Doctoral researchers of the University Alliance Ruhr are eligible to apply for the MERCUR project funding.

New Funding Format MERCUR Funding Continues

What began in 2010 as a joint project with the Stiftung Mercator is now being continued independently: with its own funding and a new focus.

At the beginning of April, Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen opened a new round of calls for proposals in the MERCUR program. Doctoral researchers from the three partner universities can now apply with outlines for bilateral or trilateral research projects until May 15, 2025. A second funding line is also planned to promote the development of joint structures.

Two Funding Lines

Project funding is aimed at postdoctoral researchers who want to work together on a project across universities or expand their collaborations within the University Alliance Ruhr. Early Career Researchers can also apply for start-up funding for their first project with partners from neighboring universities. Applications for the "Project Funding" funding line are now open. The "Structural Funding" funding line, on the other hand, will specifically support the expansion of long-term structures and thus the further development of the University Alliance Ruhr.

"Stiftung Mercator's commitment to MERCUR has initiated and promoted many research collaborations in the Ruhr region over the past 15 years. In order to further strengthen cooperation in the University Alliance Ruhr, we now want to continue the program with funds from the universities," explain the Rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Professor Barbara Albert, the Rector of Ruhr University Bochum, Professor Martin Paul, and his Dortmund colleague Professor Manfred Bayer. "The new funding lines were developed jointly by members of the Rectorate. The aim was to keep the process simple while maintaining the high quality standards."

Details on Project Funding

Doctoral researchers at the University Alliance Ruhr universities are eligible to apply. The duration of the project applied for is a maximum of two years, the funding volume is a maximum of 300,000 euros. Early Career Researchers (ECR) and newly appointed researchers can apply for funding of up to 100,000 euros in the "ECR Project Funding". The application process has two stages: The draft proposal can be submitted until May 15. Following an assessment by the Vice-President Research, an invitation to submit a full proposal will be issued.

All further details on the call for proposals as well as the guidelines and criteria can be found on the project funding website. For the first time, the documents will be available in German and English.

About MERCUR

In 2010, Stiftung Mercator and the three universities of the UA Ruhr founded the Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR) to promote research and, in particular, cross-university cooperation in the Ruhr region. The funding volume amounted to around 60 million euros; a total of over 300 projects were supported. Stiftung Mercator withdrew from the cooperation in November 2024. MERCUR was the largest private science funding initiative in the Ruhr region to date.