Funding Programme Democracy

Background Funding Initiative Democracy

Over the last few years, a previously somewhat abstract finding has become an empirical fact: Democracy is not a given. The rule of law, the separation of powers, freedom of expression, and a commitment to the common good have all lost some of their binding effect even in core democratic countries, and have been relativized, called into question, and restricted. Nevertheless, the development is subject to constant fluctuations. Hence, for some time now within Europe there has been a shift in political weighting away from a primarily pro-European stance towards an anti-European discourse, yet in the global crisis resulting from the Corona pandemic, it seems that alongside the return to national decision-making, stronger hopes and expectations have emerged that European cooperation will be able to contribute some positives to the management of the crisis and its resulting problems. At the same time, however, there are still challenges from populist movements, amongst others, which not only question democracy as a political order but indeed also the independent role of science and the research findings it produces. The return of war into the middle of the world shared with Europe has also shattered many certainties as regards the stability and legitimacy of governments and nation states.

Taking this present-day experience as a starting point, the Gerda Henkel Foundation has established a new funding initiative for democracy, which is divided into two subsections with different perspectives:

  • The first, historically oriented subsection on the topic of Democracy as a Utopia, Experience and Threats aims at placing the aforementioned problematic issues in the broader historical context and considering the history of conflicts over the foundation of the social order.
  • The second subsection, which is oriented towards analysis of the present situation and predictions for the future, focuses on Transformations of Democracy? Or: The Contours of Future Democratic Society. It represents an invitation to venture contributions, speculations and assertions so that we might learn to better understand the complex present-day situation and the processes of profound transformation that are taking shape while also trying to trace the contours of future society.

Call for applications for subsection 1: Democracy as Utopia, Experience and Threat

“Democracy”, as an overriding concept of this historically-oriented funding programme spanning different eras, may be simply a search direction, a heuristic guideline, and not a universalization of any – for example, our current – social and political system. The focus here is on the history of confrontation concerning the basic principles of social order, whereby there is a clash of demands for enhanced participation, for greater scope for self-organization, for more justice, or for the dismantling of hierarchies on the one hand, and on the other the value systems of those who consider the relevant status quo worthy of preservation or who see entirely different objectives of fairness, freedom and hierarchization as worth fighting for. These confrontations took place and continue to take place from ancient times until today, sometimes with and sometimes without application of any concept of democracy. What they can provide information about is the diversity of the value systems, the preconceptions of justice, and the ideals of a good society that are brought to the field by the conflicting sides.

These sorts of histories of conflict over a just order, good leadership and participation in both therefore make it necessary for the preconceptions of values and order of all the conflicting sides to be taken into account. Only this way does it become possible to historicize the diverse histories of conflict over good order, and thus to understand them in their relevant historical context: It can’t just be about the proponents of enhanced participation or a more comprehensive form of justice, not only about social movements and their hierarchies or criticism of the elite. After all, the relevant proponents of limited participation, selective socialization concepts and preconceptions of justice and freedom that cannot be universalized are equally important. The examination of conflict histories within societies that see themselves as democratic requires just this multiperspectivity: There is an interplay between the social movements and protests that critically oppose the relevant established forms of democracy and defenders of the established order and their preconceptions of participation, justice and freedom.

With the triad of concepts “utopia, experience and threat”, three of the key references to conflicting social value systems from ancient times to today are touched upon: Social movements inspired by utopias determine ideal preconceptions of politics, religion and society and fight for their realization. In societies that see themselves as democracies, people have experiences, which they mobilize in a way that is critical of democracy – be it against democracy as such or against specific aspects of the relevant established democratic order. The historically – and currently – frequently found references to conflicting social value systems is the impression of threat, as a result of which, for example, ruling elites deploy their law enforcement forces against social movements, various social groups fight for re-order and new order, religiously based preconceptions of society or justice come into conflict, or social inequality becomes a political issue. All three points of reference can be utilized for historical research into conflict histories surrounding the correct order and just society. They expand the theme of the funding programme beyond the classic fields of protest and revolutionary history, or the history of constitutions, elections and political parties – which are likewise part of it all – to include a multiperspectival history of conflict and culture surrounding the right order in society and politics.

