The most successful Helmholtz funding program advances careers
The Helmholtz Association has funded a total of 265 Helmholtz Young Investigator Groups since the start of the program 20 years ago. We asked some of the program’s participants to give us an insight into how they experienced this time.
Careers in science are decided in the postdoc phase, when scientists work towards a professorship. The prerequisite for this is successful independent research. We support this career stage with the Helmholtz Young Investigator Groups, our junior research group program.
In this program, scientists can set up their first own research group at a Helmholtz Centre. They receive 300,000 euros per year, which they can dispose of independently for five years. The program is financed by the host centers and the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund, which provides four million euros each year. And the program offers even more: The funding includes the possibility of a permanent position afterwards.
The majority of our grantees have achieved their career goals: Around 70 percent of program alumni have been appointed to a professorship. Some of those funded continue to pursue their own careers at the Helmholtz Center and shape the direction of our research. But the German science system also benefits: Over 40 percent were appointed to other scientific institutions.
We spoke with former participants:
Katja Matthes applied to be head a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group in 2009, and was successful. Since then the climate researcher has become head of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre in Kiel. In this interview she gives an insight into how she experienced the early phase of her scientific career, the challenges she faced and what we can do even better to promote young scientists. Read the interview
In 2013, Kathrin Valerius was given her Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. She has remained loyal to the center and is now a professor of astroparticle physics there. She advises researchers in the postdoc phase to think about their own career aspirations at an early stage. Read the interview
Martina Schmid and Felix Wolf were both conducting independent research in the USA when they were accepted into the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group. In this interview, they tell us how they experienced the new phase of independence, what challenges they faced and what tips they would give to prospective group leaders. Read the interview
Further testimonials from current and former participants:
