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Welcome to the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion
The Sino-German Center for Research Promotion is a public institution jointly established by DFG and NSFC, headquartered in Beijing. We aim to promote scientific cooperation between Germany and China in the fields of natural science, life science, management and engineering sciences.
Dou Xiankang, President of the NSFC visits Bonn
Prof Dou Xiankang, President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China visited the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Head Office in Bonn in mid-October.
Adjustment of the SGC's Project Acceptance, Funding and Administration
Starting from January 1, 2024, the current SGC funding portfolio, except for the Lindau Programme, will be discontinued and replaced by a novel funding programme "Sino German Center Project" which will be administered and funded directly by the NSFC and DFG.
Due to on-going renovation work, the SGC staff in Beijing can temporarily (from March 22 to Mid-April) NOT be reached via landline telephone. Please contact us via email.
Notice on the adjustment of the sgc’s project acceptance, funding and administration, international travel funding standards revised back to pre-pandemic level, new international travel funding standards, treffen der direktorinnen des chinesisch-deutschen zentrums für wissenschaftsförderung mit einer delegation der deutschen botschaft und wissenschaftseinrichtungen, 2nd sino-german symposium on functional nano-materials sciences held in giessen 15/12/2023 (summary), deep-sea mining of massive sulfides: balancing impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem, technological challenges and law of the sea, preparatory visits.
Für die Planung einer durch das CDZ zu fördernden wissenschaftlichen Veranstaltung, einer Kooperationsgruppe oder eines bilateralen Forschungsprojektes kann ein Besuch beim wissenschaftlichen Partner.
Summer Schools
Im Rahmen einer Sommerschule sollen angehende Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler in einer kompakten ca. zweiwöchigen Veranstaltung in fortgeschrittene Techniken und Methoden ihres Forschungsgebietes und deren Anwendung eingeführt werden.
Junior Scientist Forum
Das CDZ möchte mit Nachwuchsforen jungen und besonders qualifizierten Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern Gelegenheit geben, erfolgreiche Forscher ihres Faches kennen zu lernen.
Excellent Young German Scholar Program
To support the scientific collaboration between China and Germany and to foster the academic exchange between early career researchers from both countries.
Die Finanzierung mehrtägiger wissenschaftlicher Arbeitstreffen in Form von Symposien oder Workshops ist ein vorrangiges Förderinstrument des CDZ.
Post-Workshops Young Scientit Academic Visit
Das Chinesisch-Deutsche Zentrum für Wissenschaftsförderung will Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler in frühen Karrierestadien motivieren.
View the funding framework▶
Lindau programm.
Das 2004 gegründete Lindao-Projekt ist ein Stipendienprogramm für herausragende Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden in China, das gemeinsam vom Chinesisch-Deutschen Wissenschaftszentrum im Auftrag der National Natural Science Foundation of China und der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Zusammenarbeit mit der Nobelpreisträger-Kongressstiftung in Deutschland ins Leben gerufen wurde. Seit 2004 organisiert das Deutsch-Chinesische Wissenschaftszentrum jedes Jahr Briefe und Interviews von deutschen Expertinnen und Experten auf der Grundlage der leistungsorientierten Empfehlung von Kandidatinnen und Kandidaten für Doktorandenprogramme der ersten Stufe an erstklassigen Universitäten in China und wählt 25-35 herausragende Doktorandenvertreter für die Teilnahme an der Nobelpreisträgerkonferenz in Lindao, Deutschland, aus. Im Anschluss an das Treffen organisierten wir Besuche bei namhaften deutschen wissenschaftlichen Forschungseinrichtungen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions regarding project funding.
Können Anträge auf eine Fortsetzung der Förderung gestellt werden?
Read more faqs▶, merkblätter zur antragstellung.zip, reisekostenerstattung und fördersätze.zip, berichtsformulare.zip.
Research institutions and scientific education institutions
For the search of German research institutions, such as topics or locations, we recommend using the German research directory "research Explorer"
Travel Info
To enter the People's Republic of China, you need to apply for a visa, which can be applied for 50 days before the planned entry at the earliest. The current application form and relevant information about the exact visa procedures can be found on the homepage of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China and the China Visa Application Service Center.
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NYU Shanghai Researcher Wins Grant from Joint Sino-German Research Program
Jan 14 2022
Published by NYU Shanghai
When you walk, how do you know how fast you are moving, or even whether you’re moving at all? And when you are moving, how can you tell when other objects in your environment are moving too?
