In 2023, the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) established the Priority Programme “Combinatorial Synergies” (SPP 2458). The programme is designed to run for six years.  The present call invites proposals for the second three-year funding period.

Combinatorics is the study of finite and discrete structures. Starting from fundamental questions of ordering, decomposing and structuring finitely many objects or states, combinatorics has evolved into a nanotechnology of mathematics and its applications. Due to its interdisciplinarity, it is a highly interactive core mathematical area. Research questions are unified, and structurally related approaches are developed into unifying theories with intrinsic questions and methods.

During the first funding period, the DFG Priority Programme “Combinatorial Synergies” has established itself as a new and internationally visible combinatorics network in Germany. Through targeted funding of projects and activities, such as workshops, Mercator Fellowships and Dive into Research formats, the SPP Combinatorial Synergies facilitated substantial and innovative mathematical research within and across the thematic areas described below.

In the upcoming second funding period, the individual projects in the Priority Programme concern combinatorial synergies in themes ranging from fundamental mathematical research to applications. The programme will continue to revolve around the following nine themes: 

• enumeration 

• Dynkin classification

• commutative algebra 

• matroids 

• convexity

• lattice points

• statistics

• non-linear optimisation 

• mathematical physics 

Extremal combinatorics, additive combinatorics and related themes are not central to this Priority Programme

A further overarching goal of the programme has been to guide the transformation of mathematical research fuelled by the availability of data and computational resources. The SPP Combinatorial Synergies encourages and supports the use of state-of-the-art computational methods, ranging from mathematical software and databases to statistical and machine-learning techniques, AI agents and formalisation, all under the FAIR principles. Proposals are strongly encouraged to outline how synergies created by the interaction between human mathematical insight and AI-supported methods can advance their scientific goals.

Please submit your proposal to the DFG by 30 November 2026. Proposals are to be submitted solely via the elan portal(externer Link), the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system, in order to ensure proposal-related data is recorded and documents are securely transmitted.

Applicants who already receive funding under this Priority Programme and intend to submit a proposal for the renewal of their existing project need to use “Proposal Submission – Proposal Overview/Renewal Proposal” in elan. Here, the currently funded project is visible and should be selected for submission of the renewal proposal.

If you wish to submit a proposal for a new project within the existing Priority Programme, please go to Proposal Submission – New Project – Priority Programmes and select “SPP 2458” from the current list of calls.

If this is the first time you are submitting a proposal to the DFG, please note that you must register in elan before you can submit your proposal. You must do so by 16 November 2026. Select “SPP 2458” during the registration process. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day.

When preparing your proposal, please note the Guidelines Priority Programme (DFG form 50.05(interner Link), section B “Individual Projects within Existing Priority Programmes”) and the Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals (DFG form 54.01(interner Link)). These forms are available on the DFG website and through the elan portal.

The review panel for the Priority Programme will convene online without involvement of the applicants.

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice(externer Link) in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Portal(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office. 

Detailed information on the Priority Programme’s scientific content and activities is available at www.combinatorial-synergies.de(externer Link)

When submitting a proposal, please use the elan portal(externer Link) and refer to the Guidelines Priority Programme (DFG form 50.05(interner Link), section B “Individual Projects within Existing Priority Programmes”), and the Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals (DFG form 54.01(interner Link)). The FAQ about preparing a proposal(interner Link) may also be helpful.

For enquiries about the scientific aims of the Priority Programme, please contact the Priority Programme coordinator:

Professor Dr. Christian Stump(externer Link), Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Tel. +49 234 32-22291

Programme contact: Dr. Carsten Balleier(externer Link), Tel. +49 228 885-2063

Administrative contact: Luka Madunic(externer Link), Tel. +49 228 885-2883

We, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), take the protection of your personal data and its confidential treatment extremely seriously. Therefore, please refer to the DFG’s Privacy Policy(interner Link). If you intend to transmit personal data of third parties, please make sure to do so only if the necessary legitimation under data protection law exist. Before transmitting data of third parties to the DFG, please forward the DFG’s Data Protection Notice to the individuals affected (data subjects). If there is a legitimate interest not to inform individuals beforehand (e.g. for reasons of secrecy or in case of a nomination or candidate proposal), these individuals should be informed no later than at the time of publication.