Gateway Fellowship
Postdoc Stipend for Your Research Experience abroad
Make your first international research experience as a postdoc funded by a Gateway Fellowship (GF). With this funding line, Research School supports the first postdoc career steps for those who just obtained their doctorate from RUB. The GF is not intended to fund incremental continuation or completion of your previous work. The fellowships grant an individual stipend for a period of up to 9 months. This bridge financing provides early career researchers with the opportunity to visit outstanding international host institutions for preliminary studies or preparing a postdoc project. In this way, a GF fosters the development of your future research profile and enables you to collaborate with the world’s best in your field of interest.
Read more about the Gateway Fellows who have been funded since 2013 and their projects and get inspired.
What Grantees say
Dr. Nils Jäkel, Philology
Dr. Daniela Nordzieke, Biology
Dr. Julia Velten, Psychology
Funding
GFs support research stays at renowned international universities, institutes, or other organizations for six to nine months. You will receive a monthly stipend, depending on the host country, your age, marital status and children. Check this website to calculate your amount. Travel costs are reimbursed separately.
From a legal point of view, it is not possible to receive a scholarship from RUB and be employed by RUB at the same time. In case you are employed at RUB, please inform your chair about the Gateway Fellowship once it is granted. Please take a look at our Rules for Supplementary Work during the time of Gateway Fellowship.
Eligibility
Applicants must obtain or have recently obtained their doctoral degree from RUB. Additionally, they have to be members or affiliates (e.g. fellowship holders) of RUB at the time of application. You can hand in your GF application prior to submitting/defending your dissertation. However, you must have submitted your thesis by the time the GF selection colloquium takes place. The final doctoral examination/defence must take place before the start of your GF project. The time period between obtaining your doctoral degree (date of final examination/defence) and the start of your intended fellowship project at the host institution must be in a time frame of 12 months and may not exceed this frame.
Any exceptions concerning the above regulations will only be conceded due to social criteria. Please clarify at an early stage whether such a reason might apply to you.
Review Criteria
The reviewers will evaluate all applications according to the following criteria:
- Formal completeness of the application
- Comprehensibility of the application to a general audience
- International and scientific profile of the applicant
- Scientific quality and innovation of the project
- Fit of the host (institution) to the research project
- Importance of the project for the international network
- Importance for career perspectives beyond the Gateway Fellowship
- Relationship between the project and the candidate’s previous research
- Sustainable impact of the project on RUB’s international network
The aim of the Gateway Fellowship is to serve as bridge financing to provide early career researchers with the opportunity to go to outstanding international host institutions. For the application and selection process, it is necessary to explain and present your research project and your further postdoc career plans. For those who plan to hand in a Gateway Fellowship application, our managing director, Dr. Christiane Wüllner, and Dr. Ursula Justus, advisor for doctoral researchers and postdocs, offer a workshop that also gives information on our other funding lines. The workshop will take place on Wednesday, the 23rd of July from 10:00 - 12:00 via Zoom. It is highly recommended for all potential applicants for the Gateway Fellowship. You can register for the workshop here until the 18th of July 2025.
Review Process
The review process lasts around 4 months and consists of two steps. Two experts will be asked to review the written application. On the basis of the written applications and expert reviews, the Executive Board of Research School selects outstanding candidates for an oral presentation of their proposed projects. This colloquium takes place in front of members of the Early Career Researchers Board and representatives from the Executive Board. Both boards are interdisciplinary in nature and consist of researchers from different disciplines. We make sure that at least one person participating in the colloquium comes from a discipline relevant to the respective application.The colloquium will be announced at the RS website and will be open to RUB members.
The presentation of 15 minutes should, of course, take into account the selection criteria for the written applications, which is to be understood as follows:
- Generally understandable presentation of the project and its innovative approach.
- To what extent does your envisaged research stay positively affect your own international network?
- Elaborate why the host and its institution are the right cooperation partner for you and your research project.
- Describe your future career plans considering the role of the Gateway Fellowship. Why is the Gateway Fellowship important for your future career plans and plays a role in applying for further funding?
Please have in mind that your presentation should show that you are an ambassador of the Ruhr University Bochum no matter which country you are conducting your research stay in.
After the colloquium the Early Researchers Board makes a recommendation as to who should receive funding and in the subsequent meeting the Executive Board will make the final decision.
The next Gateway Fellowship Colloquium will take place in December 2025.
Application
For the preparation of your application, please take a look at the information on the review procedure, in particular the review criteria. Please fill out the PDF application form, which you can download here. Your application must contain the following documents in addition to the application form:
- Doctoral certificate OR confirmation of thesis submission OR your supervisor’s confirmation that the thesis will be submitted prior to the selection colloquium
- Two letters of recommendation (one from your first PhD supervisor and one more from another experienced researcher in your field)
- An invitation letter from the prospective host organization
- References/literature
- Not mandatory: Document for illustration of research (e.g. charts, figures)
To apply, please send the PDF application form as well as the required documents via email to Dr. Nicolas Lindner in time before the deadline of the corresponding call. Please do not send print outs or original documents by post. You will receive a confirmation email for your application.
For planning your potential research stay for a Gateway Fellowship, please take a look at the information on funding as well as restrictions on additional income during the time of the Gateway Fellowship. Here you can also take a look at additional information for GF grantees.
The aim of the Gateway Fellowship is to serve as bridge financing to provide early career researchers with the opportunity to go to outstanding international host institutions. For the application and selection process it is necessary to explain and present your research project and your further postdoc career plans. For those who plan to hand in a Gateway Fellowship application, our managing director, Dr. Christiane Wüllner, and Dr. Ursula Justus, advisor for doctoral researchers and postdocs, offer a workshop that also gives information on our other funding lines. The workshop will take place on Wednesday, the 21st of January from 10:00 - 12:00 via Zoom. It is highly recommended for all potential applicants for the Gateway Fellowship. You can register for the workshop here until the 16th of January.
Deadlines
Information 26th Call
- Open: November 2025
- Submission deadline: 28. February 2026
- Colloquium & final decision: Beginning of June 2026
- Start of possible Gateway Fellowship: 4 weeks after the colloquium or later
Information 25th Call
- Open: April 2026
- Submission deadline: 31. August 2026
- Colloquium & final decision: Beginning of December 2026
- Start of possible Gateway Fellowship: 6 weeks after the colloquium or later
Equality
We try to take unavoidable personal restrictions in your academic work into consideration. Therefore, we would like to give you the opportunity to include a brief explanation of your personal circumstances that lead to a special need in the implementation of your international activity in your application. Please take this into account when designing your activity and your application. Please enclose proof with your application. This will only be checked by the Research School office and is not part of the review process.
