Mildred Scheel Doctoral Program

Mildred Scheel Doctoral Program

German Cancer Aid supports doctoral students in medicine

With this program, German Cancer Aid aims to provide financial support to young medical students interested in science to enable them to carry out an excellent scientific doctoral thesis in cancer research in a proven research laboratory in Germany (doctoral scholarship).

The current deadline for submitting applications can be found on the German Cancer Aid website.

The application is submitted by the doctoral candidate together with the 1st TAC member as co-applicant.

Scholarship holders should - if possible - be integrated into a research training group or graduate school at the respective location in order to facilitate "structured doctoral studies". The aim should also be for doctoral candidates to complete their doctorate with a first-author publication.

Scholarship amount / Scholarship benefits

The amount of the grant is €1,000 per month (tax-free, not subject to social security contributions). Upon justified application, funds for consumables and/or funds for the procurement and keeping of laboratory animals totaling up to €5 ,000 for 1 year (approx. €415 per month) can be applied for to carry out the project .

If a funding period of less than one year is applied for, the funds for consumables and/or funds for the procurement and keeping of laboratory animals will also be adjusted according to the project duration if approval is granted. Investment funds (to finance equipment), travel funds, funds for publication costs and funds for contracts with third parties are generally not financed by German Cancer Aid under this funding instrument. Study, training and overhead fees cannot be financed via the grant or additionally covered by German Cancer Aid.

The funds granted by German Cancer Aid are administered by the administration of the host institution, so that the grants can be taken into account when awarding the locally allocated "performance-oriented funds" (LOM).

The scholarship is intended to cover the scholarship holder's living expenses. If an applicant receives a regular income from other sources at the time of application, assurance must be given before the start of the scholarship that this income will cease during the scholarship period. In addition, German Cancer Aid must be informed of the amount of the scholarship installments of other scholarships. Other income / scholarships may be offset against the German Cancer Aid scholarship. If an applicant receives a scholarship from another third-party funding provider, the benefits provided by German Cancer Aid must be declared to this third-party funding provider if approval is granted.

Insurance of any kind is not included in the scholarship. Scholarship holders must ensure that they have sufficient private insurance cover (e.g. health, accident and liability insurance) for themselves and, if applicable, their families.

Project requirements for the application:

• Applications that are also submitted to other funding institutions at the same time or during the assessment by German Cancer Aid cannot be considered.
• Each clinic / institute may submit a maximum of one application per call for proposals. If several applications from one clinic or institute are submitted by the same submission deadline, they will be returned to the applicants without being reviewed and with a request for prioritization.

Requirements for scholarship applicants:

• Degree in medicine (human medicine) in Germany or equivalent degree abroad (average grade for studies abroad: ≤2.5).
• Generally not older than 25 years.
• Completed first state examination.
• During the funding period, a period of at least one semester must be planned in the form of a leave of absence from study obligations (semester off/leave of absence). Please note the earliest possible funding start date for each submission deadline.
• Doctoral candidates undertake to devote their entire working time to the project during the funding period. Secondary employment is therefore not possible.
• The doctorate may not have been started more than three months before the submission deadline.

Requirements for co-applicants (1st TAC member of the doctoral thesis):

• Authorized supervisor with a background in medicine or a natural science with an oncological research focus.
• Management of a separate working group.
• Own postdoc period of at least 2 years - with predominant scientific activity.
• At least 2 externally reviewed research projects currently supported by extramural third-party funding (e.g. funded by German Cancer Aid, the DFG, the BMBF or the EU). This point is intended to demonstrate the continuous research activity of the working group. If there is currently no ongoing extramural third-party funding for the working group, the expired funding of the last 5 years should be listed.
• Permanent presence of at least one postdoc and one technical assistant in the lab.

Assessment period:

• About 3 - 4 months

Funding period:

• Maximum 12 months; an extension is not possible

Start of the scholarship:

• The scholarship must be taken up within 6 months of approval.

Contact:

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact the funding department of German Cancer Aid.

Support programs of the German Cancer Aid
Dr. Matthias Serwe
Phone: 0228 - 7 29 90 223
serwe@krebshilfe.de