Funding Guideline / Application for Funding of Scientific Projects (Baumgart Foundation for Contemporary History)

The Baumgart Foundation for Contemporary History continuously provides nationwide grants for individual scientific projects and institutional research initiatives in the field of perpetrator research. Funded are projects that deliver in-depth insights into the actors within the system of National Socialist concentration camps, the Waffen-SS and police, as well as their social environment. Focus areas include the analysis of family biographies, the prehistory before 1933, and the aftermath from May 1945 onwards, as well as the systematic inclusion of descendants. Eligible to apply are both private individuals with relevant scientific qualifications and non-profit organizations and educational institutions. Funding decisions are based on the research relevance, methodological quality, and the degree of descendant participation. Applications can be submitted at any time and are reviewed based on a project outline, a curriculum vitae or proof of qualifications, and a publication list.

The foundation aims to close existing research gaps in the field of NS perpetrator research and to deepen the historical understanding of the interactions between disinformation, discrimination, nationalism, and violence. Special interest is given to work that opens new perspectives on female perpetrators, civil society involvement, and the everyday life worlds of families of SS members. Funded results are to be published in the form of theses, manuscripts, or publications in the German language. Through supporting these projects, not only is the scientific field to be strengthened, but also descendants of the historical actors are to be granted access to reliable research findings.