Application Procedure
Learn about how to apply to the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy
Learn more about what it means to be a Rising Star: A Three Tier Academy
The applications are currently closed. The next round of applications is expected to open in 2027.
How do you become a Rising Star?
The Freiburg Rising Stars Academy is a biennial programme with applications opening in late May 2025 for the cohort of 2025-26.
You wish to apply for admission to the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy 2025-26? That is great news! Make sure you have read “A Three Tier Academy” and checked our FAQs before you proceed. We advise you to also read the step-by-step instructions below carefully. If you still have questions after reading this page, don’t hesitate to send us an email before applying.
General Requirements
- At least two years of graduate / PhD experience
- Be enrolled as a PhD at an accredited research institution OR be emloyed as a postdoctoral researcher at a university or research institute
- One of the following:
- European or international citizen pursuing research anywhere in the world
- European or international citizen pursuing research in Germany (German-based Internationals)
- German citizen, currently working at a non-German research institution who has not been a resident of Germany for at least 2 years (“Rückkehrer*innen)
The Freiburg Rising Stars Academy seeks to foster diversity in German academia and thus highly encourages women, members of marginalized groups, as well as researchers from underrepresented regions to apply.
Apply within one of two tracks:
We offer two different tracks to apply for admission to the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy:
If you choose Track 1, you will apply directly for collaboration with one of our Host Principle Investigators (Host-PI) who hail from a variety of partner institutions, such as Clusters of Excellence, collaborative research centres and research groups of all disciplines. Your prospective Host-PI should match your scientific background and share your research interests, as the FRSA seeks to advance long-term collaboration. A list of participating Host-PIs will be available on this website before each application round starts.
Some of our partner institutions offer Track 2, which is a topic-based application. Track 2 is ideal, if you are generally interested in the research areas the prospective Host Institutions represent and you would like to propose novel ideas and projects that extend on or are based on the work undertaken at the Host Institution. While not a perquisite, it is highly recommended that you indicate the researchers with whom you wish to work during your tenure as Rising Star. Please note that our three partner institutions for this track offer different versions of Track 2, please ensure you read the following descriptions very carefully.
(Click on each Track description to learn more.)
Track 1 with Host-PIs
If you choose Track 1, you will apply directly for collaboration with one of our Host Principle Investigators (Host-PI) who hail from a variety of partner institutions, such as Clusters of Excellence, collaborative research centres and research groups of all disciplines. Your prospective Host-PI should match your scientific background and share your research interests, as the FRSA seeks to advance long-term collaboration.
Eligible for Track 1 are Doctoral Candidates, PostDocs and other experienced researchers. Students who are well-advanced in their Master’s programme but have not yet completed their Master’s degree may be eligible under special circumstances – please inquire with us or contact your intended Host-PI if you seek admission as an advanced master student. This may be the case for students who directly moved into a PhD programme without having a separate Master Programme etc.
Choose your Host Principle Investigator wisely in order to apply for Track 1.
(Should you not find a good match, but are still interested in the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy and have identified a potential Host-PI at the University of Freiburg, do not hesitate to email us with your inquiry – sometimes, we can add PIs to the Academy later.)
Track 2 with Cluster of Excellence CIBSS – Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies
Introduction to CIBSS
The cells of complex living organisms communicate with each other via biological signals in order to coordinate tasks, form tissue and adapt to environmental conditions. Since 2019, the Cluster of Excellence Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies (CIBSS) has been investigating how this “molecular language of life” can be decoded and utilised. Scientists from the life sciences, natural sciences, engineering, ethics and law are investigating how living systems integrate signals to control development, function and health — from cells and organs to entire organisms. The CIBSS research programme focuses on three core mechanistic concepts in signal integration: how signalling processes are organised spatially, how signals are interpreted in different contexts, and how signalling information is stored and used to make decisions. CIBSS is a leading centre for basic life science research in Germany and contributes to global progress in the field, laying the groundwork for transformative solutions in health, agriculture, and biotechnology.
Objective:
With Track 2 of the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy, we would like to specifically address outstanding postdocs who have a strong scientific interest in the research topics of the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS (and other clusters in the future). This track offers them the opportunity to explore Freiburg as a possible location for their own scientific career – especially in the context of a future group leadership or tenure track position.
Target Group:
Track 2 is aimed at outstanding postdoctoral researchers with international experience and/or background with a strong motivation and aptitude for an independent research career. Candidates should have a doctoral degree, an excellent scientific track record with including high quality publications in respected international journals.
