Volkswagen Foundation

The Volkswagen foundation, a not-for-profit body founded by the Volkswagen AG , is the largest of its kind in Germany. Their purpose is the promotion of science and technology in research and education. The Foundation develops funding initiatives with a main focus on emerging, forward-looking areas of research, and helps scientific institutions with the improvement of structures in their work. The Foundation also devotes special attention to the upcoming generation of researchers and to cooperation across disciplinary, cultural and national borders. Funding is available for all scientific fields and is intended to promote the Humanities and Humanitarian Sciences as well as the Natural Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The Volkswagen donation has to date a capital of 2.3 billion EUR (balance sheet total). In the 44 years of its existence the Volkswagen Foundation has funded some 28,000 projects with a total of more than three billion Euro.

The Foundation concentrates on supporting projects that are in line with particular funding initiatives. An overview of current initiatives can be found on the Foundation website. In justified individual cases, a project outside of these fixed criteria can also receive funding.