Call for Applications | 07. April 2026

Call for Participation – Travel Grants for Early-Career Researchers in Media and Film Studies with Data-Driven Research Projects

By Andrea Polywka, M. A.

In close consultation with representatives of the media studies community, NFDI4Culture is awarding five grants this year to early-career researchers. The grants are primarily aimed at research assistants, doctoral candidates, postdocs, and other early-career researchers in the field of film and media studies who are engaged in data-driven research that employs quantitative, qualitative, or digital methods for the analysis of film and media data.

As a humanities consortium, we are committed to the sustainable preservation of research data on (im)material cultural assets and collaborate in this effort with university institutes, art and music colleges, academies, galleries, libraries, archives, museums, and individual researchers. In this context, research data management guided by academic principles requires the active participation of all stakeholders. To promote the academic advancement and visibility of these research approaches, the grants are intended to facilitate participation in (inter)national professional events or research stays specifically designed to foster the exchange of methods, data, and research findings. These include:

• Workshops – intensive, practice-oriented formats in which new methods or tools are presented and tested collaboratively.
• Symposia and conferences – platforms where current research findings can be presented, discussed, and critically examined.
• Research stays – short but focused stays at (inter)national partner institutions that provide direct access to specialized data sets, archives, or technical infrastructure.

Funding scope: A total of five travel grants, each in the amount of €1,000, will be awarded.

Requirements and Guidelines:

• A brief outline of the research project and a budget detailing how the travel funds will be used (approx. 500 words)
• A letter of recommendation from the host institution or confirmation of acceptance to a conference or workshop (may be submitted later)
• A short biography (approx. 100 words)
• Following the stay, we require a brief report on your experience, which will be published on the Culture Information Portal (including references to publications, if applicable)

Note: Applications may only be submitted by individuals affiliated with a German university.

The application deadline is June 30, 2026; please send the required documents to coordination-office@nfdi4culture.de.