Postdoctoral Fellowships are designed for scholars in the early stages of their careers after a PhD. Research Fellowships are intended for scholars who are already more advanced in their careers (with a PhD and for example a position as an assistant professor, or leadership of an early-career research group, etc.).

Interested scholars should apply with all required documents for the joint category Postdoctoral Fellows/Research Fellows. During the selection process, the Institute will review the documents to determine which status is the closest fit.

Scholars based outside Germany and scholars currently working at a non-German university or research institution are eligible to apply. The postdoctoral fellowships and research fellowships are designed to help scholars enhance their qualifications and research profile. During their stay, Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Fellows work on their own independent projects within the framework of the research being pursued at the department or research group that hosts them. They can benefit from the full spectrum of lectures, seminars, and workshops on offer at the Institute and from the chance to initiate and organize scholarly events themselves. In addition, all Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Fellows receive extensive support for research visits to archives and libraries and to participate in conferences and specialist forums outside the Institute.

Postdoctoral fellowships and research fellowships are mostly offered for periods of between three and six months. In the phase after completing your PhD, a longer stay offers you the chance to continue your research in an international environment and to develop new research projects in dialogue with the Institute’s other fellows and research scholars. During their stay, Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Fellows agree to devote their time fully to the project for which the stipend was awarded. They are not bound by instructions and not subject to social insurance contributions.

In order to take up your stipend as a Postdoctoral Fellow or a Research Fellow, you must already have defended your PhD dissertation and have attained full postdoctoral status. At the time of application, however, applicants for a postdoctoral fellowship do not need to have attained postdoctoral status--the actual certificate can be submitted later, once your application is successful.

A further prerequisite for a successful application is that your project must be closely connected with one of the thematic focal points named in the advertisement (or, in the case of applications without a specific advertisement, with the thematic focal points of the department or research group to which you wish to apply).

Please note that, for legal reasons, this type of fellowship may be awarded only to scholars holding a PhD who can demonstrate that their main place of residence is outside Germany.

The stipend for Postdoctoral Fellows is €2,500 per month (€2,700 for fellowships starting on Jan 1, 2026 or later); Research Fellows receive €3,000 per month (€3,200 for fellowships starting on Jan 1, 2026 or later). The stipend cannot be paid if the fellow receives any other non-negligible income of their own during the period of the stipend. For this reason, when you apply for a fellowship, please check your likely income for the period of your planned stay with us; we will need to ask you for this information.

Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Fellows are obliged to take out health insurance and we need to file a proof of your existing health insurance coverage for the duration of your stay. If this proof is not provided within 14 days of the fellowship's start date, the stipend will be deemed not to have been awarded.

Specific requirements depend on the length of the stay with us and whether a visa is required. The following options exist:

A) Stays up to 6 months:

1.) Stay with visa requirement: Fellows must provide proof of appropriate health insurance to the German authorities when applying for a visa. If a visa is issued, sufficient health insurance coverage is given.

2.) Stay without visa requirement (less than 90 days or visa-free entry/stay possible in principle): Fellows only need to provide proof of any health insurance; even travel insurance is sufficient.

B) Stays of more than 6 months:

Fellows need health insurance with full coverage that corresponds to the coverage of statutory health insurance in the Federal Republic of Germany. They need a confirmation from the insurance company, that they are insured under § SGB 257V (“full tariff”). Fellows from the EU only need their European Health Insurance Card. Fellows from the UK need their Global Health Insurance Card and must confirm that their insurance is valid for the duration of the fellowship. They should find out which services are covered.

The Postdoctoral Fellow / Research Fellow may receive a monthly health insurance subsidy of 50% of the monthly fees and up to €100. Please note: you can only receive the subsidy if you present written confirmation that your private insurance tariff is equivalent to German statutory health insurance (“full tariff”).

Predoctoral Fellowships are designed for scholars from Germany or outside Germany who have not yet completed their PhD and wish to spend a period of three to six months at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science as Predoctoral Fellows.

One of the core tasks of the MPIWG is to foster the new generation of scholars in the history of science and related disciplines and help them to enhance their qualifications. During their doctoral studies, all PhD candidates are closely integrated into the Institute’s research environment and benefit from a wide range of qualifying and promotion opportunities. They collaborate in the research projects of the three departments or belong to one of the independent research groups.

