Center for Research Strategy and Support

Advanced Clinician Scientist Programme of the Medical Faculty (CASCADE 2.0)

The University Medicine needs Clinician Scientists

Current call for proposals

dated November 10, 2025 for the 2026/29 funding period

Application deadline: January 7, 2026
Planned start of funding: May 1, 2026

General conditions

To the application portal

The application procedure is structured in 2 stages. After reviewing the written applications (stage 1), the Clinician/Medical Scientist Board will decide which applicants will be invited to present their project (stage 2). This presentation round is expected to take place in mid-March 2026. Once a date has been set, it will be announced here.

Applications can now be submitted for project-related individual funding as part of the Advanced Clinician Scientist Programme (exemption positions).

The programme is aimed at medical specialists with a doctorate who are conducting research and is ideally used following a Basic Clinician Scientist Programme. Medical specialists without significant Clinician Scientist experience should preferably apply to the Basic Clinician Scientist Programme (CASCADE 1.0).

The Medical Faculty can (proportionally) fund up to three positions in the current call for applications.

The Advanced Clinician Scientist Programme is advertised for three years with an interim evaluation at the end of the second year.

The leave of absence amounts to 50% over three years (flexible distribution over the three years is possible). The Medical Faculty finances the research part of the Clinician Scientist position (50%), the clinical part (50%) must be financed by the respective institution or externally.

In addition to starting in the first year, lateral entry is also possible in the second or third year. The prerequisite for this is an average of 50% leave of absence in the previous years.

Documents/Forms for downloading (in German only)

The interim evaluation takes place in the 2nd CSP year. For this purpose, the Clinician Scientist submits his/her interim report to the Coordination Office at least 3 months before the end of the 2nd CSP year. The evaluation is carried out by the Clinician/Medical Scientist Board. The interim report should be based on the milestone plan/career development plan originally submitted and prepared together with the mentors. Any deviation from the original milestone plan/career development plan should be conclusively justified. Ideally, the clinician scientist should contact the coordination office in good time (approx. 4 - 5 months before the end of the 2nd CSP year) in order to discuss/plan the course of the interim evaluation. If time permits, the interim evaluation can be extended so that the clinician scientist presents his/her project at the CSP/MSP retreat, ideally in the presence of the mentors.

Interim reports from the 2026/2029 funding period onwards will be submitted via the Faculty of Medicine's application portal.

CSP participants are required to submit a final report (using the form provided) to the Center for Research Strategy and Support via e-mail to Dr. Lysann Palkowitsch within six months after the end of the funding.

Final reports from the 2026/2029 funding period onwards will be submitted via the application portal of the Medical Faculty.

Clinician Scientist Netzwerk Baden-Württemberg

Netzwerk der Baden-Württemberger Clinician Scientist Programme Sonderlinie Hochschulmedizin (gem. Hochschulfinanzierungsvereinbarung, HoFV II)

Das Clinician Scientist Baden-Württemberg Netzwerk verbindet die medizinischen Fakultäten Freiburg, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Tübingen und Ulm sowie das DKFZ. Das Netzwerk unterstützt Clinician Scientists aller Partnerinstitutionen und hat das gemeinsame Ziel, die translationale Medizin durch eine enge Zusammenarbeit zwischen Klinik und Forschung zu fördern. Die Clinician Scientists aller Einrichtungen treffen sich jährlich zum Clinician Scientist Baden-Württemberg Networking Event, dieses Jahr am 4. Juli 2025 in Ulm.

Weiterführende Informationen

3. Baden Württemberg Clinician Scientist Netzwerktreffen am 21.06.2024 am DKFZ in Heidelberg
click here for the flyer (german only)
Contact

Dr. Lysann Palkowitsch

Center for Research Strategy and Support
Ulm University
Helmholtzstr. 22 / room 1.49
89081 Ulm, Germany

Phone: +49 (0)731/50-33634

CSP platform

A shared, protected folder is available in the kiz CloudStore for mutual exchange and networking among the Clinician Scientists. This folder is only accessible to Clinician Scientists within the CSP. The kiz-Account is required for registration. The seminar schedule of the CSP seminar series can also be found here.