Gerda Henkel Research Grants
The funding activities concentrate basically on German and foreign academics in the fields of historical humanities. Candidates can apply regardless of their nationality and place of work.
The most important criteria when deciding if a grant should be awarded are the academic significance and the quality of the research project. Also precise planning of costs and schedule of the proposed project are absolutely essential.
Research projects in the following fields are supported in particular:
- Archaeology
- History of Art
- Historical Islamic Studies
- History
- History of Science
- History of Law
- Prehistory and Early History
Since 2008 the Foundation has also increasingly addressed issues of great relevance to contemporary life and the future, above all as part of its special “Islam, the Modern Nation State and Transnational Movements” and “Security, Society and the State” programmes. As part of the Lisa Maskell Fellowships, since 2014 the Foundation has been supporting young scholars in the humanities in both Africa and Southeast Asia. Starting in 2015, the Foundation has with its “Patrimonies” funding initiative focused more strongly on the preservation of cultural heritage, specifically in regions experiencing crisis.
Funds are provided for:
- specific temporary research projects by way of grants for personnel, travel and material expenses (not for individual journeys to participate in conferences)
- research and PhD scholarships for German and foreign scholars (not for studies under PhD level)
- publications of particularly successful projects supported by the Foundation
Projects and individuals in the following areas are not supported:
- Medicine
- Natural and Engineering Sciences
- Psychology
- Linguistics and Literature Studies
- Drama or Film Studies
- Economics
Support is not provided for:
- final projects of bachelor and master students
- studies under PhD level
- positions (temporary or permanent)
- academic institutions by way of endowments
- festschrifts or dictionaries
- annual meetings and academic anniversaries
- publications which are not related to projects already being supported by the Foundation
- excursions
- conferences that are not initiated by the Foundation
- individual journeys to participate in conferences
- exhibition projects which are not related to projects already supported by the Foundation
PhD scholarships
Monthly scholarship award: 1,600 euros
• for one child: EUR 400
• each further child: EUR 100
The family grant is awarded for children who have not yet turned 18.
Monthly endowment for scholarships abroad: 400 euros
Travel aid: as required
Material aid: as required
Research scholarships for postdocs
Monthly scholarship award: 2,300 euros
• for one child: EUR 400
• each further child: EUR 100
The family grant is awarded for children who have not yet turned 18.
Monthly endowment for scholarships abroad: 575 euros
Travel aid: as required
Material aid: as required
Research scholarships after post doctoral lecture qualification
Monthly scholarship award: 3,100 euros
As equivalent to the German Habilitation the Foundation accepts positions as „Associate Professor“ or „Full Professor“ / „Distinguished Professor“ (according to the North American university system) and „Senior Lecturer“ or „Reader“/„Professor“ (according to the Commonwealth university system), respectively.
• for one child: EUR 400
• each further child: EUR 100
The family grant is awarded for children who have not yet turned 18.
Monthly endowment for scholarships abroad: 775 euros
Travel aid: as required
Material aid: as required
Contracts for work may be awarded for smaller research activities. The Foundation specifies no rates in this regard.
The Foundation committees meet twice a year to consider the applications and decide on funding grants. The application deadline for the Foundation committees autumn meeting in 2020 is 27 May, 2020. Applications have to be in the Foundation's office by this day. The Foundation committees are holding their meeting in November 2020. If your application is successful, funding can start at the beginning of December 2020 at the very earliest.
The deadline is not valid for smaller funding amounts (max. 25,000 euros). Smaller funding amounts are granted by the Foundation through a simplified procedure with a deliberation time of approximately three to four months. Please follow the exact same application procedure for smaller funding amounts as for regular research scholarships.
In the field of PhD scholarships, the approval rate was 17,3 percent. The percentage of research projects and research scholarships approved in the committee meetings was 26 and 13,7 percent respectively.
37,7 percent of applications were endorsed for research grants in the so-called “reserve funds” category, a shorter procedure to support smaller projects.
As for the Special Programme Security, Society and the State, the approval rate was 17,1 percent and for the special programmes Democracy as Utopia, Experience and Threat and Lost Cities. Perception of and living with abandoned cities in the cultures of the world, the approval rate was 9,6 and 13,3 percent respectively.
