Download - Volkswagen Stiftung

Funding Initiative
Symposia and Summer Schools
Deadlines for Application
January 15 and July 15
Contact
Dr. Cornelia Soetbeer
Phone: +49 (0) 511 8381-228
Fax: +49 (0) 511 8381-4228
E-Mail: soetbeer
@volkswagenstiftung.de
VolkswagenStiftung
Kastanienallee 35
30519 Hannover
Germany
www.volkswagenstiftung.de
Information for
Applicants 1
Starting in the fall of 2013, Symposia funded by the Foundation are to take
place in Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover, within the framework of the Volkswagen
Foundation’s “Symposia Weeks”. The venue offers meeting and
conference rooms of different size, together with a professional organizational
structure. Applications for Symposia must be filed before the respective
deadlines. You will find a list of the dates available in the Symposia Weeks
on our Homepage.
Applications for Summer Schools can be submitted at any time up to eight
months before the event is planned to take place. Summer Schools planned
at other locations in Germany (and under certain circumstances also abroad)
will continue to be eligible for funding.
1. Objectives
Within the framework of the program “Symposia and Summer Schools”, the
Foundation supports events which provide the opportunity to develop new
ideas and to promote the discussion of topics and approaches in an innovative
way. Generally, these meetings have to have an interdisciplinary and
international orientation. Provided that the results are expected to shed new
light on the respective subject, in duly justified exceptional cases it may be
possible to fund events within the context of single disciplines. The Foundation
is particularly interested in the active participation of young researchers
(doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers). In addition, the Foundation
expects a significant representation of women as speakers as well as
participants.
2. Funding Possibilities
Support is available for events concerning any topic and is not restricted to a
particular discipline. It is therefore not necessary to address a topic of a current
funding initiative of the Foundation’s funding portfolio. Funding can be
provided for Symposia, workshops, small conferences and Summer Schools,
insofar as they fulfil the criteria listed in this information leaflet. The Founda-
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tion particularly wants to encourage to develop and test new formats to promote
the interaction among the participants.
Symposia, Workshops and Small Conferences
As a rule, the Foundation provides support for scholarly meetings which
stand out due to their focus on forward-looking issues and innovative research
perspectives. The selection of the participants should reflect the interdisciplinary
nature of the topic, should allow an active individual participation
and an intensive interaction between the entire group, which can be
strengthened by adopting different formats for events.
Moreover, larger events that only take place occasionally in Germany but are
of high scholarly relevance may also be eligible for funding. In such cases,
the Foundation reserves the right only to fund part of the costs incurred.
Support can be made available for events with
� up to 60 persons (seminar rooms)
� up to 250 persons (hall or auditorium)
A significant participation of German scientists or scholars is expected. In all
cases the organizers must provide adequate justification for the number of
persons to be invited. A series of Symposia comprising up to three consecutive
events which build on each other may also be eligible for support.
The Foundation limits its support on the following items:
� Expenses for travel, accommodation and lodging. It is expected that
costs of travel will be kept to a minimum, especially with regard to air
travel (in accordance with regulations governing travel costs in the public
sector). In the case of larger events, the Foundation reserves the right to
fund only part of the costs incurred.
� Expenses for accommodation and food are covered at the location
(cf. 5.).
� Up to € 500 can be made available for non-personnel costs (e.g. printing
costs for programs).
� Limited funds for support staff during the preparation and running of the
event
� Funds for child care within the scope of the event.
� Publication and uploading of papers in the Internet. The Foundation
generally expects that the results of the meeting will be published open
access.
No funds can be provided for the following items:
� Flat rate amount to cover general organizational expenses
� Cost of honoraria, assistants and similar items
� Accompanying family members
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� Any supplementary programs or entertainment expenses
� Costs for participants from industry
Funding will not be available for the following kind of events
� Meetings which are organized within the framework of established disciplines
and research areas, which are mainly limited to a discussion of the
status quo, or which serve to elucidate the current situation in a given
discipline.
� Commemorative and tribute colloquia
� Large congresses, annual meetings of scientific associations and similar
large-scale events or parts thereof, as well as for follow-up events
� Regularly occurring meetings between largely closed groups of specific
experts
� Conferences which primarily bring together colleagues from partner institutions
within the framework of university partnerships
� Activities connected with third party funded graduate schools, excellenzclusters
or similar events
� Events partially financed by other funding organizations
� For Symposia taking place before or after a large-scale event, funding
will only be considered for the actual additional costs occurring.
Prerequisite for funding is the convincing delineation from the main
event.
