Funding
Who is financing our research?
As a research group at a publicly financed University we take part in public debates with our expertise. Independence, impartiality and the constitutionally mandated freedom of research and teaching are prerequisites for this role of ours. This page provides information on who is financing our research.
Personal Income
Felix Wichmann is a full-time tenured public servant of the state of Baden-Württemberg. He does not receive any income or other financial contributions from any cooperation, business or for profit organisation.
Financing of our Chair’s research
Research costs money: To stay internationally competitive for the best ideas and brightest minds we retain significant technical infrastructure. The largest budget item, however, are the salaries of postdocs and doctoral students (which, in the German academic system, are employees). Attracting and ensuring the necessary funding is one task of the Chair. The Wichmann-lab was involved in the acquisition of the following small and large-scale grants, and its research has received financial support from the following funding agencies, either through grants or ad-hominem scholarships. We thank all of the listed institutions for their trust and generosity. By the way: Research funding is not payed directly to the Professor, but managed for us by the central financial administration of the University.
Base Funding
2011-today
The State Ministry of Research and Arts of Baden-Württemberg provides us with an endowment. This includes investment funds, running expenses and the salaries of several research associates and the secretary.
Funding of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
2021-2024
DFG Project SFB1233, Teilprojekt 4, Causal inference strategies in human vision with Prof. Bethge and Prof. Schölkopf
2021-2023
PI in SP3 of the Network Project “Compositionality in Minds and Machines” within the Cluster of Excellence EXC 2064: Machine Learning: New Perspectives for Science of the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and the MPI für Intelligente Systeme.
2020-2023
Innovation Fund Project within the Cluster of Excellence EXC 2064: Machine Learning: New Perspectives for Science of the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and the MPI für Intelligente Systeme.
2019-2024
PI of the Cluster of Excellence EXC 2064: Machine Learning: New Perspectives for Science of the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and the MPI für Intelligente Systeme.
2018-2019
DFG Project WI2103/4-3, Die Integration von früher Sehverarbeitung, Salienzmodellen und Blicksteuerung: Experimente, Modellierung und räumliche Statistik with Prof. Engbert
2017-2020
DFG Project SFB1233, Teilprojekt 6, Top-down control of visual inference in sensory representations in early visual cortex with Dr. Nienborg and Dr. Macke
2017-2020
DFG Project SFB1233, Teilprojekt 4, Causal inference strategies in human vision with Prof. Schölkopf
2017-2020
Principal Investigator of the DFG SFB 1233 Robust Vision
2014-2017
DFG Project WI2103/4-1, Die Integration von früher Sehverarbeitung, Salienzmodellen und Blicksteuerung: Experimente, Modellierung und räumliche Statistik with Prof. Engbert
2010-2012
Principal Investigator of the DFG GRK 1598 Sensory Computation in Neural Systems
2009-2012
DFG Project FR2854/1-1, Untersuchung der Variabilität von Wahrnehmungsprozessen durch Kombination von Signalentdeckungstheorie und Redaktionszeit with Dr. Fründ
2003-2006
DFG Project WI2103/1, Wahrnehmung natürlicher Szenen with Prof. Gegenfurtner
Federal Funding
2017-2020
Member of the IKT 2020 "Graduate Training Center Machine Learning” in Tübingen funded by the BMBF.
2011-2015
Principal Investigator of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Tübingen, Project Neural Information Processing, BMBF Förderkennzeichen 01 GQ 1002A.
2010-2015
Principal Investigator of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin. Project B3 Perceptual Stability in the Face of Input Variability: Machine Learning of Critical Features with Prof. Engbert, BMBF Förderkennzeichen 01 GQ 1001B
2008-2013
Principal Investigator of the Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology Berlin. Project A4 Rapid brain-guided recognition of objects in broadband sensor data with Prof. Obermayer and Dr. Lüschow, BMBF Förderkennzeichen 01 GQ 0850
2007-2012
Principal Investigator of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin. Project A6 Modelling of Cognitive Processes, BMBF Förderkennzeichen 01 GQ 0414
Miscellaneous Funding Sources
2018-2019
SMARTSTART 2, Joint Training Program in Computational Neuroscience, funded by the Bernstein Network as well as the Volkswagen Stiftung and awarded to Jan Lause.
2018-2019
Promotionsstipendium nach dem Landesgraduiertenförderungsgesetz (LGFG) awarded to Bernhard Lang
2018
Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience (GTC) / International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience. Bridging fund for a doctoral position at the GTC Tübingen awarded to Bernhard Lang
2017-2023
Faculty Member of the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Intelligent Systems. The IMPRS is run by the Max-Planck-Institut for Intelligente Systems together with the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen as well as the Universität Stuttgart
2016-2017
Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience (GTC) / International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience. Bridging fund for a doctoral position at the GTC Tübingen awarded to Johanna Salu.
2016
Investitions- und Infrastrukturfonds of the Universität Tübingen for a number of GPU compute servers with Prof.’s Bringmann, Butz, Grust, Lensch, Schilling and Zell.
2013-2015
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Postdoctoral research stipend awarded to Dr. Tom Wallis
2000-2001
Fund for Scientific-Research-Flanders (FWO) Visiting Fellowship
1998-2001
Fellowship by Examination, Magdalen College, Oxford
1994-1998
Wellcome Trust Mathematical Biology Studentship
1994-1997
Jubilee Scholarship, St. Hugh's College, Oxford
1992-1997
Scholar of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
1992-1994
Scholar of University College, Oxford