Objective

For some years now, Europe has been facing a number of serious challenges which cause severe frictions among European states and can only be addressed collectively. Among them are economic crises, social inequality, migration, populism and nationalism, the erosion of democracy, disinformation, terrorism, and cyber security.

In light of these challenges, the Foundations encourage researchers to develop research-based impulses for future cooperation within Europe. With this call, the Foundations want to stimulate basic research on issues affecting Europe and the European Union, encourage comparative studies, and strengthen academic collaboration among European scholars.

Scope of Funding

The call targets scholars in the humanities, social and cultural sciences. Funding can be provided for the constitution of European research groups comprising up to five principal investigators (PIs) from at least three different European countries. The main applicant needs to come from one of the three countries represented by the foundations, i. e. Denmark, Germany, or Italy. A collaboration with researchers from Southern and Eastern Europe is particularly desirable. The scientific qualification of young scholars has to be a central element of each research project.

Details of requirements and the application procedure can be found under Information for Applicants (pdf) and in the FAQs (pdf). Applications must be submitted via the electronic application system of the Volkswagen Foundation.

Background

In light of numerous crises within Europe in the past years, the Volkswagen Foundation set up the call “Challenges for Europe” in the summer of 2017. The second call was developed jointly with the Carlsberg Foundation and Compagnia di San Paolo.