The Foundation's Board of Trustees decides on the applications on the basis of recommendation by an Advisory Committee:

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Joachim Gehrke
Prof. Dr. Ute Daniel

 

Call for applications for subsection 2: Contours of Future Democratic Society

Talking about “future” society means describing what is new and unfamiliar in the form of a society that is only just taking shape and whose initial elements and structures we are only just starting to experience. This new form may not be entirely novel and in many regards will stem from the old one. Which fault lines and threshold points define these transformations is a question to be addressed analytically by the humanities and social sciences, whereby there is not yet any preconceived notion as to whether such changes will represent losses or gains, progress or regression at the end of the day.

Points of reference for a number of transformation processes can be identified with relative clarity within three major, extensively interwoven areas:

  1. The much-maligned crisis of democracy as we know it – liberal, constitutional, representative – is manifested in the political sphere. The new forms of populism have not only called into question the self-evidence of who constitutes “the people” and who can represent them, but have also cast democratic institutions and authorities radically into question, which has sown seeds of doubt about these agencies, and about whether and how legitimate political decisions can actually be made within large collectives at all. Here, complex questions arise concerning the conditions of resilience and renewal of democratic forces in the age of marred political authorities and legitimation, as does the question regarding the evidently changing relationship between emotions and politics, argumentative discourse and emotional rhetoric. It seems clear that many traditional forms of democratic consensus-building have reached their limits, since the places and media for sensible, informed discussion are increasingly fragmented or undermined. The influence of international acts of sabotage of discourses, and this involving meddling in elections and opinion-formation processes by means of manipulation and propaganda, is also hampering democratic consensus-building.
  2. Rapid technological change in virtually all areas of life poses challenges on an almost unforeseeable scale for human coexistence. The fact that almost all communication is conveyed through media and the ultra-fast and omnipresent interconnectedness of previously distant contexts are profoundly changing what it means to be in one place at one time, to share living spaces and habits with others, to be private or public. These transformations create problems and challenges that arise from the technologies and digitization themselves: the exploitable nature of information differences, new forms of surveillance and control – in a nutshell new forms of digital power or technical dominion. Research must be carried out into the ways our societies are finding to deal with these challenges, which norms and criteria, which ideals and models in the entirely mediatized and largely data-encapsulated world promise guidance and shelter, which skills and critical capacities individuals in this world need, and in which areas the old “natural” intelligence is perhaps a few steps ahead of its new “artificial” counterpart.
  3. It is more than clear that from a social perspective the world which is emerging recognizes, creates and condones distortions and inequalities, whereby these are not sufficiently captured by the old terms of ‘class’ or ‘social stratum’. After all, being ‘left behind’ in the present day is not measured merely by economic or sociocultural status, but rather also depends on the often now almost imperceptible practices of symbolic exclusion, fate-determining attribution of identity characteristics, or a lack of access to knowledge and education. The emerging form of society appears to be traversed by new and complex kinds of stratifications and divisions, some of which appear flexible and negotiable while the old class divisions were not, yet others appear to have a harshness and persistence that seem almost inconceivably rigid. Here, questions arise with regard to the mechanisms and techniques of such exclusions, the vectors and levels of these new fault lines – and possible strategies for overcoming them.

These three dimensions (political, technological, social) indicate only roughly which direction one might look towards in order to trace the contours of a future society. The ecological question will play a preeminent role in all three directions as our states, technologies, and societies are dependent to a great extent on natural resources and at the same time equally greatly responsible for how these are used and destroyed. In no one direction is there anything entirely new, yet in all of them one can identify processes of profound transformation that could be grasped and interpreted in research by way of a small contribution to shaping the future. The Foundation is looking for innovative research questions and ways of working that tackle these challenges and make initial forays into descriptive, explanatory or even prognostic propositions.

