Our Focus

2024/2025: Innovating and Future-Proofing Europe:

Reimagining and Shaping Transformative Spaces

When contemplating the future, we often envision the transformation of existing spaces and structures, developing concepts and innovations that aim to expand and improve what already exists. This year, we seek inspiration on how we can utilise and shape the new spaces emerging from these innovations and transformations, whether within the broader European context or in more localised areas.

As part of our Fellowship programme, we invite project ideas that explore the scientific, creative, societal, political, economic, or sustainable use of various spaces in Europe. This includes questions ranging from how European architecture can align with goals for greater sustainability and security, how institutional and parliamentary spaces can further deepen democracy and transparency, how we can challenge existing spaces in the context of EU enlargement and integration, and extend beyond internal design to diplomatic and cooperative spaces that underscore Europe’s role as an international and competitive actor.

The following points are intended to inspire and stimulate research projects that we would be delighted to support with a research grant in the upcoming academic year:

Urban and Rural Spaces: How can we reimagine cityscapes and rural areas to foster sustainable growth, inclusivity, and resilience? How can we integrate green spaces, smart infrastructure, and community-centric designs that enhance the quality of life for all inhabitants?
Digital and Sci-Fi Spaces: With the rise of digital technologies and the exploration of the Metaverse and extraterrestrial spaces, how can Europe find its role in using the potential of this transformation? What will Europe’s future look like through pushing the boundaries of traditional concepts, for example, in the areas of smart cities, digital twins, or space habitats?
Sustainability Concepts: Addressing the climate crisis is imperative. How can architectural designs contribute to Europe's sustainability goals, f.e. through energy efficiency, sustainable materials, or eco-friendly planning? What else is needed to minimise environmental impact, promote green living, and reach globally defined ambitions?
Security Architecture: In a world facing increasing security threats, how can we shape resilient environments for our critical infrastructure? What institutional and military designs will be necessary to safeguard public, economic, and political stability?
Strategic Foreign Policy of the EU: The question of shifts in power, alliances, and coalitions for Europe remains pertinent – extending beyond the G20 and including the Global South. Where can the EU position itself in the international arena and remain a powerful global actor?
The EU as an Integrative Space: Looking at and beyond European border spaces, what strategies can the EU employ to enhance its integrative capabilities? What role should Europe play in its neighbourhood and how do we address current external challenges? What approaches are still missing in the decades-long history of EU integration, and which models could balance further unification with the potentials and risks of additional enlargement into the European political, economic, and cultural space? And what discussions are there to be had regarding enlargement models within the EU, particularly concerning the forms of potential future memberships?
Room for Democracy: With populist, authoritarian, or anti-European movements on the rise, Europe’s major task for the near future will be to secure its democratic values. How can we make room for greater discourse, foster dialogue and participation, and create increased transparency within the EU’s internal structures, while simultaneously enhancing structures for international collaboration and diplomatic spaces?

The Fellowship programme is open to all research projects and disciplines that offer concrete, innovative, and feasible approaches to address the complex and interdisciplinary challenges in a European context. We highly encourage young scholars of all fields, young professionals, or employees of scientific, political, or public institutions to hand in their research proposals for the research year 2024/25 by August 11.

2023/2024: Efficiency by Design:

Europe's Path to Global Competitiveness,

Sustainable Leadership, and Effective Decision-Making

The war in Ukraine and the response to its effects continue to dominate the EU's actions and priorities. Besides the debates on arms deliveries and humanitarian aid, Europe will need to assert itself as a force of opinion and impetus beyond the geopolitical power play. Therefore, the EU's future success hinges on its ability to enhance operational efficiency by strengthening its institutions and decision-making mechanisms, for example by including qualified majority voting in foreign, security and defence policy as well as in parts of tax policy. Moreover, it will be important to strategically address enlargement and integration matters while maintaining its competitiveness as a pioneering force in technology and sustainability.

