Klaus Tschira Foundation (KTS)

The  Klaus Tschira Foundation (Klaus Tschira Stiftung, or KTS) is a not-profit organization, established in 1995 by the physicist Klaus Tschira, co-founder of the german software company SAP AG in Walldorf. It was created to support research in informatics, the natural sciences, and mathematics, as well as to promote public understanding in these sciences.

The Foundation mainly provides support for research projects in applied informatics, the natural sciences and mathematics, as well as student projects in these areas and educational projects at public and private universities. In addition, there are selected projects dedicated to the preservation of historical monuments and the arts. The home of the Foundation is the Villa Bosch in Heidelberg, the former residence of Nobel Prize laureate for chemistry Carl Bosch (1874–1940).

The resources provided are largely used to fund projects initiated by the Foundation itself. To this end, it commissions research from institutions such as the European Media Laboratory (EML), founded by Klaus Tschira in 1997. The aim of this institute of applied informatics is to develop systems which help to process informations in a way that the technic is not perceived as an obstable by the user. Part of the research is concerned, among other things, with bio-computer science and the support of molecular-biological and medical research by information technology.

Beyond that, the KTS invites applications for project funding, provided that the projects in questions are in line with the central concerns of the Foundation. As a rule, support for a project will require the involvement of a German project partner. The individual realization of these projects should not exceed a period of three years.

Unfortunately, research projects receiving funding from one of the regular programs of the German Research Organization (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, or DFG) cannot be considered. Inquires and applications for funding should be addressed to the Foundation in writing. Applications should provide the KTF with as much detail as possible about the aims of the project and the plans for its realization. They should also include a realistic estimate of the time and financial resources required. In principle, funding can only be provided for scientific institutions, not for individuals. Grants are only awarded within the framework of the existing grant programs.