 

The Foundation's Board of Trustees decides on the applications on the basis of recommendation by an Advisory Committee:

Prof. Dr. Regina Kreide | Giessen
Prof. Dr. Armin Nassehi | Munich
Prof. Dr. Martin Saar | Frankfurt/Main
Prof. Dr. Véronique Zanetti | Bielefeld

Application

Prerequisites

Applications are open to post-doctoral researchers with links to a university from the entire spectrum of humanities and social sciences. The proposed projects must address focal themes that are being examined by a research group, which the Foundation understands to mean teams of at least two scholars actively taking part in the project work, who are to be funded by grants from the Foundation and are researching shared topics. Only post-doctoral or research grants will be considered. Applications for a research grant for the applicant (project leader) are also permitted. In total, a maximum of three grants plus funds for travel and equipment may be applied for by each research group. The prerequisite for funding is an assurance that those working on the project will produce their own research output that will be published under their names. Other people who are not funded by grants may also be involved in the project. Applications for individual grants outside of a research group are not permitted. The funding program also provides for the project partners to participate in a public “workshop discussion on democracy” or “workshop discussion on future society” organized annually by the Foundation.

The maximum duration is 36 months.

The applicants must be actively involved in the research work of the project.

Project staff on research projects may only be financed by PhD or research grants. A fundamental prerequisite for a grant is that project staff conduct their own research, which is published under their name. The simultaneous receipt of salary or retirement pension and a research scholarship is not possible.

Application Documents

The necessary application documents can be uploaded in the electronic application form.

Proposals will only be accepted in German or English language and should include:

  • description of the research proposal (max. 8 pages)
    • plus bibliography if necessary (in addition to the max. 8 pages)
    • line spacing 1.5
    • please choose a readable font, e.g. Arial 11 pt. or Times New Roman 12 pt. (We kindly ask you to keep to the formal requirements on how to compile application documents)
  • work plan and time schedule, travel itinerary (if needed)
  • detailed cost calculation
    • specific funds being applied for must be precisely defined
    • no college or tuition fees
    • no overhead costs
  • curriculum vitae and list of publications of the applicant(s)
  • if needed, curriculum vitae and list of publications of the proposed project participant(s)
  • if needed, academic certificates of the project participant(s) (Masters, PhD, professorship, etc.; please do not send Bachelor certificates)

If also a scholarship for the applicant is planned:

  • academic certificates of the applicant (Masters, PhD, professorship, etc.; please do not send Bachelor certificates)

Please do not additionally send the documents by email or postal mail.

Payment

Application for scholarships as part of a research project

Project staff on research projects may only be financed by PhD or research grants. A fundamental prerequisite for a grant is that project staff conduct their own research, which is published under their name. The period of support for Foundation stipend holders working on Ph.D. or research projects can be extended by up to 12 months if the holder becomes a parent during the period covered by the stipend and has an entitlement to maternity or parental leave. Individual arrangements must be discussed with the Foundation’s administrative office. The following rates apply:

Applicable to new permits from 1 January 2024.

PhD scholarships

Monthly scholarship award: 1.920 euros

Foundation stipend holders working on Ph.D. or research projects with children, will receive a monthly family grant in addition to their scholarship. The family grant is awarded on presentation of the child’s birth certificate and disbursed for children who have not yet turned 18.

•    for one child: EUR 480
•    each further child EUR 120

Monthly endowment for scholarships abroad: 480 euros
Travel aid: as required
Material aid: as required

Research Scholarships for Postdocs

Monthly scholarship award: 2,760 euros

Foundation stipend holders working on Ph.D. or research projects with children, will receive a monthly family grant in addition to their scholarship. The family grant is awarded on presentation of the child’s birth certificate and disbursed for children who have not yet turned 18.

•    for one child: EUR 480
•    each further child: EUR 120

Monthly endowment for scholarships abroad: 690 euros
Travel aid: as required
Material aid: as required

Research Scholarships after Post Doctoral Lecture Qualification

Monthly scholarship award: 3,720 euros

The higher grant rate is approved after successful conclusion of the professorial examinations (habilitation) process and/or alternatively at the earliest after positive interim evaluation for a junior professorship. For applicants from academic systems that do not envisage habilitations, the Foundation recognizes holding a tenured position as an associate professor or as a full professor or distinguished professor (in the US system) or as a senior lecturer or as a reader/professor (in the Commonwealth system) as an equivalent of passing junior professorial examinations. The administration of the Foundation can in individual cases assess other national qualification levels.

Foundation stipend holders working on Ph.D. or research projects with children, will receive a monthly family grant in addition to their scholarship. The family grant is awarded on presentation of the child’s birth certificate and disbursed for children who have not yet turned 18.

