31 Mar 2026

Call for Applications: Leibniz Fellowships “Value of the Past”

The Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” is pleased to invite applications for up to seven

Leibniz Fellowships “Value of the Past”

These month-long fellowships provide an opportunity to research in the alliance’s research field and its main topics at one of the participating Leibniz research institutes and Leibniz research museums.

The interdisciplinary Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” examines the values that societies attach to the past. It focusses on processes of value creation as well as competing values in disputes over the past. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the relevance of the past for societies and the changeable historicity of values, the alliance analyses past and current practices of assessing, rethinking, raising, decreasing and harnessing the value of the past. The alliance postulates that particularly in times of political upheavals and crises, processes of negotiating the value of the past play a crucial role.

The fellowship is intended to support academic work that can be assigned to one of the three overarching research foci that deal with “Regimes of Evidence”, “Spatiotemporal Paradigms”, and the “Past as a Public Resource”. These topics are discussed in seven research groups, that work on “Documentary Evidence” , “Digital Heuristics and Digital History”, “Participation and Appropriation”, “Dynamic Constructions of Space and Time”, “Human-Nature Relations in the Anthropocene”, “Contested Values of the Past”, and “Valorization and Commodification”. Additional information can be found on the website of the Leibniz Research Alliance (https://www.leibniz-wert-der-vergangenheit.de/forschung/research-programme-and-research-groups-2025-2029).

The Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” includes historical, educational, social sciences and spatial research institutes as well as research museums. It spans a wide range of disciplines from cultural studies to science and technology. Twenty-one Leibniz institutes and several German and international partners are currently involved.

The fellowships are intended to promote academic research that fit into the alliance’s research profile. Fellowship holders can, for example, use the stipend to research in the field of the alliance’s research areas, to develop a research project in cooperation with the host institution, to conduct archival research, or to write an article or chapter of a book. The project should be presented at a colloquium and/or other event of the Leibniz Research Alliance or its participating Leibniz institutes. It is also expected that fellowship holders contribute to the “Value of the Past” blog (https://valuepast.hypotheses.org).

Applicants must have a PhD and an outstanding academic record. Holders of Leibniz Research Alliance Fellowships receive a grant of 3,000 €. The funding should cover all expenses including travel, housing, and insurance. The host institutes will provide office space and other relevant research facilities where possible.

Applications from scholars from international crisis regions will be given special consideration.

The application deadline is May 30, 2026. Decisions will be announced by mid of July 2026. The fellowships must be taken up by December 2027.

Applications in English or German must include

  • a letter of interest including details about the chosen Leibniz-Institute;
  • a curriculum vitae (including a list of publications, with 5 most important publications);
  • a project proposal not exceeding 1,500 words;
  • a letter of recommendation.

Please send your application to:

Jakob Schlieper
Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past”
Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History, Potsdam
jakob.schlieper@zzf-potsdam.de

Applicants should apply via e-mail (one pdf-attachment only). For further information regarding the Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past”, please refer to www.leibniz-wert-der-vergangenheit.de or contact Dr Achim Saupe: saupe@zzf-potsdam.de.

Participating Leibniz Institutes and Leibniz Research Museums

  • Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum – Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Georessourcen (DBM)
  • Deutsches Museum München (DM)
  • Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum – Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte (DSM)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsmedien – Georg-Eckert-Institut (GEI)
  • Germanisches Nationalmuseum – Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Kulturgeschichte (GNM)
  • Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (HI)
  • Institut für Zeitgeschichte München-Berlin (IfZ)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache (IDS)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz (IEG)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa (GWZO)
  • Leibniz-Institut für jüdische Geschichte und Kultur – Simon Dubnow (DI)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Raumbezogene Sozialforschung (IRS)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM)
  • Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels (LIB)
  • Leibniz-Institut für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (PRIF)
  • Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA)
  • Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung (ZfL)
  • Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam (ZZF)
  • Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO)
  • Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN)