Announcement
Honours Programme for Future Researchers
One of the core activities of the University in its teaching and research is the promotion of talented students who are enthusiastic about research. Teaching staff at all faculties make an effort to identify students excelling in their studies, provide them with individual support, and enable them to engage in research activities. As the Executive Board of the University is set to encourage this very mission and increase its visibility, the University has initiated the Honours Programme for Future Researchers in 2019. The programme is about giving those students a deeper insight into research processes during their studies, enabling them to participate in the scientific community, and preparing them for an academic career.
Coordinated by the Graduate Academy, this cutting-edge programme is one of the es-sential parts of the “LIGHT, LIFE, LIBERTY – Connecting Visions” strategy of the Frie-drich Schiller University Jena. It is funded by the university allowance provided by the Excellence Strategy of the German government and the Länder.
The programme consists of three components::
Honours mentoring: involvement in research activities and individual support
Upon successful application, the selected students will be supervised by the researcher with whom they have applied in tandem. The University invites profes-sors and advanced postdoctoral researchers to opt for supervising talented students.
Depending on the research culture, the supervision may comprise a small individual research or publication project or the responsibility for a subsection of a joint research project; it may also be combined with participating in graduate programmes, advanced seminars or doctoral colloquia as well as with participations in congresses and conferences.
Honours workshops: key qualifications and interdisciplinary exchange
The Graduate Academy offers several workshops and other events to the selected students. These events will focus on certain topics beyond the standard contents of undergraduate programmes. Among others, there will be workshops on scientific writing and presentation, on good scientific practice, time management, philosophy of science, research ethics, and last but not least, on the very first career steps of an academic career. In taking part in these workshops, the participants will be able to train research-related key qualifications at an early stage of their studies as well as reflect on their own research and their experience of the research culture. Through these workshops, as well as through regular networking events, the University also seeks to encourage the interdisciplinary exchange of the selected students, and strengthen their sense of belonging to the scientific community. Participation in two thematic workshops and the kick-off workshop is mandatory for students in their first year of funding
Honours funds: financial support
The funds should support those activities of the selected students, which are not directly related to the requirements in their studies but to their research project, for example, travel expenses when taking part in congresses, or material costs of up to €1,000 per year. In addition, a travel allowance of up to €200 for domestic travel and up to €500 for international travel can be applied for. Research groups can apply for an additional €1,000 per year for group-specific requirements.
There are numerous other events for exchange and networking, such as Evening Talks, Honours Days, and peer mentoring. Please find more information on the website: https://www.uni-jena.de/en/honours-programme. At the end of their studies, the students will be awarded a certificate confirming their membership and their research and educational activities within the Honours Programme.
Who may apply and what are the requirements?
The University encourages top-performing students of all disciplines, who have a particular interest in, and a considerable talent for, research, to apply for the programme. Students may apply if they are enrolled for at least 4 semesters within one field of study.
Students shall apply together with a professor or an advanced postdoctoral researcher who shall later supervise and lead the student to individual research activities. If it is a postdoctoral researcher supervising the student, the researcher shall have conducted research for at least two years after the doctorate and shall stay at the University for at least one more year in order to supervise the student. For the first time this year, it is possible to apply as a research group of two to four students; the group will be supervised by one or two professors or postdocs. Members of a research group should apply individually and indicate that they will be conducting research as a group.
The Senate Commitee for Early Career Researchers will select up to 60 students to take part in the Honours Programme. In addition to academic achievements above average, the applicants need to submit a proposal of an individual involvement into research activities.
Student applicants must submit:
- a motivation letter;
- CV;
- final certificates, academic achievements of previous studies;
- a proposal stating the student’s individual involvement in research activities for the upcoming months (1–2 pages) with
- a roughdraft of their own research project resp. of the subsection of a joint re-search project,
- a description of the concept of supervision and
- the intended participation in academic exchange (e.g. participation in research groups or colloquia).
You may submit your application in one pdf file (max. 5 MB) in the above-mentioned order of documents in German or in English via the application portal. Closing date for applications is 2026-04-27.
Contact
Dr Dörte Goldenstein
honours-programm@uni-jena.de