For the research year 2023/24, we invite individuals and research groups to explore innovative approaches, initiatives, projects, and policies that investigate how Europe can enhance resilience, refine governability, ponder cohesion, flourish innovative ideas, and foster its competitiveness, especially in value-adding developments.

While considerations on further EU enlargement have dominated the integration debates in Europe for years, the question of necessary internal reforms cannot be overlooked. In this context, aspects of security creation also constitute an added value for Europe's future, extending the safeguarding of the internal market. It is of vital importance to further explore ideas that complement existing conditions and ensure Europe's continued prosperity and leverage on a global scale. This also underscores the significance of designing efficient systems regarding sustainability, new technologies, energy security, resource procurement and use as well as policies that maximise Europe's competitive advantage and its reputation as a reliable partner on the international stage.

2022/2023: Europe's Path to Strategic Sovereignty

– How Do We Achieve an Equitable and Resilient Reset?

While the world seems to be spinning at a rapid pace, some issues that were thought to have been overcome long ago have slipped back into focus. The overarching goal of securing peace in Europe raises questions about the strategic orientation of the EU at the same time as the war on its doorstep highlights current dependencies and deficits. However, this is only the latest of various crises in recent years that necessitates political action in various fields. In the research year 2022/23, we are looking for research projects that address the changing realities of tomorrow's Europe with foresight and with implementable proposals for the design of a resilient and competitive union.

In this context, new challenges evolve not only about Europe’s military capacity to act, but at the same time about the future security of raw material procurement, energy use and its role in climate protection. Thus, while shared foreign policy goals could lead to more unity, there is a danger that inequitable distribution mechanisms, shortages and recession could cause new dependencies.

What quantities are needed in order not to endanger current prosperity and can these specifications be reconciled ?with the aspiration for more independence? How can more sovereignty in Europe be balanced with the goals we have set outselves in the fight against climate change and for more sustainability? How can such a strategic transformation be achieved in a socially just way for all member states and actors?

At the same time, it’s time to tackle the internal challenges on the way to an EU capable of acting in the future. A look at the European elections in 2024 and the conclusion of the conference on the future of Europe could allow for various analyses, as well as a possible reorganization of voting procedures, transparency and a reform of the current institutional structure. And, while Europe is completely re-positioning itself geopolitically in terms of its new stance on enlargement policy, it will also be interesting in the future how it will define itself and its relationship with neighbors and partners.

The fellowship program is open to all projects and disciplines that offer concrete, innovative and feasible approches to address the complex and sometimes contradictory challenges on a European scale.

2021/2022: Shaping the Change

– How Can Europe Succeed in a World of Transformation?

The global pandemic, which has been ongoing for more than a year, has shifted priorities andmade creative solutions to unexpected challenges more welcomed than ever. Being titled as crisis,as social break or as challenge in the course of the new decade, with effects for our future thatseem hardly foreseeable, the current situation brings with it opportunities and risks to react toinnovations, to implement them and to anchor significant changes. Yet, in this time of upheaval,where does Europe stand?

While the debates are dominated by questions and problems of the near future at the moment, beit with regard to joint solutions for mutual support in the fight against the pandemic or foruniform approaches in the return to pre-pandemic life, the crisis has also worked as anaccelerator, which puts a high number of issues to the test. The ongoing period of uncertainty hasmade it clear to us that it is important to identify issues and solutions today that could challengeus in the further future. By generating thoughts on what the Europe of tomorrow might look like,taking into account different perspectives and areas, there is now an opportunity to developscenarios at an early stage that identify problems and solutions in order to shape the prospectivechange we’re currently facing.

How can Europe – its people, companies, institutions, youth and partnerships - succeed inmeeting the demands of these and forthcoming times in a way that is prompt, relevant, modernand feasible for all?

While the current crisis has slowed down social interaction, it has intensified previously timidtransformation processes, whose success also define the overall outcome for society. Now, with theConference on the Future of Europe, the European Union is already taking a first step towardsaddressing how the EU can strengthen its joint capacity to act and move forward in expanding theinvolvement of the European people. Another task will be to regularly revise the requirements towhich Europe will have to respond, as well as to integrate new input for the discussions that areyet to come.