•    for one child: EUR 480
•    each further child EUR 120

Monthly endowment for scholarships abroad: 930,- 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.

Deadlines

The application deadline for the Foundation committees autumn meeting in 2024 is 29 May 2024. Applications have to be in the Foundation's office by this day. The Foundation committees are holding their meeting in November 2024. If your application is successful, funding can start at the beginning of December 2024 at the very earliest.

 

Form

Electronic Application Form for the Foundation

1. Please complete the application form in full. Please be aware that each subsection has its own form. The link to the correct form appears if you click on the subsection below this text. Within the form, the header shows  which subsection you are applying for.

2. The application form can be saved at any time. Using your own personal link, you can return to and edit the form for a period of ten days. However, after this period (10 Days), your data will be deleted from the server.

3. Once you have completed the form, you will receive a short summary, which needs to be confirmed in order to be sent to the Foundation electronically.

4. During the transmission process your data will be sent to the Foundation in electronic form. Confirmation of receipt will be sent to the e-mail address provided in the application.

Please follow these rules when uploading your application files:

  • All documents need to be uploaded as pdf-files.
  • Please do not upload protected PDF documents.
  • A single file may not exceed a file size of 6 MB each.
  • You cannot upload more than one document per upload field.
  • The application can only be sent, if all necessary documents are included.

Please note the following additional information:

  • Your data will be stored by the Gerda Henkel Foundation for the purpose of processing your application and will not be passed on to third parties.
  • The Gerda Henkel Foundation will be happy to provide you with information about the data that we have stored on your person at any time. If so required, personal data can be changed or deleted.
  • This form may only be used to make an application to the Gerda Henkel Foundation. The Foundation reserves the right to delete application data without prior notification, if necessary.

 

Publishing Aid

Publishing aid is currently only awarded to especially successful projects already being supported by the Foundation. Please include the following documents:

  • two-page summary of the academic merit and innovativeness of the monograph/collection
  • cost calculation by the publishing house
  • manuscript on which the calculations have been made (digital)

A copy of the (preliminary) PhD certificate should be included in proposals submitted for the publication of PhD theses supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Applications can be submitted at any time.

    List of sponsored projects

    Subsection I

    2023

    Prof. Dr. Friedrich Kießling / Prof. Dr. Carsten Burhop / Prof. Dr. Christine G. Krüger (Cologne, Germany)
    Expansive Partizipation und Staat in der späten Bonner Republik im Vergleich

    PD Dr. Benjamin Möckel (Bonn, Germany)
    Die ‚Zeit‘ der Demokratie. Zeitstrukturen und temporale Diskurse in der parlamentarischen Praxis in Deutschland und Frankreich nach 1945

    Prof. Dr. Niklas Venema (Leipzig, Germany)
    Öffentlichkeit und Arbeiterbewegung: Demokratischer Diskurs als Ideal und Gefahr

    2022

    Prof. Dr. Markku Peltonen (Helsinki, Finnland)
    Early Modern Democracy

    Prof. Dr. Eduardo Posada-Carbo (Oxford, United Kingdom) / Prof. Dr. Paula Alonso (Washington, USA)
    Latin America and the Global History of Democracy, 1810-1930

    Prof. Dr. Sean Scalmer / Dr. Iain McIntyre (Melbourne, Australien)
    Direct Action and Democracy: Utopia, Experience, Threat

    2021

    PD Dr. Zsolt Czigányik (Budapest, Hungary)
    Democracy in East Central European utopianism

    PD Dr. Bernhard Gotto / Prof. Dr. Isabel Heinemann / PD Dr. Martina Steber / Prof. Dr. Sandra Maß / Dr. Julia Paulus / Prof. Dr. Kirsten Heinsohn      (Munich, Germany)
    Demokratie und Geschlecht: Konflikte um die Ordnung der deutschen Gesellschaft im 20. Jahrhundert

    2020

    Prof. Dr. Jürgen Martschukat / Dr. Vera Kallenberg   (Erfurt, Germany)
    Contested Democracy. Gender, race und sex in der US-amerikanischen Zeitgeschichte

    Dr. Klaus Richter (Birmingham, United Kingdom)
    The Liminality of Failing Democracy: East Central Europe and the Interwar Slump

