[VOLKSWAGEN STIFTUNG | Artificial Intelligence and the Society of the Future]

Launched in November 2017, this new initiative by the Volkswagen Stiftung supports novel project constellations and interdisciplinary cooperations in the social sciences and the engineering sciences; the integration of the humanities is welcome. Against the background of the current and emerging developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence, the Foundation wishes to support projects dealing with the development of new perspectives and insights with a view to shaping the future of society as well as technology. The Foundation considers only new proposals that have not been submitted to other funding organizations.
 
Who can apply

• Postdoctoral researchers and Professors at all career levels who are employed by a university or research institute.
• The Consortium
  • Can have up to 5 working groups.
  • Must have expertise in engineering, social sciences and/or humanities.
  • Researchers outside of Germany can participate.   
  • The institution in Germany must submit the application.

• Funding covers all project-related costs (including the PI’s salary if not permanent). Overheads are NOT funded.
• Applicants can apply to a one-year Planning Grant upfront or directly to a longer-term Full Grant.
  • PLANNING GRANT: € 150K for 9-12 months to enable:

• the composition of an interdisciplinary project team,
• the identification of a connecting topic, and
• the preparation of a Full Grant proposal.
  • FULL GRANT: up to € 1.5M for up to 4 years.

• Application checklists are available at p.4 of the call document.
• Submit your application via the electronic application system.
• All partners with project responsibility need to register in the online portal.