A fellowship designed to increase the value of the global
geothermal data for improved model and project development.

2027 call: One heatflow.fellowship is available. Application deadline: 1 September 2026. The 2027 fellowship will primarily support the Global Thermal Property Compilation Project and the development of the Global Thermal Rock Property Database (GTRPD)

What are the fellowships? The heatflow.fellowships are travel grants awarded to PhD. students, postdoctoral and senior researchers from all over the world. The fellowships are intended to improve the collaboration among heat-flow-related scientists and to foster our community and its collaborative networks. During the fellowships, scientists will spend their time actively assessing and extending the geothermal databases of the IHFC, e.g. IHFC Global Heat Flow Database and IHFC Global Thermal Property Database, currently consisting of more than 5,000 publications. Particular attention is given to scientific and geographical gaps in the IHFC databases and to current IHFC community projects. The grant contributes to the expenses for travel, lodging, and living expenses for usually three (sometimes up to six) months at international institutes working on heat-flow-related research, or collaborating with industry partners. This is an excellent opportunity to get synergies between academia and industry about getting high-quality geothermal data used for different applications.

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What we offer

• The travel grants:
  • are awarded for research stays at different hosting institutions for usually three to six months.
  • contribute to the expenses for travel to and from your destination, lodging (student housing, shared flat, etc), and partly living expenses (200 €).
• The costs of your travel will be reimbursed during your fellowship. The level of reimbursed costs is capped depending on the country of the selected hosting institute. Please, contact the respective host scientists for an appropriate budget plan.
• The travel grants do not cover costs for local travel during the stay, visa, or insurance, since we expect your home institution to continue to pay your salary.
• For doctoral students and postdoc applicants from countries with comparable low incomes, additional funds for living costs may be granted. Please refer to FAQs for more information.

Who can apply

• Applicants for the heatflow.fellowships must be experienced in heat-flow related projects. We fund seniors, postdocs and PhD. students during their doctoral thesis. Please, read the F.A.Q. or contact us.

How we decide Candidates to the heatflow.fellowships are selected by two criteria:

1. Applicant's achievements to date
2. Impact of the proposed work on the IHFC global geothermal databases and associated community projects, with particular emphasis in the 2027 call on the Global Thermal Property Compilation Project.

For the 2027 fellowship, scientific and practical contribution to the Global Thermal Property Compilation Project and the development of the GTRPD may be in the focus, including literature screening, data extraction, review and correction, metadata/quality assessment, and possibly development/testing of the database structure. Once the application is received, it is carefully examined by our staff. They check whether it fulfills the formal requirements and evaluate it according to the criteria listed above. The entire selection process takes about six weeks. We will inform the applicant immediately about our decision.

Who are the hosting institutions

Fellows

Current and past fellows

How to apply The application for a travel grant consists of two parts:

• Let us know who you are:
  1. provide a motivation letter, list at least two preferred host institutions with a hosting period
  2. your CV (not more than one page),
  3. a list of your publications/contributions (not more than one page),
  4. a reference letter (required for PhD students only)
• Let us know what you want to achieve: provide a one-page proposal on the expected work, including your travel budget.

Your application must be written in English. The submission deadline for the upcomming year is the 01^st of September.

Apply now!

FAQ

Which nationalities are supported? We support researchers from across the world. However, since the grants are provided under EU law, there are currently limitations to colleagues from a number of countries. Please, check the EU sanction list. If you are unsure whether you are eligible to apply, please contact us.

Can a travel grant be used across the world? Yes. You can select one of the listed hosting locations and heat-flow research institutions.

How often does the heatflow.fellowship grant the same researcher? You may be awarded more than one travel grant.

Is there an application deadline? Applications for travel grants may be submitted once a year. The submission deadline for the upcoming year is the 1st of September.

What is the procedure if the departure is postponed? Please, send an email to fellowship@ihfc-iugg.org informing us why the trip has to be postponed, and giving the new departure date.

Can I apply for additional funds if I work in a country with low income? Yes, you can apply for an additional 200 euros per month for living costs. Please use the letter to specify this and add these funds to the total amount you are applying for.

When and how is the money transferred? Upon approval of the travel grant, we will contact you with detailed information. Usually, the grants are awarded as a reimbursement earliest to the beginning of the fellowship.

Does a fellow need a Euro currency bank account in her/his country to refund of travel grant? No, a Euro currency bank account is not required. However, the overall reimbursement will be processed in Euro and then transfered to the fellows account.

Are the accommodation costs paid directly by the fellows? No, the accommodation costs are paid by the GFZ Potsdam. This is independent of where the fellows are hosted. Fellows are in charge for organising the accomodation (with the help of the hosting scientists). Independently of the actual hosting institute, each fellow requires the status of a guest researcher at GFZ Potsdam to allow the GFZ to process the payments. The GFZ Potsdam (as entinity who is doing the financial transactions for the IHFC) must be named in the renting contract for the accomodation! Please make sure that the invoice/contract for the fellow’s accommodation is issued to the GFZ. Please use the following information: GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences Scientist’s name Telegrafenberg 14473, Potsdam, Germany

Please, ensure also, that the invoice considers, if applicable:

1. Complete name and complete address of the performing company
2. Tax number or value-added tax identification number of the performing company
3. Issuance date
4. Invoice number
5. Amount and type of the delivered items or extent and type of other performance
6. Time of renting
7. The charges, broken down by tax rates
8. The tax rate to be applied, as well as the amount of tax due on the charges

When can a fellow get payment for the living expenses? At the end of each month or at the end of her/his visit Independent of the hosting institutions, the GFZ is processing the reimbursements. The payment will be ususally proceeded toward the end of the fellowships. However, if an intermediate payment is urgently required, please contact the GFZ members.