Program-Oriented Funding

Our mission is to find solutions to the major challenges of our time through cutting-edge research. Program-oriented funding (PoF) makes this possible.

Helmholtz provides research-driven solutions to the major challenges of our time, such as the energy system of the future, climate change, widespread diseases, and quantum technologies. Our 18 research centers combine their expertise in long-term, cross-center programs. Program-Oriented Funding (PoF) enables us to address complex issues jointly and systematically.

Funding strategically oriented, long-term programs ensures that complex issues are addressed by experts from a variety of disciplines at Helmholtz. Rather than providing blanket funding to individual centers, PoF unites centers with their various areas of expertise, creating synergies and leveraging the strengths of the centers. Leading international scientists regularly evaluate the programs and their results.

Through this strategic process, the centers further develop their unique research infrastructures. A core element of Helmholtz is developing and operating these complex research facilities for the international scientific community. These facilities include accelerators, experimental facilities, research vessels, and high-performance computers, and they form a crucial basis for scientific progress in overcoming the global challenges of our time.

Thanks to program-oriented funding, we can dynamically respond to evolving major challenges. This establishes us as a strong player in the national and international research landscape and an attractive partner for global collaborations. One example is the international MOSAiC expedition, which was coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research. This expedition included researchers from over 80 institutions in 20 countries who aimed to understand the complex climate processes of the central Arctic, improve their representation in global climate models, and ultimately, improve climate forecasts.

Strategy and evaluation process

Program-oriented funding is more than just a financing model; it is the strategic framework for our research. It establishes priorities for Helmholtz research and financing over a program period. Funds are allocated competitively according to scientific and strategic criteria. These criteria are based on the evaluation of newly adjusted programs by international review panels. This process enables us to strengthen strategic priorities, reward excellence, identify potential, and promote scientific cooperation.

The review is a two-stage process. First, the centers undergo a scientific review. The second stage involves a strategic evaluation of future programs at the research field level.

The scientific review focuses on the quality of the research conducted by individual centers and how they interact within overarching programs. Scientific reviews for the current program period took place in the first half of 2025. During on-site reviews that lasted several days, over 600 reviewers from 28 countries evaluated the centers' activities in 32 procedures. The reviewers focused on scientific achievements, impact, originality, innovation potential, and international competitiveness.

The strategic evaluation focuses on program proposals for the next funding period (2028–2035), which are based on research policy objectives and incorporate recommendations from the scientific evaluation. In each research area, a group of experts evaluates programs based on their objectives, scientific competence, and implementation strategy. The chairs of the expert groups involved in the scientific review participate in this process, ensuring the link between the two stages.

Based on these reviews, the Helmholtz Senate makes recommendations to the federal and state governments regarding the amount and distribution of funding for research programs. These recommendations also result in suggestions for further developing the programs and research areas.

Through this combination of quality assurance and forward-looking review, Helmholtz becomes a leader in international cutting-edge research while remaining deeply rooted in its societal mission.

The PoF at a glance

Dr. Sören Wiesenfeldt

Head of Department Research
Helmholtz Association

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