Liberal democracy is a basic prerequisite for a scientific landscape with independent freedom of research. But how can we protect our democratic structures? And what dangers are they exposed to? Ten newly funded research projects are dedicated to these and other highly topical questions of democracy research.

In the following statement, the Volkswagen Foundation reaffirms its commitment to the protection of democracy and academic freedom.

In the current call of the funding initiative "Open Up – New Research Spaces for the Humanities and Cultural Studies", the foundation is testing a new review process for the first time: "Distributed Peer Review". In this interview, Dr. Hanna Denecke, team leader in the "Exploration" profile area, explains the experiment.

The Volkswagen Foundation is funding the virtual Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study with almost one million euros. The opening and the first conference have now taken place in Berlin.

In a two-part funding offer, the Foundation is looking for transdisciplinary project teams to draw up recommendations on how democracies must develop in order to master the multiplicity of societal challenges. Application deadline for 'task forces': Sept. 19, 2023

In 2022, the Volkswagen Foundation approved EUR 331,9 million for scientific projects. Figures, data and facts from our 2022 annual report.