    Dr. Mathijs van de Sande / Prof. Dr. Carolien van Ham / Prof. Dr. Evert van der Zweerde (Nijmegen, Netherlands)
    Vive la Commune: Communalism as a Democratic Repertoire

    2019

    Prof. Dr. Michael Dreyer / Dr. Andreas Braune (Jena, Germany)
    Das demokratische Gewaltmonopol in der Weimarer Republik, 1918-1924 

    PD Dr. Oliver Eberl / Dr. David Salomon / Prof. Dr. Dirk Jörke (Darmstadt, Germany)
    Der Blick nach unten: Soziale Konflikte in der Ideengeschichte der Demokratie 

    Dr. Claudia Christiane Gatzka (Freiburg, Germany)
    Verborgene Stimmen der Demokratie. Politische Repräsentationen des ‚Volkes‘ in der Bundesrepublik, 1945-2000 

    Dr. Harm Kaal / Prof. Dr. Wim van Meurs / Prof. Dr. Huub Wijfjes / Prof. Dr. Thomas Mergel (Nijmegen, Netherlands)
    The Voice of the People. Popular perceptions of democracy and the mediatisation of politics in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, c. 1950 – 2000

    PD Dr. Jürgen Schraten / Dr. Sean Maliehe / Dr. Carmen Ludwig (Gießen, Germany)
    Southern African Democracy and the Utopia of a Rainbow Nation

     

    Subsection II

    2023

    Dr. Stefan Niklas (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
    Eine planetarische Ästhetik für die kommende demokratische Gesellschaft

    Prof. Dr. Stefan Peters / Prof. Dr. Eckhardt Fuchs (Giessen / Brunswick, Germany)
    Negotiating the Future of Democracy – Schools and the Politics of Education in the Colombian Peace Process

    Prof. Dr. Andrea Peto (Vienna, Austria) / Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kleeberg (Erfurt, Germany) / Prof. Dr. Alina Dragolea (Bukarest, Romania) / Prof. Dr. Dina Gusejnova (London, United Kingdom)
    Protecting academia at risk: Towards a new policy agenda for a thriving culture of higher education in Europe

    Dr. Manon Westphal (Münster, Germany) / Dr. Janosch Prinz (Maastricht, Netherlands) / Dr. Enzo Rossi (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
    Contours of a Non-Oligarchic Democratic Future

    2022

    Prof. Dr. Vincent August / Prof. Dr. André Brodocz (Berlin / Erfurt, Germany)
    Ökologische Konflikte: Repräsentationsansprüche und Strategien im Streit um die kommende Gesellschaft (ÖkoKon)

    Dr. Fathima Nizaruddin (Passau, Germany) / Dr. Gustavo Robles (La Plata, Argentina) / Dr. Ülker Sözen (Berlin, Germany) / Prof. Dr. Wolfram Schaffar (Passau, Germany)
    Platformization, Forms of Authoritarianism, and the Future of Democracy: Perspectives from the Global South

    Dr. Stefan Wallaschek / Prof. Dr. Monika Eigmüller (Flensburg, Germany)
    Geschlechterpolitik und (Anti-)Gender-Diskurse – Zwischen Fortschritt und Regression. Eine vergleichende Diskurs- & Policyanalyse in vier europäischen Ländern

    2021

    Prof. Dr. Shahram Akbarzadeh / Prof. Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz (Melbourne, Australia)
    Smart Digital Technologies and the Future of Democracy in the Muslim World

    Dr. Lena Laube / Dr. Mareike Gebhardt (Bonn / Münster, Germany)
    Zivile Seenotrettung als Kristallisationspunkt des Streits um Demokratie

    Prof. Dr. Daniel Loick (Amsterdamn, Netherlands)
    Abolitionistische Demokratien – Transnationale Perspektiven

    Dr. Julian Müller / Dr. Astrid Séville / Dr. Christian Kirchmeier  (Munich, Germany)
    Re-Präsentation. Neue Formen der politischen Ansprache und Fürsprache in der kommenden Gesellschaft

    Important note on submitting applications

    Please take a look at the information provided in this section and under General References. We would of course be happy to assist you should you have any further questions.

