Scoping Workshops
Scoping Workshops support researchers across all disciplines through expert working meetings that assess research fields, explore their potential, and develop recommendations for their future.
Funder: Volkswagen Foundation
Due Dates: January 26, 2027 (Online Q&A) | March 2, 2027, 2:00 p.m. (Application)
Funding Amounts: Three-day workshop costs, including up to €7,200 for student assistants, plus venue and event support
Summary: Supports expert workshops across all disciplines to assess research fields and develop perspectives for their future.
Key Information: Lead applicants must hold a PhD and work at a scientific institution in Germany; international partners are possible.
Description
The Volkswagen Foundation’s Scoping Workshops support collective reflection on the future of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research fields and communities. Part of the Exploration profile area, the programme gives researchers space to step beyond ongoing projects and examine their field’s current status, untapped potential, and academic conditions. Workshops may address emerging fields, reassess existing areas, identify opportunities for cooperation, or develop recommendations for science policy, funding, and management.
These are working meetings centred on discussion and intensive exchange, rather than presentations of recent research results. Three-day workshops bring together up to 30 participants at the Xplanatorium Herrenhausen Palace conference centre in Hannover. Each workshop must produce a position paper setting out its findings and recommendations for further development.
