Digitisation and Indexing Funding Programme
Funds projects in Germany to digitise and index research-related collections, promoting open access, innovative methods, and best practices for scientific research use.
Funder: German Research Foundation
Due Dates: Rolling submission (no fixed deadline)
Funding Amounts: No minimum or maximum; funding based on project needs; 1/3 own contribution required.
Summary: Supports digitisation and indexing of research-related collections, emphasizing open access, innovative methods, and best-practice standards in Germany.
Key Information: Proposals must be submitted via the DFG’s elan portal; 1/3 of project costs must be covered by the applicant institution.
Description
This program funds projects to digitise and/or index research-related objects and collections—such as documents, museum items, audio/visual media, born-digital data, and image datasets—at research information infrastructure facilities in Germany. The aim is to enhance the nationwide availability, interoperability, and research relevance of scientific collections, ensuring that digitised assets and metadata are permanently stored, openly accessible, and reusable for the research community. The program supports the adoption of established digitisation standards, development of best-practice guidelines where standards do not exist, and the use of innovative methods (e.g., OCR, automatic image recognition, 3D digitisation). Projects must be distinct from the fundamental mission of the applicant institution (i.e., not for cultural promotion or preservation alone).
