universities and research institutions, experts and stakeholders from other fields can also be involved.

DFG will support DKN working groups with funding for the following activities within a period of up to two years:

• Two meetings of the working group members.
• A DFG round table.