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Gerda Henkel Foundation supports threatened and refugee scholars in the field of historical humanities

Gerda Henkel Funding Program designed for researchers at risk in the field of historical humanities. The funding can be granted for temporary research projects (max; 6 months), doctoral and research scholarships of up 2 years. Since 2023, the Foundation offers a geographically open scholarship program for threatened and refugee scholars. The application is open year-round.

Terms and conditions

Mission and funding

Contacts

Gerda Henkel Foundation is an internationally active institution related to promotion of science with the focus on the field of historical humanities. Its mission is related to helping the researchers to reorient themselves in a crisis outside of their home country.

Several specific temporary initiatives have been created by the foundation in response to specific geopolitical situations including a scholarship for Near and Middle East in 2015 and in 2021 and 2022 it developed corresponding programs for scholars from Afghanistan, Ehtiopia and Ukraine and opening the funding geographically in 2023.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The main evaluation criteria are academic significance and the quality of the proposed research project.

The Foundation program supports the fields of:

Archaeology
History of Art
Historical Islamic Studies
History
History of Science
History of Law
Prehistory and Early History

For more than 10 years, the foundation has also opened its funding to specific topics related to culture, heritage, and contemporary life, creating different initiatives such as "Forced Migration," "Democracy as Utopia, Experience, and Threat," "Lost Cities: Perception of and Living in Lost Cities in the World's Culture," and "Patrimonies."

These programs also provide support for research projects in the following fields:

Heritage Studies
Research in the History of Architecture
Conservation Studies
Cultural Studies
Political Science
Jurisprudence
Restoration Studies
Social Sciences

Prerequisites for funding are:

Proof of threat (“statement of risk”)
Proof of affiliation with a university or another research institution outside the home country in form of a letter confirming supervision

Applicants must be actively involved in the research work underpinning the project. Funding for project staff on research projects is limited to 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.

Proposals may be written in English or German. For some special programs only, English is accepted. Please consult the specific programs website for the list of required documents.

Mission and funding

Funds are provided for:

specific temporary research projects by way of grants for personnel, travel and material expenses;
research and PhD scholarships for German and foreign scholars (not for studies under PhD level);
publications of particularly successful projects supported by the Foundation.

The grants for research projects involve, depending on the type of project, the assumption of costs for personnel, travel, materials and/or other costs.

There is no specific deadline for application, and the processing time of a complete application is usually a maximum of three months.

The foundation asks applicants to first send an email with a brief description of their personal situation and the planned doctoral or research project for a preliminary check before submission of the full proposal.

Both the scholar and the host institution can contact the Foundation.