WiRe is a fellowship programme for international female postdoctoral researchers at the University of Münster in Germany. Hosted by the International Office - Dept. for Researchers & Staff, the WiRe programme was founded to help address the unique challenges of women in research, with a special focus on female Postdocs who currently find themselves in their ‘Rush Hour of Life’.

The WiRe programme offers short-term fellowships as well as comprehensive support for its fellows, among other things through workshops, collegial counselling and coaching. Our fellowships have a duration of 4-8 months. Longer periods of up to a year are possible in the framework of the matching option: If your host department at the University of Münster funds at least two additional fellowship months, WiRe funds one additional month.

During the WiRe period, fellows conduct their research in cooperation with a professor at our university and can explore research and development possibilities as well as the wide range of support structures available for top female researchers in Münster. Our fellowships are intended to give the opportunity to explore further career prospects and initiate and foster further cooperation with the University of Münster.

In 2020, WiRe Research@home Fellowships were created as our answer to the continued challenging circumstances faced by the international academic community. As time has shown that our Research@home Fellowships allow an easier combination of family obligations and career aspirations, we will continue to offer this remote option, although we highly encourage fellows to carry out their research on site in Münster. However, the Research@home Fellowships allow for the chance to pursue a research project at the University of Münster from your home base.

In addition to support and funding, WiRe fellows will be trained in research communication and should expect to participate in digital research communication and collaborations with the WiRe team, as increasing research accessibility and inspiring other female researchers by way of new and creative channels is one of the main focuses of the programme.

WiRe Fellowships: Our Offer

• Fellowship for a period of at least 4 but up to 8 months,

Periods of up to 12 months are possible with the matching option: If your host department at the University of Münster funds at least two additional fellowship months, WiRe funds one additional month

• On-site and remote options available
• Fellowship sum of 2800€ per month for on-site fellowships, 2200€ for remote fellowships.**
• Family bonus: Child allowance of 200€ for each child*
• On-site and remote option
• Excellent research and career development opportunities
• Access to all communication channels, networks and research infrastructure of the University of Münster
• Collective fellowship meetings, workshops with a focus on research communication, and collegial coaching

*For on-site stays, the child allowance can only be awarded in the case that you are NOT entitled to the German governmental “Kindergeld” (approximately 200€ per month).

**If Fellows have additional income, the funding may be adjusted.

Could a WiRe Fellowship be Your Next Move? Our eligibility criteria

You are eligible to apply if you:

• have obtained or are about to earn your PhD (you must have submitted your PhD theses it by the start of your fellowship),
• have not done research at a German higher education institution in the past six months, and
• have completed the majority of your academic qualifications outside of Germany.

Do you want to apply? Our application process

For your WiRe application, please make sure that

• You have a research project or an idea for a research project in cooperation with a professor of the University of Münster, which can be completed within 4 - 8 months with a presentable result. (up to 12 months with the matching-option)

A hint regarding finding your future host: The Universit of Münster offers a broad spectrum of research fields. You can find an overview of our departments here.

Since you are the expert in your subject, you can best judge for yourself which department at our university accommodates your research / research idea best. If you do not find what you are looking for via the respective departments‘ websites, we recommend that you continue your search via one of the popular search engines on the web.

• Your cooperation partner at the University of Münster must submit a WiRe Letter of Recommendation for your WiRe application. Please note: a scientific host may support a maximum of 2 candidates. Further information see WiRe Letter of Recommendation.
• You have ideas for strategy regarding how to best spread awareness of your research & experiences at our university.
• You are willing to participate in our creative science communication activities.
• You are able to submit a detailed project schedule,
• You are able to submit a short video application. Tips on how to create your video may be found here.

When we have an active call, you can access the application portal via this website. In the application portal you can save your application and return to the site to edit it until you have submitted it.

In case you want to apply for a fellowship period of 11 or 12 months utilizing the matching-option, please talk to your cooperation partner at the University of Münster directly about departmental funding possibilities before submitting your WiRe application.

When to apply? Indicative timetable of calls

We usually offer one call per year, in spring / summer.

It is advisable to contact possible scientific cooperation partners - professors of our University – some time before the next call.

Cohort 2023

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WiRe Fellows

The University of Münster has been able to attract some outstanding female postdocs from all over the world as WiRe - Women in Research Fellows. Learn more about them here and on our blog  WiRe Fellows and their research.