Funding instrument 1 type A

Gerok Position

Funding for young scientists to establish their research direction.

The aim of this instrument is to strengthen clinical research during or after specialized training. The Gerok position is aimed at young physicians from clinical institutions and gives them the opportunity to completely interrupt their clinical work during their specialization in order to be able to exclusively pursue their scientific work. Remuneration is based on the collective agreement for physicians at university hospitals (TV-Ä with continuation of the step progression during the funding period).

Application & Deadlines

For who?

Physicians in specialization or even beyond

Upper limit years after completed doctorate: Limitation to usually 4-6 years after doctorate, exceptions are possible and will be reviewed/decided individually. Parental leave is taken into account.
Scientists with their own extramural third-party funding are no longer eligible for this funding pool (exception: doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships).

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Requirements

Required Qualification

Above-average doctorate¹ (magna or summa cum laude)

The vote of the doctoral committee with grade must be available by the BONFOR application deadline.
If the doctoral certificate has not yet been awarded, the official printing permit issued by the Doctoral Office of the Dean's Office can be submitted with the overall grade shown therein (expert reports and oral examinations).
If the doctoral thesis was graded cum laude, the applicant will go through a selection process in addition to the application submission (invitation to the selection interview with the BONFOR commission at the meeting date).

¹Note: Above average doctorate

In the case of a doctorate that is not recognized in Germany (university degree acquired abroad including a professional doctorate), an application may be admitted in justified individual cases. Despite the lack of a doctorate, if proof of doctorate-equivalent achievements can be provided by a publication as first author in a quality-assured journal and the applicant clearly demonstrates the share of his or her independent scientific achievement (listing of those results of the publication that were generated by the applicant and confirmation by signature that he or she personally carried out these results).

Award criteria

Evidence of first own publications:

At least one original paper with first authorship in a peer-reviewed international English-language journal recognized in the field.
In the absence of publication or evidence of only second authorship, a selection interview will be held.

Full-time job² at UCB

At the latest from the application deadline until the end of the requested funding period and at least 2 years thereafter.

²Note: Full time position

In the case of family-related part-time employment, different arrangements can be made. Please contact the BONFOR Coordination Office in good time before submitting your application.

Grants

Personnel funds
Financing of own position at 100%, remunerated according to TV-Ä

Please ask the Human Resources Department for the correct financial amount in advance.

Core Facility Services
max. 3,000 € per year (exclusively CF established at UCB)

Funds for Materials
max. 15.000 € per year (incl. animal costs and computer software; hardware support and technical equipment are excluded)

Travel and publication costs
Application for funding to cover travel and publication costs is excluded.

Duration of Funding

12 months with flexible terms in the second funding year

1st Funding Year
12-month leave of absence for research activities at 100%.

2nd Funding Year
Job split of 50% over 2 years or again 100% leave of absence.

Continuation Funding

12-month Gerok continuation upon application and after positive interim evaluation of the first funding year.

Combination Possibilities and Follow-up Funding

If the relevant requirements are met:

Follow-up Funding
Junior group (Instr. 2), max. 3 years total funding period in both instruments 1 and 2

Procedure

Step 1

Project Application

Contacting the Coordination office
Consultation by the Team Internal Funding
Getting Access to the BONFOR eApplication system
Submission of the project application via the BONFOR eApplication system

Step 2

Appraisal & Decision

One internal and one external expert opinion, commission consultation

Step 3

Project Execution

12 months with flexible terms in the second funding year

Step 4

Evaluation & Project Presentation

Final report to the date of account closure
Documentation of external follow-up financing and publications achieved
Presentation of the research project at the BONFOR symposium

Application & Deadlines

Submission of the project application in English including mandatory and additional documents via the BONFOR eApplication portal.

BONFOR eApplication

Checklist

Project Application

Please use the following template to describe your project proposal (in English language):

Project proposal 2024 (EN)

Please use the following document for your project proposal:

Project proposal (EN)

Required Documents

The following documents are required for your application:

Mandatory Documents

Project Application in english language (s. template)
Summary of the research project
Curriculum vitae and scientific background of the applicant (with examination grades)
Doctoral Certificate
(alternatively: printed permission issued by the doctoral office incl. official certificate of examination results)
Applicant's Publication List
(Proof of first own publications according to the above-mentioned award criteria)
Publication List of the Supervising work group
Signed guidelines for the use of BONFOR funds .
Declaration Bonfor-applicant

¹If total employment period (= requested funding period plus 2 years of continued employment) is incompletely covered by employment contract:

Request for job extension from the clinic/institute management for the remaining period, if necessary subject to BONFOR funding approval:

s. UKB-Intranet: Business Directorate - Business Unit 1 - Recruiting - Request for implementation of a personnel measure.

(Note: in the case of 50% Gerok funding spread over 2 years, the remaining share of the position financed by the clinic during this period will be credited to the two-year continued employment after the end of the funding).

Additional Documents

Cooperation agreement(s)
Votum of the Ethics commission
Animal Testing Permit
Further Documentation

Commitment Statements

Declaration of commitment
Supervision agreement
of a university lecturer of the Medical Faculty Bonn.

Workplace agreement
from the responsible clinic/institute directorate for the BONFOR funding period applied for.

Employment contract
This contract must exist at the latest from the application deadline and must extend at least 2 years beyond the BONFOR funding period. A possibly required extension of the employment contract can be applied for at the GB1 subject to the BONFOR funding approval (please clarify details with the BONFOR office in due time and before submitting the BONFOR application). In the case of 50% Gerok funding spread over 2 years, the share of the position financed by the clinic during this period will be credited to the two-year continued employment after the end of funding.

Clinical Commitments Statement
The clinic director and applicant must agree that the scholar will be completely removed from clinical operations during the grant period and will not participate in night or on-call routine care during the week. Weekend on-call duties may be limited to a maximum of 2 weekend duties per month. They shall not result in any entitlement to compensatory time off. Compensation for these services and other unsteady pay may not be charged to the BONFOR account.

Deadlines

Grant applications may be submitted at any time, but must be submitted via the BONFOR eApplication system no later than the application deadline for the respective meeting date.

Application Deadlines Gerok-Position