When and how to apply
The ZURÜCKGEBEN Foundation awards annual grants for projects by Jewish women artists and scholars living and working in Germany. It provides funding in a wide variety of areas such as film, literature (e.g. novels, poetry collections, non-fiction books, biographies), dance and theater, visual arts (e.g. exhibitions), and science (e.g. research projects, university theses). Funding is possible regardless of age.
Applications for the 2026 funding year can be submitted from 5 May to 31 August 2025.
Application formalities
Please submit your application in electronic form (max. 8 MB) in PDF format. The application will only be considered if it is received by the Foundation during the application period.
The application is not valid without a signature despite the digital format! Please do not forget to include it.
Please submit the following documents bundled in ONE pdf file and in this order:
• The completed application form (PDF)
• Project description (2-3 pages)
• Tabular schedule of the project realisation
• Precise tabular calculation of your financial plan
• Resume / CV including a brief description of your artistic and academic career to date and additional information on personal/biographical reference to Jewishness
• If applicable, further attachments (e.g. synopsis / sample chapter of book projects)
Please note:
• In accordance with our statue, our scholarships can only be awarded to Jewish women. Membership in the Jewish community is not a requirement. Scholarship recipients must have their centre of residence and work in Germany.
Exceptions are not possible.
• The application must be submitted in German; you can also realise your project in any other language.
• Only one current project can be considered per applicant. Women who have already received funding from the ZURÜCKGEBEN Foundation in previous years can also participate in this call for applications.
• Projects that have already been started can be funded. Projects that have already been completed cannot be funded retrospectively.
• Please inform the foundation immediately if you receive funding for the same project from another organisation during the same period.
• Projects that are dedicated to a Jewish topic and have a current relevance are particularly important to us.
• Printing costs, editing and translation work will not be subsidised.
• The ZURÜCKGEBEN Foundation cannot always grant the full amount of funding applied for and can often only provide partial funding. Applications to other institutions are therefore expressly permitted.
• There is no legal entitlement to a scholarship.
• The ZURÜCKGEBEN Foundation does not support individuals with links to National Socialist ideology, the AfD or organisations that question Israel’s right to exist, etc.
The team of the ZURÜCKGEBEN Foundation commits to the Bundestag resolution “Resolutely confronting the BDS movement – combating anti-Semitism” (printed matter 19/10191) of 15.05.2019 and the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaus Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
The selection of grantees is made by a jury composed of Jewish women.
After the end of the application period you will receive confirmation of receipt of your application by e-mail. In November 2025 we will send you a notification of the jury’s decision. Please refrain from written and telephone enquiries about the status of your application. In case of a rejection of your application, we are unfortunately unable to provide you with any comments regarding the content of your application. We ask for your understanding in this regard.
In case of acceptance, a scholarship contract will be concluded between the scholarship holder and the ZURÜCKGEBEN Foundation. For this purpose, a copy of the passport and a current certificate of registration must be submitted. The scholarship will be paid exclusively to the scholarship holder’s own German bank account.
The complete application documents must be bundled into ONE PDF file and sent to: info@stiftung-zurueckgeben.de
The file size of the documents must not exceed 8 MB and must be sent exclusively as an e-mail attachment. Formats other than PDF will not be accepted. Applications in other formats cannot be considered.
Please send specific inquiries about the call exclusively by e-mail to: info@stiftung-zurueckgeben.de