Guidelines for the Promotion of Scientific "Early Career Groups Global Change: Innovative Methods in Climate Modeling"

The guideline "Junior Research Groups Global Change: Innovative Methods in Climate Modeling" of the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Spaceflight (BMFTR) is aimed at German universities and public research institutions. The objective is the targeted support of independently led junior research groups developing novel AI-supported approaches to climate modeling. Grants are intended to support promising project proposals in English, which must be submitted by 15.03.2026 via the electronic application system easy-Online. The two-stage procedure begins with the submission of a proposal (Stage 1), based on which the invited teams prepare a formal funding application (Stage 2). This promotes methods that deepen the understanding of Earth system components and their interactions and can significantly increase modeling efficiency.

With this funding measure, the BMFTR pursues the overarching goal of securing German excellence in climate research and complementing Germany’s High-Tech Agenda with pioneering data science approaches. Early-career researchers are given the opportunity to implement AI-based methods that require significantly less computational power compared to conventional numerical models while offering comparable or better forecasting accuracy. Ideas that innovatively link both systemic understanding and the processing of large data volumes are supported. Interested groups must submit a project proposal as well as a comprehensive funding application, thereby making a decisive contribution to the climate modeling of the future.