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The Volkswagen Foundation supports professors three to five years after taking up their first tenured professorship at a university in Germany.  The next application deadline is 14 April 2026. You have questions about the funding programme? Then visit our online Q&A on 10 February (in German) or 23 February (in English), 1:00–2:30 p.m.

We are looking for the security experts of the future: The call is aimed at young postdoctoral researchers who do research on the nexus of security and technology with a distinct European perspective. Online Q&A: 12 February and 9 April, application deadline: 05 May 2026.

The work of the Volkswagen Foundation would not be possible without the help of experts from all over the world. They support us, for example, in generating ideas, developing new funding programs and, last but not least, in reviewing funding applications.

The Opus Magnum funding initiative offers outstanding professors from the humanities and social sciences the opportunity to write a larger scientific work, relieved by a teaching substitution. Deadline: 18 November, 2026

How can our society become sustainable? The Volkswagen Foundation is funding eight new research projects with a total of €14.4 million. They are approaching this question from different angles – together with partners from the field. Topics include among others smart technologies in urban areas and the use of AI in urban development.

Every day, Katrin Kinzelbach and Lars Lott could stand in a lecture hall explaining the Academic Freedom Index. Demand is high. So is the burden on the researchers. How can a balance be struck between science and impact?