Ladoscholar: Most scholarships fund coursework. This one funds thinking time. The Gerda Henkel Foundation is one of Europe’s leading funders of the historical humanities, and its research scholarship pays an individual scholar to work full-time on a specific project of their own.
The big appeal is flexibility. Support doesn’t depend on your nationality or location, and no institutional affiliation is necessary. That makes it valuable for early-career scholars between jobs, or working outside traditional university posts.
What you get:
- A monthly award of €2,760 for postdoctoral, or €3,720 for scholars who’ve completed a postdoctoral lecture qualification such as a habilitation.
- A family grant of €480 for one child and €120 for each further child, for children under 18.
- Travel aid and material aid as needed, which you must justify in a detailed budget.
- Funding for between one and 24 months.
Eligibility
This one has detailed rules, and small details can disqualify you, so read carefully.
- Subject area: Archaeology, History, Historical Islamic Studies, Art History, History of Law, Prehistory and Early History, and History of Science. Neighbouring disciplines are possible if the core research question is historically oriented.
- Academic stage: You must hold a PhD or an equivalent second qualification, and doctoral candidates are not eligible.
- PhD age: Your PhD must have been awarded no more than ten years ago, with allowance for periods of absence like parental leave. This doesn’t apply to scholars with a habilitation.
- Published dissertation: Your dissertation must already be published in full, as a book issued by a publisher. A publishing contract, individual articles or a repository copy don’t count.
- New project: Your proposed research must clearly differ from your PhD topic.
- Full-time only: Part-time scholarships aren’t possible, and you can’t receive a salary or pension at the same time.
- Past funding: If you’ve had a previous Foundation research scholarship, it must have been at least five years earlier. If your last application was rejected, you must wait three years, and rejected projects can’t be resubmitted.
How to Apply
1. Confirm you fit every rule above. The published-dissertation and ten-year rules catch many applicants.
2. Choose the right form. Use the research scholarship form if you’re applying only for your own funding. If you want to fund other people too, the research project form applies.
3. Build a sharp, original project. The Foundation funds new questions, not a repackaged thesis. Make clear what’s new, why it matters and why you’re the person to do it.
4. Plan the work month by month. Your working plan should set out the work stages and any archive or library trips.
5. Build a precise budget. Be specific. Flat-rate daily allowances or hotel flat rates aren’t accepted, and tuition fees aren’t funded.
6. Line up your recommender early. You’re responsible for requesting letters, and your referee uploads it through an online form with a personal signature.
7. Finish the form in one go. You can reopen it for ten days via a personal link, after which your data is deleted. Once submitted, you can’t edit it.
How to stand out:
- Open your proposal with the research question, not background.
- Show why the sources, archives or methods you’ll use are accessible and realistic.
- Make your timeline believable. Reviewers notice overpacked plans.
- Be transparent if you used AI. Generative AI is permitted, but you must document which stages involved it and take full responsibility for the content.
Key Dates
- 20 November 2026: Application deadline for the spring 2027 committee meeting. Applications must reach the Foundation’s office by this day.
- From May 2027: Earliest possible funding start.
- May 2027: The next deadline, with the exact date announced later.
Documents Needed
Applications are electronic only and may be in German or English:
- Research proposal
- Time schedule and working plan, including travel to archives or libraries
- Detailed cost calculation in euros, following the Foundation’s budget guidelines
- Tabular CV with a list of publications
- Copies of academic certificates: Master’s, PhD and so on, but not Bachelor’s certificates
- One letter of recommendation: up to a maximum of two
Technical rules: Upload PDFs only, not password-protected, with each file under 6 MB. The form won’t submit unless all required documents are included.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Applying without a published dissertation. A contract or articles aren’t enough.
- Missing the ten-year PhD window without noting any qualifying absences.
- Proposing a project too close to your thesis. The Foundation requires clear difference.
- Vague or flat-rate budgets. Itemise every trip and material cost.
- Planning part-time work. The scholarship is full-time only, and secondary work must stay minimal.
- Leaving your referee until the end. You’re responsible for the letter arriving on time.
- Assuming you can fix the form later. Incomplete submissions are not considered, and the Foundation won’t remind you of missing documents.
- Resubmitting a rejected project. It isn’t allowed, even in revised form.
- Applying to two Foundation programmes at once. Parallel applications aren’t permitted.
Application Link
Who This Is Best For: Postdoctoral researchers in the historical humanities who want paid, full-time time to work on a new research project anywhere in the world. Not for undergraduates, master’s students or current PhD candidates. If you’re still doing your PhD, look at the Foundation’s separate PhD scholarships instead.