Although perceiving motion is something that most people take for granted, it actually requires the processing of a great deal of visual and non-visual information, entailing complicated calculations by the brain. Now, a grant from the Joint Sino-German Research Program -- funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) -- will back Professor of Neural Science and Psychology Li Li and research partner Markus Lappe of the University of Münster’s investigation into the interaction between self-motion perception and moving object perception.
Their collaboration is one of 18 selected for the 2021 Joint Sino-German Research Program from among nearly 150 applicant projects spanning Chemistry, Life Sciences, Management Sciences, and Medicine. Research supported by the three-year 2 million RMB grant (direct cost) will begin formally this month.
Li and Lappe’s investigation will combine lab research with human subjects and advanced computational modelling to investigate two interacting but opposing questions that neuroscientists have long struggled to answer: How do the human brain and visual system combine visual and non-visual information to perceive self-motion in the presence of independent objects in motion? And when humans are in motion, how do they perceive the motion of other moving objects in their surroundings?
“Answers to these two questions are crucial to understanding key abilities for human survival, such as navigation and locomotion in different environments,” said Li. “Only one previously published paper has tried to address these two questions at the same time. Our research aims to dig deeply into how the brain integrates multi-modal information to simultaneously perceive both self-motion and independent object motion during the self-motion process.”
A sample of the visual displays that participants in the experiments see and then make a judgment about self-motion and independent object motion.
The lead investigators bring together a wealth of experience in different neuroscience research approaches, combining Li’s two decades of lab work in optic flow and human locomotion abilities with Lappe’s nearly three decades of experience in computational modeling of optic flow and motion perception, including virtual reality studies of visually guided walking.
“We need computational modeling to guide experimentation and advance experiment design, because the perception of self-motion is affected by many factors such as rotational and translational motion, the depth of the field, the velocity of object motion, non-visual information, etc.,” Li said. “Since these numerous parameters interact with each other in complex ways, computational modeling will help us identify these interactions, interpret experimental data, and find the best visual stimuli for specific research questions. On the other hand, the results of the experimental data are important to the advancement of computational modeling, in order to verify and improve the model’s accuracy and determine its parameters.”
The pair’s approach combines research techniques that span neuroscience, computer science and engineering. According to Li, that interdisciplinary approach mirrors the broad range of applications that their findings could impact, including technologies like computer vision, drone and self-driving vehicles, as well as flight simulators and other virtual reality occupational training programs.
Left: Li’s Perception and Visuomotor Control Lab; Right: Perception and Action Virtual Reality Lab at NYU Shanghai.
Computational modeling will be mainly carried out by the research team at the University of Münster in Germany, led by Lappe, while experiment data will primarily be collected in two laboratories managed by Li, the Perception and Action Virtual Reality Lab at NYU Shanghai and the Perception and Visuomotor Control Lab at the NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai. Li’s team will include NYU Shanghai Postdoctoral Fellow of Neuroscience Chen Jing, NYU Shanghai Ph.D. candidate in Neural Science ShanZhou Kuidong, and graduate students from the NYU Shanghai-ECNU Joint Graduate Training Program (NET) in Neural Science.
Both the Chinese and German labs have set up nearly parallel facilities so that all experimentation and computational modelling can be reviewed and honed simultaneously.
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Joint Sino-German Research Projects (DFG / NSFC)
In accordance with the agreement reached by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and endorsed by the Joint Committee of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (SGC), the SGC will continue to fund the Mobility Program in 2021.
I. Program Information
i. Subjects covered
All fields of natural sciences are covered, including but not limited to: life sciences, medical sciences, engineering sciences, and management sciences.
ii. Duration of funding
The funding period for mobility projects approved in this round will be three years from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025.
iii. Scale and value of funding
The number of mobility projects to be funded shall not exceed 50. The joint funding amount for each project will be not more than CNY 1.5 million (or equivalent sum of euros).
iv. Funding coverage
The Mobility Program will fund multiple visits by multiple scientists (young scientists are encouraged for single visit of no more than three months) from each side and small-scale workshops over a three-year period. The grant covers domestic and international travel expenses, catering and hotel accommodation costs, and conference room expenses. For funding requirements related to the Mobility Program, please refer to SGC’s funding rates for research visits and stays (see Attachment 1) and for workshops to be held in China and Germany. (see Attachment 2). If additional items that are not covered by these funding rates (e.g. expenses for scientific excursions, all visa-application related costs) are applied for, a separate detailed description of these fees is required.
