50 new grants for talented students
Identifying and supporting academic talent at an early stage: Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft is awarding 50 new Student Grants to talented students in the final phase of their studies. Starting on 1 October 2026, the grant recipients will receive €1,000 per month for one year. They are enrolled at 27 universities across Germany, with particularly strong representation from the natural sciences and biomedical disciplines. The students were nominated by the spokespersons of Clusters of Excellence at German universities.
“With the Student Grants, we deliberately provide support at an early stage,” says Peter-André Alt, Spokesperson of the Executive Management of Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft. “We want to give students who are passionate about research the opportunity to deepen their scientific interests and explore prospects for a career in research.”
The program focuses primarily on research-oriented degree courses. Of the recipients, 42 are pursuing a Master of Science, five a Master of Arts, and three a Bachelor of Science. The natural sciences, medicine and technology are particularly well represented, including physics, quantum science, chemistry, biochemistry, neuroscience, molecular biology, mathematics, machine learning, and climate and environmental sciences. Other fields include economics, political science, the humanities, architecture and engineering.
The 50 grants are distributed across 27 universities. Four recipients each are enrolled at Freie Universität Berlin, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the Technical University of Munich, and the University of Hamburg. Three recipients each are studying at the University of Tübingen and the University of Cologne. The cohort is international: around one third of the grant recipients hold a nationality other than German, with twelve nationalities represented in total.
The grant gives recipients the freedom they need to focus fully on completing their degrees and pursuing their first independent research projects. The financial support is complemented by a non-financial development program. Through workshops, students deepen their academic knowledge and strengthen their communication and presentation skills. They also gain insights into career paths and the challenges of working in academia.
Including the current funding round, the Foundation has awarded a total of 187 Student Grants since it was established in 2023. Former grant recipients have since continued their academic careers in areas including doctoral research and positions at research institutions. The Foundation features examples here. Its Instagram channel, @curiousm.inds, also provides insights into the work and career paths of current and former grant recipients.
About the foundation
Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft is a private grant-making foundation based in Berlin. It strengthens Germany as a center for science and research by supporting outstanding researchers at different stages of their careers.