Published on October 24, 2024

With the motto “Risking Creativity,” the Institute for Advanced Study of the Technical University of Munich (TUM-IAS) serves as a flagship institute for top-level international research at TUM, and has supported to drive the university’s development into one of Germany’s top academic institutions under the auspices of its strategy, “TUM. The Entrepreneurial University”.

TUM-IAS awards Fellowships to distinguished researchers and gives them the necessary time and financial support to explore new venues, to develop novel research areas and to establish intensive international collaborations. To attract scholarly talent from around the globe TUM-IAS invites nominations for the newly established

Dieter Schwarz Fellowship

Background

The Dieter Schwarz Fellowship is funded by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation to promote the research areas of the TUM Campus Heilbronn through international cooperation with other universities and research institutions.

Target Group

Outstanding international scientists from outside TUM who intend to explore innovative, high-risk topics in the key areas researched at the TUM Campus Heilbronn together with a TUM research group are eligible for a Dieter Schwarz Fellowship. Candidates primarily have expertise in information, engineering, economics, political or social sciences. It is not possible to apply for the Fellowship on one's own, but a nomination must be made by a TUM professor (preferably located on the TUM Campus Heilbronn) who acts as a host and close collaboration partner at TUM. At the time of nomination, nominees should expect to remain employed at their home institution for the duration of their Fellowship. The proposal is to be submitted jointly by the nominee and the planned TUM host. One Dieter Schwarz Fellowship will be awarded as part of this Call for Proposals.

Objective

The Fellowship lasts three years, with the expectation that the Fellow will spend a total of at least nine months at TUM (which can be divided individually into several stays). In this way, TUM-IAS intends to further a lasting and productive connection on an international level.

Funding and Fellowship award

Dieter Schwarz Fellows receive €50,000 for travel, accommodation and research-related costs, as well as support for one doctoral candidate at TUM (TV-L E 13 position (max. 75%) for three years). In addition, Dieter Schwarz Fellows receive an award of €60,000.

Tandem nomination

As is the case for some of our Fellowships, also nominations for the Dieter Schwarz Fellowship require a tandem nomination, i.e. each prospective host has to nominate two candidates for a Fellowship. At least one of these candidates must be a female researcher. Both nominations will be evaluated individually according to our usual multi-stage evaluation procedure (please see here for further details). Tandem nominations can be for the same or for several Fellowship categories (options: Dieter Schwarz Fellowship candidate plus Dieter Schwarz Fellowship candidate, Dieter Schwarz Fellowship candidate plus Hans Fischer (Senior) Fellowship candidate or Dieter Schwarz Fellowship candidate plus Rudolf Diesel Industry Fellowship candidate). From the proposed tandem, both nominees may be successful, or one, or none.

How to apply

Please submit the following application documents:

• a cover page (available for download),
• a nomination letter (1-2 pages) by a TUM professor (host), including a description of the facilities provided for the Fellow by the TUM host institute as well as a confirmation from the host that he/she expects to hold a professorship at TUM for the duration of the Fellowship (if not, please indicate an additional host who would then take over),
• a nomination letter (1-2 pages) by the dean of the hosting school or another member of the TUM Extended Board of Management (EHP) or TUM-IAS Board of Trustees,
• a CV (no more than 5 pages),
• a list of major publications (please highlight the 3-5 most important publications of the past five years),
• a statement of purpose (no more than 5-10 pages) jointly signed by the nominee and the hosting professor, describing the state of the art of research and knowledge gaps in the relevant field, how the Fellowship would contribute to the innovation of the scientific or technological environment at TUM, and the specific goals to be achieved. The statement of purpose should also include the following elements:
  • an abstract,
  • a budget plan,
  • a time plan regarding the nominee’s projected periods of stay at TUM,
  • an identification of possible additional (interdisciplinary) collaboration partners both within TUM-IAS and within TUM as well as a short explanation as to why this collaboration would be beneficial for the outlined research project,
  • an outline for an international, ideally interdisciplinary workshop/colloquium, to be organized at the TUM-IAS during the active Fellowship period,
• a list of 4-6 international peer-reviewers without any conflict of interest (definition: please see here), - if applicable, also a list of persons who should be excluded from reviewing the proposal.

In terms of collaboration with China, we ask you to follow the recommendations of the TUM China Wiki.

Evaluation and Data Policy

Due to the provision of financial resources for this Fellowship, a representative of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation will be involved in the selection process by having the right to attend the meetings of the TUM-IAS Advisory Council (without voting right). In addition, a representative of a partner university of the “Joint Global Research Hub” (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Stanford University, Hebrew University Jerusalem, HEC Paris, ETH Zurich) is entitled to attend these meetings (also without voting right). As the Dieter Schwarz Fellow resides abroad, TUM may disclose certain documents relating to the Fellowship to the Dieter Schwarz Foundation for tax reasons.

For more details, please see the TUM-IAS Nomination Guidelines.

TUM-IAS explicitly encourages nominations of and applications from women as well as from all others who would bring additional diversity dimensions to the university’s research and teaching strategies.

More information on TUM-IAS and the Dieter Schwarz Fellowship is available on the TUM-IAS homepage: www.ias.tum.de

Questions can be directed to applications@ias.tum.de.