II. Eligibility
Applicants must be researchers based at a Chinese or German university or research institution.
i. Applicants from China must be a project leader or major participant in a NSFC grant (ongoing or already completed) with a duration of at least three years, or have previously received funding from the Lindau Program of SGC. The Chinese applicant's support organization must have registered at the NSFC.
ii. Applicants from Germany must have a doctorate and be eligible to apply for funding from the DFG. In general, proposals may not be submitted by persons working at a for-profit institution, a government-run institution, or an institution that does not permit the immediate publication of research findings.
iii. Project leaders for ongoing or completed SGC projects with a duration of three years or more are not allowed to apply for this program as an applicant.
III. Project Restrictions
This program does not count toward the NSFC project restrictions.
IV. Submission Requirements
i. Requirements for the application form
The projects for the Mobility Program must address a specific topic and should bring together Chinese and German researchers who are particularly qualified in the relevant field. Applicants from China and Germany should jointly submit an application to SGC. The application should outline in detail the contribution of each participant and exchange plans for each year, including the length of visits, the names of visiting scientists, and the anticipated research contents for each visit. Applicants must also be entrusted to truthfully fill in the budget table. The Application Form for Mobility Program (see Attachment 3) must be written in English, and its format and the information provided must be in accordance with the English Guide to Mobility Program as provided in attachment 4. Please refer to the instructions for completing the Application Form for Mobility Program (see Attachment 5) for further details. Both applicants and all participants must include a short CV in the proposal application form.
ii. Precautions
1. Research involving humans and animals is subject to strict compliance with the relevant regulations and requirements for patient informed consent and related ethical issues.
2. The collection, management and exchange of data and related materials must strictly comply with the relevant laws and regulations of both countries.
iii. Attachment requirements
In addition to completing and submitting the application form, applicants must submit the following documents together as attachments.
1. Cooperation agreement (see Attachment 6 for a sample copy of the Mobility Program Collaboration Agreement). Chinese and German applicants must sign a Mobility Program Collaboration Agreement in which they reach a consensus on issues such as the collaboration content, exchange plan, and intellectual property. This agreement can be submitted after approval of the proposal.
2. For research involving humans and animals, both applicants must provide a certification of review by the ethics committee of their organizations or superior relevant authorities (The Chinese applicant must submit it for application and the German applicant can submit it after approval of the project).
iv. Submission deadline
Digital versions of the Application Form for Mobility Program and its attachments must be submitted via Email to [email protected] before 18:00 Beijing time on September 30, 2021. Any proposals which are submitted late will be declined. The digital version of the application form must be submitted in PDF format (converted from WORD format). The total size of all application materials must not exceed 15 MB. The materials should be named in the form specified in the instructions for completing the Application Form for Mobility Program (see Attachment 5).
Please note that after submission via email, three print copies of the application form and its attachments for each proposal must be signed by the Chinese and German applicants (electronic signature allowed for the German applicant), sealed by the Chinese applicant's support organization, and mailed to SGC before September 30, 2021 (subject to the postmark date; Address: Sino-German Center for Research Promotion, No. 83 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, 100085 Beijing).
V. Contacts
i. Contact person for Chinese applicants:
Phone: +86-10-82361301
Email: [email protected]
Shen Jiabin
Phone: +86-10-82361306
Email: [email protected]
ii. Contact person for German applicants:
Ms. Anne Münchau
(formal aspects of application and administration)
Phone: +49 228-885-4802
+86-10-82361314
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Ylva Schuberth
(programmatic and procedural matters)
Phone: +49 228-885-3137
Email: [email protected]
iii. If you require any technical support, please contact:
Phone: +86-10-82361303
Email: [email protected]
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Sino-German Center for Research Promotion
July 1, 2021
Attachment:
Criteria for Funding Research Visits to Between Chinese and German Science Centers
Criteria for Funding Bilateral Workshops
Proposal to the Sino-German Mobility Programme
Mobility Programme
Mobility 2021 – Supplementary Information for Applicants
Mobility Program Agreement
(Note: Content source is from NCSTI.)
Sino-German Centre for Water And healTh researCH (WATCH)
The Sino-German Centre for Water and Health Research (WATCH) shall expand the existing cooperation between RWTH Aachen University and the corresponding universities in China in order to create a facility at Sichuan University in Chengdu known worldwide in water and health research. By integrating research, education and industry, the partners will guarantee that this facility shall be self sustainable for the long term. WATCH is characterized by broadly based multidisciplinary fundamental and application-oriented research, since four different faculties of the RWTH Aachen University (engineering, natural sciences, economics, and medicine) are involved.
