Collaborative Research Centres
The DFG Collaborative Research Centres fund long-term, multidisciplinary university-based teams in Germany to pursue ambitious, innovative, and complex scientific research with strong collaboration.
Funder: German Research Foundation
Due Dates: No fixed deadlines (draft proposals accepted any time; full proposals by arrangement)
Funding Amounts: No upper/lower limit; funded up to 12 years (4-year periods); €909M total CRC funding in 2026
Summary: Supports long-term, multidisciplinary, university-based research centres tackling innovative, complex research with strong institutional and international collaboration.
Key Information: Two-stage process: mandatory draft proposal and consultation before full proposal.
Description
Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs) are long-term, university-based research institutions in Germany that enable researchers to work together on ambitious, interdisciplinary research programmes. Supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), CRCs aim to advance innovative and complex research topics, foster institutional development, support early-career researchers, and promote international and cross-sectoral cooperation. Centres can be single-university (traditional CRC) or multi-university (CRC/Transregio) and may include projects led by non-university institutions or international partners.
