AI Research Groups Lower Saxony

AI Research Groups Lower Saxony is sponsored by Volkswagen Stiftung. This call for proposals promotes individual scientists and the further development of AI methods and their application to existing data sets, recognizing AI as a central key technology for Lower Saxony's research system.

AI Research Groups Lower Saxony - zukunft. niedersachsen Deadline: 28 January 2027 (12 pm) Artificial intelligence is a key technology and is therefore of central importance to Lower Saxony’s research system. This call for proposals combines the objectives of funding individual researchers with the further development of AI methods and/or their application.

area of research: ​computer science, artificial intelligence, application disciplines​ type of funding: research groups eligible: ​scientists with at least two years of postdoctoral research experience​ funding amount: up to EUR ​2 million​ funding term: up to 5 years optional: internationalisation​ Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising scientific disciplines and the entire process of knowledge production by enabling new methods for analysing complex data, automating research processes and developing innovative solutions.

Its interdisciplinary application is yielding groundbreaking insights in fields such as medicine, materials science, climate research and the social sciences. The State of Lower Saxony aims to attract and support scientifically outstanding researchers at early stages of their academic careers in order to further expand the development and application of artificial intelligence in the region on a sustainable basis.

On the one hand, this is intended to embed innovative topics within Lower Saxony’s research landscape. Secondly, it aims to train specialists in the field of artificial intelligence in Lower Saxony, with a view to deploying them in the long term in science, industry or public administration, and to meet the demand for AI expertise in various fields of application.

This call for proposals supports AI research groups dedicated to the (further) development of AI methods and/or application-oriented research based on existing large datasets. Applicants are expected to have in-depth knowledge of the AI methods to be applied. There are no further subject-specific restrictions.

Possible areas of application include, amongst others, the use of a wide variety of different datasets, such as – but not limited to – those from the fields of energy, mobility, health, life sciences, public administration, the labour market, cybersecurity or manufacturing.

Funding is provided for research groups, typically comprising one post-doctoral post for a Principal Investigator (PI; the applicant) and three to four PhD positions.

The funding covers personnel costs (pay grades: up to E15 (100%) for the PI and E13 (100%) for PhD candidates) as well as associated material costs and other personnel expenses (e.g. posts for technicians) for a total duration of 60 months (doctoral positions generally run for 48 months). The upper limit per application is EUR 2 million.

The allocation of funds between staff and material costs is at the applicant’s discretion and must be justified in terms of research content. The PI’s time commitment to the project must be at least 50% to ensure adequate supervision of the research group. It is possible to involve and provide funding for cooperation partners.

To involve international cooperation partners, an application can be made for an internationalisation module, providing additional funding of up to 10 per cent of the total amount applied for, meaning that the total amount applied for can be increased to up to 2. 2 million euros. The aim of the module is to promote international cooperation.

The module can be used to cover all expenditure incurred in connection with internationalisation measures. Further information on the module, as well as a contact person for enquiries, can be found here .

Overview of eligible expenditure: Cost category Eligible Notes Staff ✓ in accordance with the personnel cost rates of the State of Lower Saxony Equipment & materials ✓ including external services excluding ongoing expenditure on scientific equipment Travel / conferences ✓ In accordance with the Federal Travel Expenses Act and the Lower Saxony Travel Expenses Regulation Publication costs (Open Access) ✓ Up to 10,000 EUR Data management costs ✓ to be justified in the application text Administration fee ✓ A 10% flat-rate administration and infrastructure expenditure fee (VIAP) is automatically added to the submitted financial plan following approval and there-fore does not need to be included in the application.

Construction costs, basic equipment, over-heads, direct funding for businesses ✕ not eligible Further information on eligible expenditure can be found under ‘Information for Applicants & Grantees’ . A total of EUR 10 million from zukunft. niedersachsen is being made available for this call for proposals.

The funded research groups are expected to network and exchange views on the content and methods of their research projects at least once a year. The Volkswagen Foundation will organise progress symposia to provide a framework for this exchange.

If a funded principal investigator (PI) leaves the host institution during the project period, it is expected that the supervision of the research group will continue to be ensured by the PI in consultation with the institution. 3.

Application and Selection Procedure Eligible applicants are researchers who wish to establish a research group at a higher education institution in Lower Saxony under state responsibility (Section 2 of the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act (NHG)) or at a predominantly publicly funded non-university research institution based in Lower Saxony, and who have completed their PhD before 1 September 2025.

