Volkswagen Stiftung | Night Science – Space for the creative mind
Event details
| Date | 05.06.2025 |
| Category | Call for proposal |
Aim: With the funding initiative Night Science, the foundation aims to establish creativity as an essential tool for disruptive scientific discoveries. The initiative creates space within everyday research to develop unconventional ideas, hypotheses and theories. By promoting tandems of two scientists and the associated intensive exchange between them, the initiative seeks to cultivate creative approaches, challenge unconscious assumptions and uncover potential cognitive biases. The funding is complemented by practical workshops that specifically teach creativity techniques and their application to scientific questions.
With its funding initiative Night Science, the Volkswagen Foundation specifically promotes the creative phase of scientific ideas before they are fully developed. The goal is to provide researchers with the freedom to focus more on creativity in order to strengthen disruptive research approaches. Thereby, the regular interdisciplinary exchange between two researchers, so called ‘science buddies’, is at the centre of the initiative. Furthermore, the programme also seeks to promote a greater integration of creativity into the scientific system.
During the funding period, there will be three accompanying workshops, which are mandatory for both tandem partners. The workshops are designed to equip participants with a creative and proactive mindset. They offer space to develop individual creative strategies while providing a structured framework for inspiration and reflection on the topic. The workshops will take place on the following dates:
13.-16.04.2026 | 05.-08.10.2026 | 12.-15.04.2027
Duration: 1 year
Funding: up to EUR 200,000 (incl. 10% overheads)
Eligibility:
Application Deadline: 05 June 2025, 2pm CET
Further information
With its funding initiative Night Science, the Volkswagen Foundation specifically promotes the creative phase of scientific ideas before they are fully developed. The goal is to provide researchers with the freedom to focus more on creativity in order to strengthen disruptive research approaches. Thereby, the regular interdisciplinary exchange between two researchers, so called ‘science buddies’, is at the centre of the initiative. Furthermore, the programme also seeks to promote a greater integration of creativity into the scientific system.
During the funding period, there will be three accompanying workshops, which are mandatory for both tandem partners. The workshops are designed to equip participants with a creative and proactive mindset. They offer space to develop individual creative strategies while providing a structured framework for inspiration and reflection on the topic. The workshops will take place on the following dates:
13.-16.04.2026 | 05.-08.10.2026 | 12.-15.04.2027
Duration: 1 year
Funding: up to EUR 200,000 (incl. 10% overheads)
Eligibility:
- Scientists in the natural, life, and technical sciences who work in the field of basic research
- Scientists who completed their doctorate before June 1, 2021 are eligible to apply. The date of the defense or viva voce examination is decisive.
- The two Science Buddies should hold comparable positions within the academic system to ensure an exchange on equal footing, free from hierarchical dependencies. A balanced commitment from both tandem partners is expected throughout the funding year, which should also be reflected in the budget distribution.
- The subject area of the tandem partners must explicitly differ from each other
- International partners can act as Science Buddies, whereby one partner must be employed at a German research institution.
Application Deadline: 05 June 2025, 2pm CET
Further information
- More information about the program is available here.
- For any other questions, please contact the Research Office.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Contact
- research@epfl.ch