WATCH aims to develop innovative solutions for upcoming environmental challenges in both countries. The organizational structure of WATCH shall ensure that its research work remains independent and that it shall be co-financed by participating private companies if required. There is a great potential for applying results in practice since the industry has been strongly integrated into the research structure. Moreover, the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) welcomes and financially supports cooperation of research and industry in the field of water and health. Indeed, there is a great opportunity for the German industry because China requires innovative technologies readily available in Germany.
Part of the visible research platform WATCH is the development of an office infrastructure, which supports the further and new development of joint research approaches for the application of third-party funding projects by relevant funding agencies. WATCH will become a regular institution with Chinese posts in the consolidation phase.
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Research. Networking. Worldwide.
Open-topic Call on Joint Sino-German Research Projects
- http://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/internationaler_bezug/info_wissenschaft_16_68/index.html
- http://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/internationaler_bezug/info_wissenschaft_17_01/index.html
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) will launch their open-topic call for proposals on joint Sino-German research projects on 2 January 2017. The programme succeeds the former joint research projects funded by the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion.
The initiative aims to bring together relevant and competitive researchers from Germany and China to design and carry out jointly organised research projects. It will be open to joint projects in all fields of the natural, life, management and engineering sciences. Within a research project, contributions from Germany and China should be roughly balanced.
All applicants of a bilateral collaborative project within this call must submit their joint application to the respective national funding bodies (DFG and NSFC). All documents must be written in English. The submission deadline will be 6 April 2017 . The assessment of the proposals will be based on a peer review process; it will be completed by the end of 2017. The collaborative projects selected to take part in the initiative may start at the beginning of 2018. They will receive research funding for a period of up to three years.
Applicants to be funded by the DFG are requested to fulfil the eligibility requirements of DFG Research Grants, see the corresponding guidelines of the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01). Note, however, that the obligation to cooperate for scientists working at non-university research institutes in Germany is ineffective for this call; scientists working at non-university research institutes in Germany are eligible to apply. As part of the proposal, applicants from Germany may submit one or more of the modules outlined in the DFG guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01). Proposals to DFG within this call have to be prepared according to the Proposal Preparation Instructions (DFG form 54.01), and have to be submitted to the electronic proposal processing system (elan).
Applicants from China are kindly requested to conform to all the requirements listed in the Chinese call for proposals that will be published on the NSFC website.
Further Information
The DFG forms “Guidelines Research Grants Programme“ (50.01) and “Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals” (54.01) can be found at:
- www.dfg.de/formulare/50_01
- www.dfg.de/formulare/54_01
General information for German PIs on Research Grants:
- www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/programmes/individual/research_grants
Contact information for Germany:
Questions concerning joint Sino-German research projects may be addressed to:
- Dr. Wolfgang Wachter , phone +49 228 885-2454, wolfgang.wachter(at)dfg.de
- Claudia Bordach , phone +49 228 885-2542, claudia.bordach(at)dfg.de
Questions concerning general issues of international cooperation and strategic issues of Sino-German cooperation may be addressed to:
- Dr. Ingrid Krüßmann , phone +49 228 885-2786, ingrid.kruessmann(at)dfg.de
Contact information for China:
- FAN Yingjie, phone +86 10 6232-5309, fanyj(at)nsfc.gov.cn
For the initiation of collaborations between Germany and China through joint symposia, joint workshops, cooperation groups, research visits and further funding programmes, please refer to the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion:
- www.sinogermanscience.org.cn/de
Contact information for researchers in Germany:
- ZHAO Miaogen, phone +86 10 8236-1308, +49 228 885-4801, zhao(at)sinogermanscience.org.cn
- Raoul Wagner , phone +86 10 8236-1311, +49 228 885-4808, wagner(at)sinogermanscience.org.cn
- Anne Münchau , phone +86 10 8236-1314, +49 228 885-4802, muenchau(at)sinogermanscience.org.cn
Contact information for researchers in China:
- CHEN Lesheng, phone +86 10 8236-0039, chenlesheng(at)sinogermanscience.org.cn
- SHI Xiaoyi, phone +86 10 8236-1304, shixy(at)sinogermanscience.org.cn
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