Funding Opportunities

• Researchers in Lower Saxony receive financial support from the MWK through the Europe Program for the following activities:
  • Initiating and strengthening collaborations with the aim of forming consortia for joint grant applications
  • Preparing EU grant applications
  • Engagement in EU science policy bodies, in subject-specific advisory work for the European Commission, and in exploratory discussions with science policy stakeholders in Brussels
  • Presentation of Lower Saxony’s research strengths in Brussels

The funding areas listed above can be individually combined for the three funding formats: Niedersachsen FIT, Niedersachsen BEREIT, and Niedersachsen KONSORT.

• The HAW-EuropaNetzwerke funding guideline supports the establishment and expansion of international networks, thereby helping to sustainably and permanently establish their research fields within the European and international scientific community. The funding is intended to enable universities to collaborate with national and international research partners to develop project proposals for European research programs and submit applications.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) supports the development of infrastructure and cooperation between academia and industry at the regional level. Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, with its strong regional ties, is an ideal partner in this regard.

• The “Innovation through Universities” program supports universities in Lower Saxony with research infrastructure through 2027, funds collaborative projects with SMEs, and promotes innovation networks and university-based startups.
• The Innovation Promotion Program for Research and Development in Companies (IFP) supports projects aimed at developing new, marketable products, processes, or services that represent a novelty throughout Germany, with the goal of improving market opportunities for SMEs and small companies with medium market capitalization. It supports both cooperation with research institutions and other companies as well as independent projects.
• The European Innovation Partnership “Productivity and Sustainability in Agriculture” (EIP Agri) supports projects that develop innovative approaches in agriculture, food production, forestry, and horticulture to improve environmental protection and resource conservation. From 2023 to 2027, EIP guidelines will be in effect in Lower Saxony and Hamburg, supporting collaboration between research, advisory services, and agriculture within Operational Groups to translate research findings into practice.

INTERREG promotes cross-border cooperation. Its goal is to reduce economic, social, and territorial disparities among Europe’s regions through various funding programs. This is achieved through cross-border, transnational, interregional, and outermost region cooperation.

• INTERREG A Germany-Netherlands is an EU funding program providing financial support for cross-border projects in the German-Dutch border region. It strengthens regional development in the areas of the economy, climate protection, mobility, and social inclusion between Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Dutch provinces.
• Interreg North West Europe (NWE) is a European Union funding program for territorial cooperation among the regions of Northwest Europe. The goal is to address cross-border challenges such as climate change, digitalization, and social inequality through joint projects. To this end, public, private, and civil society organizations from eight countries are working together to make the regions more economically, ecologically, and socially resilient and attractive.
• INTERREG North Sea is an EU program promoting a greener and more innovative North Sea region, bringing partners together to tackle challenges such as climate change and marine environmental protection.

Horizon Europe (HE), the current EU research funding program with a budget of over 95 billion euros from 2021 to 2027, aims to boost Europe’s innovation capacity and competitiveness through collaborative research. It focuses on a greener, more digital, and more resilient future and supports projects in the clusters of Health, Culture and Creativity, Security, Digitalization, Climate and Energy, as well as Food and Environment, which bring together at least three partners from different member states. Further information and calls for proposals can be found on the EU’s Funding & Tenders Portal.

Alternatively, use the Funding App

The framework for funding is set by the Strategic Plan and the work programs.

In calls for proposals at the HORIZON EUROPE level, the university participates under “Stiftung ‘Fachhochschule Osnabrück’” with PIC 999846416.

Erasmus+ Capacity Building projects aim to reform and modernize higher education institutions and systems in over 150 third countries in order to promote their relevance, quality, and adaptability. In particular, they support the areas of education, administrative modernization, innovation, labor market linkages, employability, inclusion, and structural reforms.

There are three funding strands:

• Promoting access to cooperation through partnership projects with inexperienced or small higher education institutions to improve higher education management and accessibility
• Partnerships for change through peer learning and the exchange of good practices in larger projects to promote innovation and reforms
• Structural reform projects to develop sustainable higher education systems with the participation of national authorities.

Projects vary in duration and budget, with funding covering personnel costs, travel, accommodation, and other related expenses. Eligible participants include EU member states and associated and non-associated countries; however, institutional exceptions may apply due to EU sanctions.

Information brochure

Further information is also available on the European Commission’s website.

• COST "European Cooperation in Science and Technology"
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
• EUREKA