The DAAD AInet Fellowship is awarded twice a year to a group of outstanding international early career researchers in the field of artificial intelligence. Awardees will be invited to join the Postdoctoral Networking Tour in Artificial Intelligence (Postdoc-NeT-AI), a two-step networking program that offers participants the opportunity to interact face-to-face with leading researchers in Germany, with the aim of initiating collaborations, and creating new research and career opportunities. Additionally, awardees are included in the DAAD AInet Fellows & Alumni Network, offering long-term access to German AI research, and bringing together bright researchers from all around the world.

The Virtual Networking Week

The first part of the program is the Virtual Networking Week. During this week, the host scientists will present their research, as well as their research group, their home institution, and the opportunities for cooperation. They will invite participants to one-to-one meetings to deepen the exchange and to plan future collaboration. Networking within the group of scholars will be just as profitable and will provide new ideas and connections.

One-week travel stipends

The second element of Postdoc-NeT-AI comprises the funding of an individual one-week trip to Germany (extendable by one week at the participant’s own expense). Every participant can use this stay in Germany to follow up on the virtual networking week and visit institutions and individual researchers to deepen the contacts and develop a tangible basis for future cooperation.

Short-term research funding

Postdoc-NeT-AI fellows can also apply for an exclusive short-term research funding which allows them to conduct a research project with a German host institution for a duration between one and three months. Participants will receive information on how to apply for a funding during the virtual networking week.

The upcoming networking tour is focused on:

Explainable AI

The Virtual Networking Week will take place from November 17 - 21, 2025.

The planning process is ongoing, and a considerable number of scientists/institutions cover the whole spectrum from basic to applied research to industrial application has already confirmed their participation. 

Are you interested to meet these scientists and to learn more about the German AI research landscape?

The application deadline for the current call was on September 23rd, 10:00 a.m. CEST (UTC +2). 

These institutions have already confirmed their participation. The list we be updated continuously:

• University of Bonn (link) (link)
• University of Cologne (link)
• University of Göttingen (link)
• Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (link)
• University of Hamburg (link)
• Heidelberg University (link) (link)
• University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) (link)
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (link)
• University of Mannheim (link)
• University of Marburg (link)
• Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (link)
• Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) (link)
• University of Münster (link)
• Hasso Plattner Institute (link)
• Saarland University (link)
• Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (link)
• CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security (link)
• University of Siegen (link)
• Ulm University (link)