There is no upper age limit for applicants. Applicants do not necessarily have to be based in Lower Saxony at the time of application and may also be in permanent employment at the time of application. Researchers who already hold a permanent professorship or a tenure-track professorship are excluded from applying.

In addition to the application, a letter of support from the management of the host university or research institution is required, setting out how the future research group will be integrated into the institution.

The letter must make it clear that the applicant will be able to conduct research independently and have control over the funds secured, and that they will be provided with the necessary premises and, where applicable, access to facilities. Furthermore, the letter must outline how the doctoral students in the proposed research group will graduate and what career prospects exist for the PI.

Further details can be found in the Project Description Guide. There is no limit on the number of applications per university or research institution. PIs who have already submitted an application under the 2025 AI Research Groups call for proposals may not submit a further application under this call, unless they have been explicitly invited to resubmit.

The evaluation will be conducted in English. Applications will be assessed according to the following selection criteria : How excellent is the applicant (relative to career stage and field norms) regarding scientific track record, independence, and potential to lead a research group? How innovative/original is the proposed project (questions and/or AI methods), compared to the state of the art?

How big is its academic or societal impact? How plausible is the integration into the research environment How plausible is the work plan, the budget and the structure of the research group? How plausible is timely access to and usability of the required data (quality, rights, documentation) and availability of required software/compute and expertise?

To what extent are gender and diversity equity aspects and, where applicable, aspects of ecological sustainability adequately considered? 3. 1 Procedure and Time Schedule The following procedure and timetable, from the submission of the application to the start of the project, is envisaged.

All dates after the submission deadline are subject to change. Applicants will be informed of any adjustments as and when necessary.

Step Date Notes Call for applications opens August 2026 Online Q&A expected Octobre 2026 the date will be announced here shortly Submission deadline 28 January 2027, 12:00 Submission via the funding platform Formal review and written assessment February 2027 to May 2027 This will be followed by written notification of the outcome.

Provisional date for application presentations June 2027 This will be followed by written notification of the outcome. Expected project start date from August 2027 flexible within one year of approval Applications received will be assessed on a comparative basis.

The assessment takes place in two stages: following the written assessment (Stage 1), applicants whose proposals have received the highest scores will be invited to present their proposals to the review panel (Stage 2). Applicants who are not invited to present will also be informed of the outcome once Stage 1 has been completed. The review process is organised by the Volkswagen Foundation.

Based on the funding recommendation of the review panel, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) decides on funding subject to the availability of funds. Applications have to be submitted via the Volkswagen Foundation’s funding platform . Please look in the overview there for the relevant call for proposals.

It is important that the applicant registers on the funding platform at an early stage. Other individuals may collaborate on an application provided they have been invited in advance by the project lead and have registered on the platform themselves. If you have any technical queries regarding the use of the platform, please contact support@volkswagenstiftung.

de . 4. 2 Submitting an application – step by step 1.

Please check the guidelines and eligibility criteria carefully. 2. Register on the funding platform.

3.

Download all application documents and templates: Project description guide : Guidelines and specifications for the application documents to be prepared Template for the financial plan (available on the funding platform) Template for the data management plan (if you do not wish to use your own template) DFG (German Research Foundation) CV template (available via the DFG website) Optional: Template for the internationalisation module All application documents must be written in English.

4. Please familiarise yourself with all further information that you are required to provide and upload via the funding platform (e.g. abstract in German and English). 5.

Please submit all application documents online via the funding platform in good time before the deadline. You will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt once the application has been submitted. 5.

1 Expectations regarding scientific practice and publications It is expected that all project participants will observe the DFG’s rules on good scientific practice , any rules on good scientific transfer or cooperation practice at their institutions, and the DFG’s guidelines on the handling of research data.

It is also expected that the project results will be published, in particular in academic publications that are internationally and openly accessible. 5. 2 Gender and diversity aspects, and support for early-career researchers The project team’s composition should align with the DFG’s standards on gender equality and diversity.

The role of gender and diversity dimensions in the research process (methods, work programme, objectives) and in the transfer/translation process must be explained. The relevant information will be taken into account during the review process. retter@volkswagenstiftung.

de For questions about the expenditure plan: Elisabeth Heyer, Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture elisabeth. heyer@mwk. niedersachsen.

de For questions about the funding platform: schumacher@volkswagenstiftung. de Download Factsheet as PDF