In March 2021, the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) established the Priority Programme “Jewish Cultural Heritage” (SPP 2357). The programme is designed to run for six years. The present call invites proposals for the first three-year funding period (2022–2024).

Topic and Objectives

The Priority Programme aims at developing an interdisciplinary and multi-perspective focus specific to the issues of social and cultural-political significance and the use of Jewish cultural heritage in Europe. In doing so, it pays particular attention to the historical and contemporary intersections of society, Jewish cultural heritage and political, economic, religious and socio-cultural ordering taxonomies.

The aim of the Priority Programme is to analyse the discursive nature of the cultural heritage of Jews in Europe. This is connected to a reappreciation of the local, German concepts “Jüdisches Kulturerbe” (as a cultural-political resource) and “Jewish heritage” (as the totality of all forms of expression of Jewish life) and the points of connection between them. Teams of scholars who critically examine the tangible and intangible objects, contexts of origin, and processes of transmission and innovation of Jewish heritage in an interdisciplinary fashion are invited to participate in the Priority Programme. Also invited to apply are scholars who pursue questions into strategies of integrating Jewish communities and institutions into the heritagisation processes of their heritage. Together, we want to consider and think about “Jewish cultural heritage” in new transdisciplinary ways. We aim at examining questions pursued previous in scholarly, cultural-applied and political work in this field in a forward-looking way. Against the backdrop of current debates on forms of representation and restitution of cultural assets or artefacts looted within the colonial context, Jewish cultural heritage will also be discussed and redefined with the involvement of Jewish actors.

Methodological Framework

The Priority Programme is transdisciplinary and addresses scholars from all disciplines who seek to understand objects and concepts of Jewish heritage – and its afterlife. For this purpose, methods and research objects will be brought together in interdisciplinary tandem projects, which will be conceived by researchers from at least two different disciplines (see description of the programme), and exchanged and compared in cross-project formats.

For more information, please see the Priority Programme’s website (see link below).

Preparatory Meeting

Scientists interested in submitting a project proposal are invited to a preparatory meeting hosted by the programme committee to be held on 8 July 2021 from 10 to 14 o’clock. This meeting provides an opportunity to present the organisational structure of the Priority Programme to connect potential applicants. The meeting will be conducted online. Please note that participation in this meeting is not mandatory for the submission of project proposals. Scientists who are interested in joining this meeting are requested to register with the coordinator of the Priority Programme by 30 June 2021 by spp.ezjm@hmtm-hannover.de.

Proposals must be written in English and submitted to the DFG by 17 August 2021. Please note that proposals can only be submitted via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system. To enter a new project within the existing Priority Programme, go to Proposal Submission – New Project/Draft Proposal – Priority Programmes and select “SPP 2357” from the current list of calls.

In preparing your proposal, please review the programme guidelines (form 50.05, section B) and follow the proposal preparation instructions (form 54.01). These forms can either be downloaded from our website or accessed through the elan portal. In addition to submitting your proposal through elan, please send an electronic copy to the programme coordinator: spp.ezjm@hmtm-hannover.de.

Applicants must be registered in elan prior to submitting a proposal to the DFG. If you have not yet registered, please note that you must do so by 3 August 2021 to submit a proposal under this call; registration requests received after this time cannot be considered. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day. Note that you will be asked to select the appropriate Priority Programme call during both the registration and the proposal process.

Further Information

More information on the Priority Programme is available under:

• www.ezjm.hmtm-hannover.de/en/research/spp-juedisches-kulturerbe

The elan system can be accessed at:

• https://elan.dfg.de/en

DFG forms 50.05 and 54.01 can be downloaded at:

• www.dfg.de/formulare/50_05
• www.dfg.de/formulare/54_01

For scientific enquiries please contact the Priority Programme coordinator:

• Professor Dr. Sarah M. Ross
  Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover
  Europäisches Zentrum für Jüdische Musik
  Hohenzollernstr. 39
  30161 Hannover
  phone +49 511 3100-7120
  sarah.ross@hmtm-hannover.de

Questions on the DFG proposal process can be directed to:

Programme contact:

• Dr. Janne Lenhart
  phone +49 228 885-2460
  janne.lenhart@dfg.de

Administrative contact:

• Stefanie Röper
  phone +49 228 885-2705
  stefanie.roeper@dfg.de