    Contact Person Funding Programme Democracy

    Thomas Podranski, M.A.
    Head of Research Scholarships and Special Programmes

    Su-Ellen Wang, M.A.
    Project Manager General Research Grants
    wang@gerda-henkel-stiftung.de

    General Information for Applicants and Beneficiaries

    Frequently asked questions

    General questions regarding the application

    Can I apply for a research project also if I have not received my PhD yet?
    No. Applications for research projects can be made by universities, other research institutes or comparable institutions as well as by one or several Postdocs or scholars with Post Doctoral Lecture Qualification. It is necessary to provide a (preliminary) PhD certificate.

    Can I apply with one and the same research project for support from several of the Foundation’s programmes?
    A simultaneous application with different research projects is in principle possible as long as no scholarship is earmarked for the applicant him/herself.

    What shall I do if I’m not sure whether my subject is eligible for funding from the Foundation?
    Please send us a short project summary by email (info@gerda-henkel-stiftung.de). We will be in touch within a few days to let you know whether you can apply.

    Are foreign academics allowed to apply for funding programmes?
    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.

    In which languages does the Foundation correspond?
    German and English.

    Should application documents and references be submitted in English or German?
    The Foundation accepts both, although German is preferred where possible.

    Are there formal requirements on how the application documents should be compiled?
    The project description should not be longer than 8 pages. Documents should have at least font size 11 and line spacing 1.5. Please read carefully all instructions in the section general references.

    Are there any substantial requirements for the structure or form of the description of the research project?
    No, there are no substantive requirements. Applicants for a research scholarship should make sure that in addition to the content presentation, information on the method, the state of research, the sources and research relevance are included in the description, especially if the transcript of the study is in the foreground.

    Should the proposal include a detailed list of publications or is it enough to note the cited references in footnotes? Is an additional list of publications with for the project relevant references necessary?
    It is sufficient to note the references of the proposal in footnotes. A list of publications with for the project relevant references can but must not be submitted.

    What should my working plan and schedule include?
    They should include detailed information about the work stages planned for the period of funding, including research trips and their planned duration.

    Can I apply for financing for my own post instead of a research grant?
    No. The Foundation is not providing funding for posts at research institutions.

    Can project staff be funded via posts?
    No. Project staff can only be financed by doctoral or research grants. A fundamental precondition for a grant is that project staff conduct their own research, which is published under their name.

    Do I have to include the scholarships for the staff members in the cost calculation of the research project or do they have to apply separately for a PhD or research scholarship?
    Please budget the scholarships as part of the research project funding. The staff members do not have to apply separately for a PhD or research scholarship.

    What do you require for travel and material expenses claims?
    We require a list of costs with each individual expense in as much detail as possible. Please have a look at the information provided under http://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/calculation_travel-material-expenses.

    Does the Foundation pay for childcare during the period for which a stipend is awarded?
    Foundation stipend holders working on Ph.D. or research projects receive a family grant on presentation of the child’s/children’s birth certificate(s). The grant is paid for children who have not yet turned 18.

    What is the Foundation’s policy is a stipend holder becomes a parent during the period for which a stipend is awarded?
    The period of support for Foundation stipend holders working on Ph.D. or research projects can be extended by up to 12 months if the holder becomes a parent during the period covered by the stipend and has an entitlement to maternity or parental leave. Individual arrangements must be discussed with the Foundation’s administrative office.

    Does the Foundation cover overhead costs?
    No, the Foundation does not cover overhead costs.

    Can anyone request funding for printing?
    Publishing aid can only be claimed for projects which are already receiving funding from the Gerda Henkel Foundation. However, not all projects will be awarded funding for printing as the current budget for publishing aid is extremely limited.

    Does the Foundation sponsor individual journeys to participate in scientific conferences?
    At present travel expenses are only paid for larger research projects or PhD and research scholarships. Funding applications for independent trips to participate in conferences/congresses are in principle not considered.

    Can I change anything in my electronic application form after having sent it to the Foundation?
    No, that is not possible. Please inform us about any differing information when sending us your application documents or fill out a new application form and let us know you have sent a new form in a short note or email.

    Does the Foundation provide reasons for refusing applications?
    The Academic Committee’s deliberations are confidential so the Foundation does not provide detailed reasons for refusals.