Summer Schools/International Summer Schools
Funding is available for events where new knowledge important for the further
development of a particular research area will be taught to selected
young academics (doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers) from
Germany and abroad. The general idea is not only to extend their knowledge,
but also to enable them - at an early stage of their career - to develop and establish
contacts beyond national borders and individual disciplines. Experts
from other countries should also be invited to participate as speakers. The
event should take place in Germany; only in exceptional well-founded cases,
the event can also be held elsewhere in Europe.
Moreover, funding can also be provided for international Summer Schools
which have to take place in another country due to the specific teaching
framework or topic (e.g. fieldwork). In these cases, it is mandatory to cooperate
with a German institution as main applicant and to include young scientists
from the target region. This cooperation has to be convincingly documented
at the time of application.
In order to ensure efficient working conditions, the number of participants
should not exceed 60 persons, including the speakers; depending on the
theme, a smaller number may sometimes be advisable. A series of Summer
Schools comprising up to three consecutive measures which build on each
other may also be eligible for support.
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Electronic Application
Please use the Foundation’s
application system portal.volks-
wagenstiftung.de for the elec-
tronic submission of your appli-
cation. Please do not forget to
send us the printed and signed
cover sheet provided there.
The Foundation limits its support on the following items:
� Expenses for catering and accommodation; room rental fees. It is expected
that costs of travel will be kept to a minimum, especially with regard
to air travel.
� Cost of preparation and running of the measure, including the costs of
compiling working materials, uploading in the Internet, or photocopying.
� Funds for child care within the scope of the event
Funding will not be available for the following kind of events
� Summer Schools dealing with themes which belong either to regular or
specialty teaching programs at universities
� Events where the work program does not clearly integrate the latest research
results
� Gatherings which mainly involve meetings between members of partner
universities
� Activities connected with third party funded graduate schools, excellenzclusters
or similar events
3. Submission of Applications and Exclusion Criteria
Proposals should describe the event in such a way that adequate information
is available for the scientific review. Applications may be submitted either
in English or in German. In case the language of the meeting is not
German, the application should be submitted in English. Applications have to
be submitted via the electronic application system of the Volkswagen Foundation.
The following information and data (.pdf) are required:
� Details of applicant, co-applicants and grant recipient
� Budget and substantiation
� Scientific curriculum vitae of the main applicants (with publication list of
max. 5 of the most important and relevant publications)
� German and English summary of the project (in each case max. 300
words) including the date the event is planned to take place
� The proposal itself (detailed description and reasoning, max. 5 pages)
including an explanation of how it is intended to integrate young researchers
� List of attendees and their home institutions (when known, please state
whether confirmed or not). Young researchers should be included in a
separate list.
In the case of Symposia and Summer Schools, the list of participants
can be replaced by details of how the event is being announced and the
selection procedure for participants.
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� Program of the event (tentative) including details of the event format
with respect to the number of participants, and rooms needed for Symposia
� Only for Symposia: A proposal for a possible evening talk on the part of
a participant that could be open to the public, as well as a short „newspaper
article “, designed to bring the topic of the event nearer to an interested
public
The background to requesting an evening talk is that the Volkswagen Foundation
also wishes to interest the general public in scientific and scholarly
topics. Beside its own events, the Foundation wishes – whenever feasible –
to exploit the potential of funded Symposia for the dissemination of research
results. There can, however, be no guarantee that proposals for evening talks
can actually be implemented.
If the event is organized by both German and foreign colleagues, the person
in charge should be an academic from a German university or research institute.
According to the statutes, the Foundation can only grant funding to scientific
institutions.
Applications from individuals for the financing of travel and accommodation
will not be processed. Furthermore, the Foundation does not provide funding
merely to supplement existing support granted by another funding organization;
nor can it accept applications for funding which have already been submitted
or will be submitted to another funding organization. The Foundation
shall not be held liable for any commitments entered into before the grant letter
has been received.
4. Deadlines for Application
Applications for Summer Schools can be filed at any time.
Applications for Symposia, however, must be submitted together with all necessary
details no later than the respective deadline dates. In the interest of a
smooth review process, respective deadlines have to be set at least eight
months prior to the event date. The Foundation will not accept applications
which refer to events planned at short notice.
5. Services available at the venue
In the case of events held in in Hanover, various service providers of
Herrenhausen Palace will organize everything you may need, always provided
these have been previously agreed to:
� Hotel reservations
� return transfer from hotel to venue
� Catering
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6. Review
Applications for Summer Schools are subject to written review.
Applications for Symposia undergo comparative review by an interdisciplinary
commission.
7. Timeframe for reviewing Symposia
� Deadlines for the submission of applications: 15th January and 15th July
� Meetings of the review commission are planned for April and October,
respectively.
� Notification about the foundation’s decision will be sent to applicants
once the review committee has completed its work.
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