With the launch of the L.I.S.A. interactive science portal the Gerda Henkel Foundation is providing both a specialist offering for academics in the humanities and a communications network both for the holders of its scholarships and for its project partners. The L.I.S.A. acronym derives from the portal's main capabilities – to read, inform, write, and exchange, or in German: Lesen, Informieren, Schreiben and Austauschen. Not least, L.I.S.A. also evokes the name of the founder of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Ms. Lisa Maskell, who in 1976 set the Foundation up in memory of her mother, Gerda Henkel. The initiative aims to make available topic-related contributions from all areas of the historical sciences, archaeology, and art history, so addressing the demand for interdisciplinary information on the historical humanities. L.I.S.A. - the Gerda Henkel Foundation's science portal is publicly accessible since spring 2010.

Gerda Henkel Foundation scholarship holders and project partners, as well as anyone else that has an interest in the historical humanities, are invited to share their knowledge on the portal. Internationally renowned academics and young researchers will be able to take part via conference reporting, literary reviews, event announcements, pod casts, dossiers, expert chats and online lectures. The portal will contain text, image, and film elements, and will provide both a private and a public area.´

The portal offers three sections:

A Web log for holders of the Foundation's doctoral scholarships: here young academics have the opportunity to prominently present their dissertation topics, mutually exchange information, and participate in every area through contributions.

An editorial section: in this area an online editor will compile extensive dossiers on humanities-related themes, invoke expert discussions, offer online lectures and expert chat sessions, and publicise book reviews, exhibition critiques, and event announcements.

L.I.S.A.video: project videos from ongoing research for selected scientific projects. Eight teams of academics working on one of the research projects sponsored by the Foundation are currently filming their research work; these "film diaries" are to be professionally edited and published on the L.I.S.A. portal in the form of a series.

Click here for L.I.S.A., the Gerda Henkel Foundation's science portal.