    General questions regarding the applications for scholarships

    Can I continue to work during the time of my scholarship?
    No, the simultaneous receipt of salary and a scholarship is not possible.

    Can I continue to draw a retirement pension during the time of my scholarship?
    No, the simultaneous receipt of a retirement pension and a scholarship is not possible.

    In which case can I apply for an overseas bonus?
    Should a recipient of a scholarship leave the country of her/his principal residence and spend more than four weeks abroad for research purposes, the Foundation shall grant a flat-rate overseas bonus. This should be seen as an extension to the scholarship, intended to cover the extra costs of food and accommodation. The Foundation shall not cover any accommodation costs for that period if an overseas bonus has been granted.

    Can I apply for funding of college or tuition fees?
    No, the Foundation does not cover college or tuition fees.

    If I am given a doctoral grant, do I have to start my doctorate immediately?
    Doctorates must be started within twelve months of the grant being agreed.

    Questions regarding letters of recommendation

    Can I apply for a research scholarship when I have not yet finished my PhD?
    No. Applications for research scholarships can only be made by Postdocs or scholars with Post Doctoral Lecture Qualification.

    Do the criteria also apply to the special programme "Security, Society and the State" and the two funding programmes "Democracy" and "Lost Cities"?
    No, the criteria only apply to applications for a general research scholarship.

    What is  the definition for "Post Doctoral Lecture Qualification"?
    The higher grant rate is approved after successful conclusion of the professorial examinations (habilitation) process and/or alternatively at the earliest after positive interim evaluation for a junior professorship. For applicants from academic systems that do not envisage habilitations, the Foundation recognizes holding a tenured position as an associate professor or as a full professor or distinguished professor (in the US system) or as a senior lecturer or as a reader/professor (in the Commonwealth system) as an equivalent of passing junior professorial examinations. The administration of the Foundation can in individual cases assess other national qualification levels.

    Questions regarding grants in general

    What should I do once I have received the letter of approval?
    Please let us know by postmail whether you accept the grant and the terms of appropriation. If you do accept, please also supply your current bank details and include when you wish payments to start. Please note that all credit transfers and standing orders are being switched over to the pan-European SEPA system. Instead of a bank sort code and account number, the Foundation requires the IBAN and BIC details. You will find the corresponding information on your account statement and possibly on your bank card.

    What are my obligations if I accept the funding?
    You must inform the Foundation of any changes which have a bearing on the payment of the grant or the amount paid. Teaching positions and other employment must be agreed with the Foundation if they exceed an average of 5 hours a week.

    Can I work during the grant period?
    Yes, as long as the employment does not exceed an average of five hours a week.

    How should references be made to the Foundation in my work?
    We ask that the Foundation be mentioned in any publications that arise from the funded project. The Foundation should also be included in the imprint of any publications for which publishing aid was supplied. For other media, such as conference posters or flyers, please use the logo available on our website. Please also mention the Foundation at events and in any contact with journalists (e.g. via your university’s press office), including in any press releases.

    Can the grant or parts thereof be used for other purposes?
    No. The grant is only to be used for the purposes detailed in the letter of approval.

    Can grants be transferred to overseas accounts?
    Yes. Please supply your SWIFT/BIC code and IBAN. We would however prefer to make transfers to a German account.

    Do I have to take out insurance if I am awarded a grant or does the Foundation cover those costs?
    As grant recipients are not technically employed by the Foundation, national insurance contributions are not paid. The Foundation recommends that all grant recipients take out medical insurance. No additional funding is available for these costs.

    Invoices

    What kind of information about my bank account do I have to submit?
    Please note that all credit transfers and standing orders are being switched over to the pan-European SEPA system. Instead of a bank sort code and account number, the Foundation requires the IBAN and BIC details. You will find the corresponding information on your account statement and possibly on your bank card. Please send us these details or submit them with your next invoice.

    Do original receipts have to be sent?
    Generally yes. Should third parties need the originals for billing purposes (e.g. university offices), please submit copies and ensure that the originals are held for at least ten years in case they need to be checked.

    Will my family’s costs be reimbursed for research trips?
    No. These must be covered by the grant recipient.

    General questions

    What is the phone number for Henkel AG & Co. KgaA in Düsseldorf?
    +49 (0)211 7970