Competition for these programmes is high. Priority Programmes are operated through calls for proposals, with all applications subject to open panel review, usually after discussion with the applicants. DFG has run several transnational Priority Programmes in cooperation with partner organizations in Austria, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In addition, Priority Programmes may be set up as part of international ventures such as the Ocean Drilling Program or the International Continental Drilling Program. This programme, terminating in the year 2002, favours cooperation of universities with partners in independent research institutions including the private sector, as well as international cooperation.
Applications have to be formally filed by the universities.
The programme has been operating since 1968 and contributed significantly to sharpening the research profile of those universities successful in constituting highly qualified, cooperating research communities in their midst. Graduate Colleges Operating since 1990, the programme of Graduate Colleges has soon become one of the most competitive funding modes available in the DFG environment. Graduate students supported by the Graduate Colleges, who are autonomous in their selection of candidates, may be German of foreign nationals. The maximum funding period for a Graduate College has been set at nine years. The programme aims, inter alia, at shortening the average time to doctorate to three years after the first degree.