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.
We provide support in four profile areas
Funding portfolio
We support future-oriented topics with our funding offers.
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NEXT – Rethink Neurodegeneration!
Learn moreThe programm is aimed at interdisciplinary research teams investigating the fundamental mechanisms of dementia-causing neurodegeneration.
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area of research: basic research in the natural and life sciences
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type of funding: interdisciplinary research projects with 2-5 PIs /Co-PIs (principal investigators)
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Change! Fellowships
Learn moreOur target group: Personalities from science who are researching transformation processes jointly with non-academic partners.
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area of research: all disciplines
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funding for: own position
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Transformational Knowledge on Democracies under Change – Transdisciplinary Perspectives
Learn moreThe call addresses persons from science together with actors outside of academia who are interested in transdisciplinary research and aim at jointly developing new perspectives on democratic forms of government under change.
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area of research: humanities, cultural and social sciences (lead); cooperation with natural, life, data and technical sciences possible
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type of funding: task forces, collaborative projects
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AI Research Groups Lower Saxony
Website zukunft.niedersachsenAs a key technology, artificial intelligence is of central importance to Lower Saxony's research system. This call for proposals combines the objectives of promoting individual scientists with the further development of AI methods and their application to existing data sets.
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area of research: computer science, artificial intelligence, application disciplines
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type of funding: research groups
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Pioneering Research – Exploring the Unknown Unknown
Learn moreThe 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 1.3 million Euro
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Circularity with recycled and biogenic resources
Learn moreThe current call within the funding line 'Collaborative projects' of this initiative is primarily targeted at the natural sciences and engineering.
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area of research: natural sciences and engineering, if required social sciences
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type of funding: research projects
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Perspectives on Wealth: Repercussions of Wealth
Learn moreThe 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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Lower Saxony – Scotland Research and Innovation Scheme: Stream II – Excellence Track
Website zukunft.niedersachsen.deThe programme provides Lower Saxonian and Scottish higher education institutions and their researchers with an opportunity to conduct joint research to lay the foundation for successful third-party funding bids, in particular Horizon Europe.
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area of research: all topics, particularly energy (transformation), life sciences, educational sciences, mobility and its transformation as well as security policy
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type of funding: cooperative research projects
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