Funding through National Foundations
Funding through National Foundations
Funding through National Foundations
Over 430 foundations place their trust in the foundation centre of the Stifterverband (German Donors’ Association) for science. Numerous foundations are committed to promoting research nationwide. Here are some of the major national foundations.
VolkswagenFoundation
The Volkswagen Foundation promotes science and technology in research and teaching. Looking to future-oriented research areas, it develops specific funding initiatives, which form the framework of its funding activities. The focus is particularly on funding junior researchers as well as the collaboration among international researchers. Another main focus of the Foundation is the improvement of education and research structures in Germany.
Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes academic cooperation between excellent academics from Germany and abroad. The Foundation offers a variety of fellowship programmes and awards for postdocs, experienced academics and top researchers.
The Humboldt Foundation’s fellowship programmes enable exceptional researchers from Germany to conduct research with members of the Humboldt Network (of whom there are 30,000!) around the world.
As hosts, researchers at German universities can invite their international cooperation partners to come to their institution to cooperate on a research project via a Humboldt Fellowship or a Humboldt Award.
Excellent researchers from abroad can use the Humboldt Foundation's Research Fellowships and Research Awards to come to Germany to carry out a research project of their own choice with a host and cooperation partner at German universities.
- The Humboldt Research Fellowship enables postdocs and experienced researchers with above-average qualifications from all countries and disciplines to spend six to 24 months conducting research at a German host institution.
- The Georg Forster‐Research Award is presented to postdocs and experienced researchers with above-average qualifications from developing and transition countries (except the People’s Republic of China and India) for a research stay at a German host university.
Other Humboldt Foundation programmes and awards can be found here: www.humboldt-foundation.de/
For personal advice regarding the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s programmes and awards, please contact Dr Anne Clausen, anne.clausen@uni-oldenburg.de; Phone: +49 (0) 441 798 4333
Once you have been granted funding, please contact the International Office’s Welcome Service should you have general questions about your stay in Oldenburg: www.uol.de/welcome.
German Federal Environment Foundation
The German Federal Environment Foundation promotes projects for the protection of the environment under special consideration of SMEs. The aim is to increase SMEs' sense of responsibility for protecting the environment achieved through collaborative projects between science and industry. The projects should be characterised by their innovation and/or model character as well as their environmental relieving potential. Eligible projects promote sustainable development and come from the following areas:
- Enviromental technology
- Enviromental research and nature protection
- Enviromental communication and protection of cultural goods
Fritz Thyssen Foundation
The Fritz Thyssen Foundation supports projects in many fields of science. However, research priorities in the individual academic disciplines are defined.
Robert Bosch Foundation
The Robert Bosch Foundation is not restricted to specific priorities and calls for projects from almost all scientific fields. Both the applicant's own and external projects are supported.
Gerda Henkel Foundation
The Gerda Henkel Foundation supports only projects from the humanities, particularly historical sciences and mainly the areas of history, archaeology and art history. The special concern of the Foundation is to support junior researchers. The Foundation supports research projects, grants for research fellowships and PhD programmes and awards grants for print, travel and material costs.
Hans Böckler Foundation
The Hans Böckler Foundation deals mainly with the changes in work as well as the impact on the people and society. The main task of the Foundation programme is to improve the conditions of participation as well as trade union representation.