Award for Age and Work

The Marie-Luise and Ernst Becker Foundation awards its nationwide grant "Age and Work," which specifically supports young early-career researchers in innovative research projects. The prize is aimed at academically active individuals at universities or research institutions based in Germany. The focus of the funding is on projects that investigate physical, psychological, and cognitive performance in older age, thereby making a sustainable contribution to maintaining the work ability of older people. The grant is intended as a catalyst: it rewards scientific excellence as well as the innovative content and practical benefits of the projects for the working world of an aging society.

Funding is provided for individual or collaborative projects that demonstrate high scientific quality and clear relevance to social participation and employability in old age. Applicants must prove their affiliation with a recognized research institution and submit a concrete project plan. Evaluation criteria include methodological rigor, the novelty of the approaches, and the long-term impact of potential results. The prize money enables early-career researchers to conduct their study, publish findings, and build networks in science and practice. In this way, the "Age and Work" grant contributes to rethinking aging and to strengthening the health, activity, and participation of older generations in the long term.