As a private research funding organization, we support researchers with creative ideas aimed at changing the world of science – something we have been doing for more than 60 years now. Our mission: We endow knowledge.

Visit our funding portfolio Who we are

We provide support in four profile areas

Bücherstapel

Understanding Research

Critically exploring and reflecting on the research system with a view to initiating positive change on areas such as career paths, governance, research and teaching.

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Androiden-Kopf mit technischen Geräten statt des Gehirns

Societal Transformations

Expanding knowledge about processes of transformation and developing possible courses of action together with stakeholders in civil society.

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Kompass

Exploration

Breaking into previously unexplored research territory with unconventional ideas and experimental approaches.

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hölzerner Schach-Springer (Pferd)

zukunft.niedersachsen

Funding program for top-level research in Lower Saxony.

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Inken Dworak-Schultz

Story

Pharmacy from the Rainforest: Remedies for the Mind

To the Article on Ethnopharmacologist Fabien Schultz

Events

  • Expert meeting
  • Symposium

Wed, 9 Dec 2026, 11:00 a.m. to Fri, 11 Dec 2026, 2:00 p.m.

Not About, but With - How Transdisciplinary Research Succeeds! 

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  • Expert meeting
  • Herrenhausen Conference

Tue, 16 Feb 2027, 10:00 a.m. to Thu, 18 Feb 2027, 4:00 p.m.

Rethinking Neurodegeneration - Challenging established paradigms and exploring new paths

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Newsroom

An illustration showing two people with binoculars, with a classical-style building in the foreground
Funding Offer 27 October 2026

Night Science: Boosting Creativity in Research – Workshops 2027

How do new research ideas come about? In one- or two-day workshops run by the 'Night Science Institute', researchers learn practical methods for developing innovative ideas, rethinking problems, refining questions and sharing creative approaches.

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Illustration mit einem Gewichtheber im Anzug, der Bücher stemmt
Funding Offer 16 October 2026

Funding for Opus Magnum: Deadline and Online Q&A

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. Online Q&A on 26 October, deadline: 18 Nov, 2026

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