Therefore, we’re looking for research projects that offer proposals, approaches, ideas and actualrole models on how Europe can succeed in responding to the future challenges and harness thedrive for change. The fellowship programme is open to projects of all forms and disciplines thatoffer concrete, innovative and feasible solutions to the European challenges of tomorrow. We are highly encouraging graduates of all fields, young professionals or employees of scientific, politicalor public institutes, to hand in their research ideas for the research year 2021/22.

2020/2021: Europe’s Future at the Crossroads

– New Perspectives of Solidarity?

The beginning of the new decade has posed unexpected challenges for unity and social standards within Europe. In times of crisis, relevant topics and joint progress have faded into the background, while attention is focused on maintaining individual habits on a small scale. In these uncertain times, one assumption remains unquestioned: The course that is currently being set will have a major impact on the future - in and for Europe.

In the upcoming research year, we are looking for innovative approaches that address incentives and benefits of an inforced European cohesion, reflecting on the purpose of the Union while taking its future challenges into account.

What are the concrete benefits of a solidaric Union? What will strengthen the EU’s ability to act? How could a European "solidarity index" be created? What role does sustainability play in rethinking solidarity in Europe? What influence does macroeconomic management have in order to create a stronger Union?

The term ‘solidarity’ will thereby cover a broad spectrum of current issues, which require consideration in discussing inner European unity. Aspects of a joint response to current crisis in economic, social or technological terms have just recently appeared on the agenda. Fostering sustainability and climate action in connection with the European Green Deal that will shape political priorities of the European Commission for the next four years and the expactations to create a sustainable, inclusive and solidaric Europe have currently influenced political action. Presenting new approaches to joint security standards and conflict solution or facing demographic change and diverging narratives on the EU’s purpose between individual member states, as well as underlining the importance of investment on integration and alignment are also important issues to draw the attention on. These topics should serve as examples that could be addressed; though, we’re looking forward to innovative and creative research questions from all kinds of perspectives.

The Fellowship programme 2020/2021 aims to support five relevant research questions that further engage with the future of Europe by pushing analytical discourse in opposition to the gap between public perceptions and the EU’s actual benefits, aiming to foresee challenges and hurdles, which are yet to come.

This focus area leaves space for individual research questions, directed at challenging the status quo and aiming for progress. We strongly encourage graduates, young professionals or employees of scientific, political or public institutes to hand in their research ideas, regardless of the individual subject area or political agenda.

2019/2020: Europe’s Role Tomorrow

– Responsibilities in Global Progress

Europe bears responsibility for its own composition, as well as for global developments. While internal dissensions might block the external capacities to act on a global stage and towards the international cooperation, we want to engage with this topic in a way that poses questions on the task-position for Europe in its adaptation to the challenges of tomorrow.

Which are the steps Europe has to take right now and which future scenarios are thinkable? Which decisions are necessary, which policies decisive or which conflicts avoidable?

The term ‘responsibility’ can thereby cover a broad spectrum of current issues that require consideration in discussing Europe’s prospective role. Aspects like sustainability, climate action, migration, transnational security or conflict solution, especially with regard to the status of current alliances or international military rearmament, as well as addressing social imbalances or technological innovations are just a glimpse of issues that could be addressed in this context.

With the new President of the European Commission, changes and new attempts for the European Community have been announced in July 2019. Following up with our Fellowship Programme 2019/2020, we want to support relevant research questions that further draw the attention on new approaches and analytical discourse. By looking at various fields, theories and action levels, the aim is to sketch chances and deficits of current developments, situating Europe’s role within global challenges of the future.

This focus area leaves space for individual research questions, directed at challenging the status quo and aiming for progress. We are highly encouraging graduates, young professionals or employees of scientific, political or public institutes to hand in their research ideas, regardless of the individual subject area or political agenda.