The Research Units of the German Research Foundation (DFG) bring together a number of outstanding scientists to work together on one research topic exclusively. These groups are able to devote substantially more time and financial resources to their projects across a broader range of topics than is normally the case with individual research projects funded by the DFG. The Research Units are usually funded for a period of more than six years, and often play a key role in establishing new directions in research.
"Centres for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences are a special type of funding instrument specifically tailored to the working methods used in these particular fields. They may achieve their specific profiles and attractiveness by, in particular, deliberately adopting comparatively open-ended approaches or a decidedly experimental character. The funding period is up to eight years ."
Spokespersons: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Jäger, Department of Linguistics, and Prof. Dr. Katerina Harvati, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment