Fellowship

The application phase for the Fellowship Programme 2025/26 will run from 1 July 2025 to 17 August 2025.

We do not support institutions, associations, NGOs or think tanks. Our Fellowship, however, is addressed at their employees, junior researchers, research assistants, founders, or volunteers. The organisation can thereby be named as the hosting institution for the Fellow.

You should be able to clearly indicate where your workplace will be during the research year. We recommend choosing a thematically and professionally relevant institution that can support the implementation of your project. We are happy to discuss possible placement options for the project implementation.

It is possible to carry out your research project independently of your current employer and use the Fellowship to gain additional networking opportunities. However, considering the workload, it is important to clarify this transparently with both institutions in advance. Often, our Fellows reduce their current working hours, especially if they hold a full-time position. In the past, some Fellows have divided their workload across the respective research quarters. For instance, they might fully focus on the project during one quarter or spend it at their host institution, while in another quarter, they might dedicate more time to their regular position. This should, of course, be reflected in suitable outputs and must be transparent and well-planned.

When applying as a group or team, it is important that although the application is submitted by one person, all other members are named and indicated when uploading the CV's (in one pdf). The funding amount is not different compared to individual applicants.

We strongly recommend that you have already identified experts who could accompany the project in terms of content. Please indicate them during your application. We are happy to discuss possible mentoring options for the project implementation if you have not identified experts yet.

While the programme is directed at young academics and junior researchers under 35, the main selection criteria remain the quality and the relevance of the research proposal as well as your previous career path. You are welcome to apply to the programme if you minimally exceed the age limit but meet all other application criteria.

You will need a completed Master's degree or equivalent by the day the Fellowship starts. This means that you can apply if you have not received your diploma yet, though you need to ensure that you have finished your studies and have received the diploma by September 2025.

You must have finished a postgraduate programme after your first educational path (Bachelor's degree, apprenticeship, ...) to be eligible to apply for the Fellowship. We accept vocational trainings or technical education programmes as postgraduate studies.

The submitted project proposal should be thematically based on the annual focus topic. You should present the respective connection in your project proposal.

The Fellowship is open to all postgraduates with a citizenship of an EU member state as well as to everyone planning to reside in Europe during the implementation of the project.

For example:

You are eligible to apply,

• if you have a German citizenship, living and conducting your research in Germany,
• if you have a Spanish citizenship, living and conducting your research in the United States,
• if you have a Moroccan citizenship, implementing your project at a research institute in Italy,

You are not eligible to apply,

• if you have a British citizenship, living and conducting your research in China.

The Fellowship is open to all postgraduates from all (academic) disciplines and fields. You can but must not work in academia to be eligible to apply for the Fellowship.

The cover letter is a formal document in which you should state your motivation to apply for the Charlemagne Prize Fellowship Programme. You may also introduce yourself in the cover letter.  The research proposal should focus on your research question, your research goals, your timeframe, and your plan to implement your research project. The research proposal leaves no space for an individual presentation of yourself. Generally, both documents together should picture a clear presentation of who you are and what you would like to achieve personally and scientifically.

You may include letters of recommendation and previous awards or validations of your experience in your specific research field in this section, which would be a beneficial addition to your general application documents. While the main selection criteria will focus on your previous experience and the quality and relevance of the research proposal, you can use this section to add aspects that you think should also be considered during the selection procedure. Please note that it is not compulsory to attach your academic diplomas yet, though they will be requested in case of your selection as a Fellow.

A language certificate is not compulsory for your application. However, English language skills (C1) will be indispensable for this programme. We will assess your language skills based on the quality of your proposal and, if you are selected for the second application round, during the short selection interview.

After submitting your application, the Charlemagne Prize Foundation will pre-screen the application to check if all application criteria have been met. Afterwards, the selection committee will shortlist the best candidates who will then be invited to short online interviews. The interview will last 10-15 minutes. The final decision is made by the Foundation's Board of Directors in early autumn 2025.

In this interview we would like to gain a brief insight into your personality, your motivation, your ideas and your presentation style. We will therefore ask you questions about yourself and your project one after the other, which you are asked to answer briefly and precisely.

We will get back to all applicants by the end of October 2025. If you have been selected as a Fellow, we will provide you with a detailed onboarding and an invitation to our kick-off event in November 2025.

Yes. We attach great importance to our Fellowship Programme reflecting the diversity in Europe with regard to origin, background, political interests, special attributes, and gender. Since women are still underrepresented in academia, we particularly encourage young women to apply.

Our Fellowship Programme runs from November of the application year to October of the following year. The starting date is the awarding of the fellowship certificate in Aachen. By this time, the grant agreements must be signed, the project goals defined and the host institution and mentor appointed.

We start and end the Fellowship with an event where attendance is compulsory. Moreover, participation in the Aachen Week including the Charlemagne Prize award ceremony (11-14 May 2026) is mandatory. Within the year, there will of course always be the opportunity to participate in networking events and Charlemagne Prize events. We look forward to your active participation and to anticipating these trips in advance.

The research grant is paid out in five tranches and is linked in each case to the fulfilment of predefined milestones.

The goals and intermediate steps of the project should already be clearly defined in the research project. It is also important that the project brings added value and network expansion. In terms of time allocation, methodology and implementation, however, we leave a lot of leeway in order to promote projects and results that are as individual and creative as possible.