Max Planck institutes are purely research institutions, and as such they cannot award doctorates. Doctoral candidates working at the MPIWG are usually registered as PhD students at a university in Germany or abroad. The PhD regulations of the faculty or department of that university apply; details of the regulations are supplied by the universities. Predoctoral fellowships are offered for periods of between three months and six months.

The Institute offers specified predoctoral fellowships at irregular intervals. These special fellowships are for periods of three to six months, and are advertised on the Careers page and online. More information on “First Research Article” fellowships for doctoral students based at Asian, African, or Latin American institutions can be found here:

First Research Article Fellowship in Dept. AAK 

First Research Article Fellowship in Dept. KSCL

A predoctoral fellowship consists of a basic stipend payment of €1,365 per month (€1,650 for fellowships starting on Jan 1, 2026 or later). Recipients agree to devote themselves fully to the fellowship purpose for the duration of their funding. They are not bound by instruction (that is, they do not have a direct superior) and they are not subject to social insurance contributions.For all predoctoral fellowships, stipend payments can only be made if the recipient does not receive income of their own from another source above a specified threshold for the duration of the planned fellowship. When you apply for a fellowship, we therefore ask you to check your potential income in the period of your stay with us; we will need to ask you for that information.

Predoctoral Fellows are obliged to take out health insurance and we need to file a proof of your existing health insurance coverage for the duration of your stay. If this proof is not provided within 14 days of the fellowship's start date, the stipend will be deemed not to have been awarded.

Specific requirements depend on the length of the stay with us and whether a visa is required. The following options exist:

A) Stays up to 6 months:

1.) Stay with visa requirement: Fellows must provide proof of appropriate health insurance to the German authorities when applying for a visa. If a visa is issued, sufficient health insurance coverage is given.

2.) Stay without visa requirement (less than 90 days or visa-free entry/stay possible in principle): Fellows only need to provide proof of any health insurance; even travel insurance is sufficient.

B) Stays of more than 6 months:

Fellows need health insurance with full coverage that corresponds to the coverage of statutory health insurance in the Federal Republic of Germany. They need a confirmation from the insurance company, that they are insured under § SGB 257V (“full tariff”). Fellows from the EU only need their European Health Insurance Card. Fellows from the UK need their Global Health Insurance Card and must confirm that their insurance is valid for the duration of the fellowship. They should find out which services are covered.

The Postdoctoral Fellow / Research Fellow may receive a monthly health insurance subsidy of 50% of the monthly fees and up to €100. Please note: you can only receive the subsidy if you present written confirmation that your private insurance tariff is equivalent to German statutory health insurance (“full tariff”).

All Predoctoral Fellows at the MPIWG are cordially invited to attend the regular activities arranged by the Institute’s predoctoral community and of the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) “Knowledge and Its Resources: Historical Reciprocities,” which is based at the Institute.

Contact person for all doctoral students is the Academic Coordinator, Sophie Schwarzmaier (sschwarzmaier@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de)

A Senior Research Fellowship usually lasting between one month and 12 months offers established scholars the opportunity to advance their own research project as a guest at the Institute and to discuss their findings with other international fellows and scholars. Senior Research Fellowships are designed for scholars who completed their PhD more than ten years ago and are acknowledged experts in their own field of study. Senior Research Fellows agree to devote all their time to the project objective for the duration of the fellowship. They are not bound by instructions and not subject to social insurance contributions.

Scholars based outside Germany and scholars currently working at a non-German university or research institution are eligible to apply.

Successful applicants will be proposing a research project that is closely connected with one of the thematic focal points named in the advertisement (or, in the case of applications without a specific advertisement, with the thematic focal points of the department or research group to which you wish to apply).

The stipend of the fellowship is generally €3,600 per month. Payment of the stipend is only possible if you do not receive any payments from your home institution (salary, sabbatical payments, etc.) or a third-party grant during your planned stay at the MPIWG. If no stipend is possible for the entire research stay, the MPIWG can compensate you for a period of up to three months in the form of a per diem allowance and/or a contribution to the cost of your accommodation.