Full-proposal : 27/05/2026

Contacts externes

Merle Weidtmann

Cet appel ne nécessite pas de suivi particulier par le Département Recherche. Merci de suivre directement la procédure indiquée. Si toutefois vous souhaitez contacter le Département Recherche, écrivez à ulbkto@ulb.be (propriété intellectuelle) ou fonds.recherche@ulb.be (pour toute autre question).

Gerda Henkel Grants: Funding Programme Lost Cities

Gerda Henkel Stiftung

Sciences humaines et sociales (15)

Sciences exactes et appliquées

The funding programme is designed to be interdisciplinary and to facilitate projects in which there are varied dimensions to the examination of abandoned cities. At the same time, there should be a focus on causal correlations, both with regard to specific individual cultures and spanning all cultures, and on specifics of place and time. Thus far, such places have emerged for very different reasons, including military destruction, natural disasters, epidemics, environmental pollution, economic collapse, financial speculation, mobility, migration, centralization, deindustrialization, or post-colonial change, to name but a few.

The aim of the programme is to describe the tangible cultures of interpretation, knowledge and perception within these different contexts. Lost Cities are part of a distinct culture of memory, for example, which serves for the negotiation of identities, the preservation of knowledge cultures, the formulation of criticism of progress, or the construction of mythical or sacral topographies as part of a veritable “ruin cult”. On this basis, the focus here should not be on the question of which factors led to the city’s abandonment. Rather, it is the abandoned cities themselves that are of particular interest, as well as the different forms of their interpretation, instrumentalization and coding in various cultures and time frames.

1/ What thematic focus must a project have?

the funding programme is designed to be interdisciplinary

A focus on culturally specific and cross-cultural causal connections and regionally / temporally specific items.

Of especial interest are the lost cities themselves and the different ways in which they are ‘read’, instrumentalised and codified in the various cultures and periods of time.

2/ What can applications be made for?

For project members involved in research projects, applications may only be made for PhD or research scholarships.

A research scholarship can be granted for the applicant (project lead).

Support for research projects takes the form of staff, travel, equipment/materials and/or other costs being covered.

Support for student assistants.

In total, an application can include a maximum of three scholarships plus travel and equipment/materials costs per research group.

Research duration: up to 36 months.

Financement

Application for scholarships as part of a research groups

Project staff on research projects may only be financed by PhD scholarships or research scholarships. A fundamental prerequisite for receiving a scholarship is that project staff conduct their own research, which is published under their name. The approved scholarships are usually paid directly to the scholarship holders on a monthly basis. Alternatively, the scholarships may be administered via a grant account at your institution. 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

• 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

For classification under the stipend rate “after post doctoral lecture qualification”, the following applies: In higher education systems in which a formal second academic qualification beyond the doctorate (e.g. habilitation or an equivalent procedure) is required, this second qualification will be treated as as the determining qualification. In higher education systems in which a second qualification of this kind is not part of the academic structure, the Foundation will as a rule regard the holding of a permanent (normally tenured) professorship or other permanent higher education teaching position at a mid-level or senior rank (e.g. Associate/Full/Distinguished Professor, Senior Lecturer, Reader, Professor) as an equivalent qualification to the habilitation; comparable positions may be recognised as equivalent in individual cases, in line with the respective national ranking system. A positively evaluated junior professorship is likewise recognised as equivalent. Positions such as Assistant Professor or Lecturer, as well as fixed-term junior professorships without a positive evaluation, are not regarded as equivalent to the habilitation.

• 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.

Pour postuler

Electronic Application Form for the Foundation:

Please ensure that you are using the correct application form and that you complete it in full.

When filling in the form, please follow standard rules of capitalization and avoid using exclusively uppercase or lowercase letters.

For technical reasons, the Foundation recommends completing the form in one session and keeping it open in only a single browser window.

It is possible to reopen and continue editing the form for ten days via a personal link once it has been created. The ten-day period begins when the form is first generated; subsequent changes do not extend this period. After the ten days have expired, your data will be deleted from the server.

Once you have completed the form, you will receive a summary that you must confirm separately before submitting it electronically.

When you submit the form, your data will be transmitted electronically to the Foundation. The application can no longer be viewed or modified thereafter. You will receive a confirmation of receipt at the email address you provided.

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.

Requis d'admission

1/ Who is eligible for support?

PhD holders with a university affiliation from the humanities and social sciences.

Only applications from research groups will be considered.

The Gerda Henkel Foundation understands a research group to mean at least two scholars active on the project who are financed by Foundation scholarships and research joint issues.

Applications do not depend on the participants' nationality or the location where they work.

Zones géographiques

Les zones géographiques n'ont pas encore été spécifiées.

Pas de documents disponibles

Dernière modification le 09/03/2026 par DI GIGLIO Sarah