Candidates should consider in their application how their research profile could complement that of CIBSS and how their research could profit from integration in CIBSS. In particular, we are interested in excellent group leader candidates with expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Machine learning and AI in biomedical signalling research
- Chemical biology or synthetic biology with discovery and/or innovation-oriented applications in signalling research
- Evolutionary aspects of signalling and signal integration
- Data analysis and modelling of signalling and signal integration
- Molecular signalling integration at higher-order complexes (protein assemblies, organelles, and chromatin)
- Signal integration in immunity, development, or plants
- Other cutting-edge topics and technologies of high relevance to signalling research, particularly in the area of signal integration.
Awardees receive the following benefits in the programme (in addition to the benefits of the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy overall programme):
- Individual support in preparing applications (e.g. for an Emmy Noether Group, ERC Starting Grant or junior research group applications, through Freiburg Research Services (FRS))
- Funding for a stay in Freiburg (including travel expenses, accommodation, up to €5.000), with access to state-of-the-art infrastructure
- One-on-one discussions with Cluster researchers to discuss science, potential collaborations and career perspectives
- Where possible, matching to an advisor in Freiburg who has had success in securing specific third-party funding relevant to the candidate’s intended applications.
- Customised workshops and coaching, e.g. on third-party funding applications, leadership skills, and academic career planning
This track requires close familiarisation of the applicants with CIBSS. Interdisciplinary research is highly encouraged at the University of Freiburg and at CIBSS, so most researchers will be willing to work with excellent researchers from other fields. However, a prospective Rising Star should ensure that there are points of interconnection with their own expertise if they seek to work with someone outside their field. Please indicate ways your research will be complemented by working with / at CIBSS and with at least one of the researchers associated with it (this can be anyone from a group leader to a full professor).
Track 2 with future Cluster of Excellence Future Forests – Adapting Complex Social-ecological Forest Systems to Global Change
Introduction to Future Forests
Forests cover approximately 30 per cent of the global landmass and render numerous essential ecosystem services (ES): They provide renewable resources, mitigate the impact of climate change, support human health, and preserve biodiversity. In the face of rapid climate change, novel ecosystem disturbances, and the introduction or loss of species, large expanses of forests are evolving towards novel ecosystems that are unprecedented in evolutionary history. It is highly uncertain to what extent these novel ecosystems will be capable of rendering the desired ES and preserving biodiversity. The changes will occur so quickly that natural adaptation processes will not be able to keep pace with them.
Parallel to this development, major societal changes are to be expected, resulting from processes such as urbanization, globalization and trade, land use, and changing demands regarding nature’s services to humans. The natural and social spheres are closely interlinked, interact in a complex way, and thus present unexpected risks. With a better understanding of these system dynamics, it will be possible to devise strategies to prevent undesirable developments. The researchers of Future Forests thus aim to make novel contributions to conceptualizing and analysing forests as new social-ecological systems (SES).
The approaches of Future Forests to analysing and developing transformation pathways for forest-based SES will provide the basis for more adaptive forest systems and more sustainable transformation pathways than in the past. These approaches will be transferable to other world regions and a broad spectrum of ecosystem services.
Objective and Target Group:
Targeting researchers of all career stages, Future Forests offers Track 2 as an open application to PhD Students and Postdocs looking to get involved with any aspect of the research at the newly formed Cluster of Excellence. Participating in the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy through a placement with Future Forests means contributing to building its very foundation – which is both an exciting and challenging task. Interested candidates should look for a match with one of our PIs and reach out to them ahead of applying, a complete list can be found here: Principle Investigators in Future Forests.
This track requires close familiarisation of the applicants with Future Forests. Interdisciplinary research is highly encouraged at the University of Freiburg and at Future Forests, so most researchers will be willing to work with excellent researchers from other fields. However, a prospective Rising Star should ensure that there are points of interconnection with their own expertise if they seek to work with someone outside their field. Please indicate ways your research will be complemented by working with / at Future Forests and with at least one of the researchers associated with it (this can be anyone from a group leader to a full professor).
ATTENTION: The deadline for applications is currently closed.
Do you want to know what our former Risings say about the Academy? Explore their testimonials.
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Please note: Admission to the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy does not automatically lead to employment at the University of Freiburg. The Freiburg Rising Stars Academy is NOT a PhD programme and does not automatically provide PhD or Postdoc positions.
