Nationwide funding.
The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation’s funding programmes for junior group leaders in Germany conducting basic research in biology, chemistry, and medicine are intended as springboards to the next level. The Perspectives Programme Plus 3 offers financial support of up to 900,000 euros over 3 years to develop one's scientific profile further and thus achieve a professorship in an optimal research environment. Our Exploration Grants offer the freedom to investigate intriguing ideas and test new lines of research with minimal bureaucracy, and thus, for example, to conduct the preparatory work necessary for research proposals to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) or the European Research Council (ERC). From 2010-2020, the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation approved a total of some 25 million euros of funding within the Plus 3 and Exploration Grants programmes.
The new programme Rise up! provides seed funding for newly appointed W2 professors of up to 600,000 euros for 3 years. Innovative and potentially transformative research programmes can thus gain traction.
In 2021, the Imaging Centre at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg opened. This unique one-stop centre for all microscopy needs offers scientists from all over the world access to and training on the most advanced light and electron microscopes. The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation donates 5 million euros primarily toward the centre's operations, in particular to training scientists in the use of the highly complex microscopes, and to supporting their research with them.
In all programmes, funding is only granted when the criteria of scientific excellence are met.