Our Funding Portfolio
The Volkswagen Foundation is dedicated to the support of the humanities and social sciences as well as science and technology in higher education and research. It funds research projects in path-breaking areas and provides assistance to academic institutions for the improvement of the structural conditions for their work.
Funding portfolio
We focus our funding activities on selected initiatives. By means of these initiatives, we endeavor to provide effective stimuli for research and to establish forward-looking topics.
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Open Up – New Research Spaces for the Humanities and Cultural Studies
The funding initiative addresses teams of two or three researchers who aim to explore new and original research spaces.
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area of research: humanities and cultural studies, theoretical social sciences
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type of funding: research projects; funding of a teaching substitute
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Opus Magnum
The funding offer is aimed at outstanding professors from the humanities and social sciences.
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area of research: humanities, cultural studies and social sciences
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type of funding: funding of a substitute professorship
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Perspectives on Wealth: Repercussions of Wealth
The call is aimed at (inter-)national research consortia, collaborations with partners from LMICs are preferable, transdisciplinary consortia possible.
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area of research: Humanities, cultural and social sciences, economics (lead); cooperations with natural, life, data and technical science possible
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type of funding: (inter-)national cooperation projects with up to five partners
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Pioneer Projects – Impetus for the German Research System
The funding offer addresses active researchers who, in addition to their research activities, would like to explore a project idea for the further development (of a specific area) of the German research system, as well as academic administrators at universities and research institutions in Germany.
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area of research: all disciplines
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up to 500,000 Euro
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Pioneering Research – Exploring the Unknown Unknown
The funding offer addresses outstanding post-doctoral researchers and professors universities and research institutes in Germany, international cooperation partners are possible.
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area of research: all disciplines
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up to 500,000 Euro
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Researching Research: Collaborative Research Projects
The funding scheme is aimed at scientists and scholars of all career stages from postdoc onwards who work on issues related to research on research. The Foundation promotes interdisciplinary, multi-method and internationally oriented research projects.
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area of research: disciplines conducting research on research
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type of funding: research projects
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Researching Research: Summer Schools & Workshops
The program addresses scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds working on questions or topics relating to research on research.
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area of research: disciplines conducting research on research
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type of funding: summer schools and workshops
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Scoping Workshops
The Volkswagen Foundation’s scoping workshops are for scientists who want to take a step beyond their current research activities and think about the future of their field of research.
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area of research: all disciplines
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type of funding: workshops at the conference center Xplanatorium Herrenhausen Palace, Hannover
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