Funding of projects on the topic "Investigation of high-risk ideas in the field of materials and materials science research" (Experiment!Material)

The funding program “Experiment!Material” of the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space is aimed at universities as well as non-university research and scientific institutions throughout Germany. It supports particularly high-risk and exploratory projects in materials and material science research with a non-repayable grant of up to 100 percent of eligible expenses. The goal is to enable original, scientifically grounded ideas at an early pre-competitive stage and to provide initial feasibility proofs for unconventional hypotheses, methods, or technologies. The project duration is a maximum of 18 months; flat-rate funding for non-economic research projects is additionally provided to open new avenues in process and material development. Project outlines can be submitted on the annual deadlines (e.g., November 1, 2025, and June 1, 2026), with late submissions being considered for the next deadline.

Applications must be submitted by the principal investigator of the respective institution and are subject to the guidelines for grant applications based on expenditures (AZA/AZAP/AZV). A key requirement is the separation of economic and non-economic activities to exclude cross-subsidization. The project management agency Jülich oversees the process from outline submission through peer review to disbursement. “Experiment!Material” deliberately promotes unconventional approaches to enable technological breakthroughs and to unlock long-term innovation potential for research, industry, and society. The call remains open until June 1, 2026; for submissions after this date, the next deadline applies. Further details on the funding guidelines and application procedure can be found in the official announcement.