Cashbox and money

Diversity Fund

Project Funding of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Cashbox and money
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Attention

Application deadline: January 11, 2026

Every year, the Diversity Fund supports projects that raise awareness of diversity at Friedrich Schiller University, have an impact on civil society and contribute to reducing existing discrimination. The projects can be in the areas of teaching, research, technology or administration.

  • Target

    The aim of the Diversity Fund is primarily to support projects that raise awareness of diversity at the University of Jena and work towards encouraging people from previously underrepresented groups at the University of Jena to study, work and help shape university life. Secondly, the projects should actively involve people from Jena's urban society and thus contribute locally to the sustainable development of the topics in order to promote civic engagement and democratic structures at local level. In order to achieve these goals and supplement the centralised measures of the Presidential Board, the fund supports decentralised projects and aims to support members of the university in shaping and strengthening the diversity discourse at the university itself. 

    Preference is given to projects focussing on the following areas:

    • Antidiscrimination
    • Equal opportunities and education
    • Inclusion
    • Empowerment
    • Raising awareness of diversity
    • The interconnection of several dimensions of discrimination
    • Aspects of diversity in the university's history
  • Requirements

    Who is eligible for funding?

    All members of the university are eligible to apply in accordance with Section 21 (1) ThürHG. Scholarship-funded doctoral students and postdocs are also eligible to apply. Applications from independent initiatives or constituted bodies (e.g. student councils) made up of persons eligible to apply are particularly welcome. When submitting an application, applicants must demonstrate that they will remain eligible to apply until the project is completed; this requirement does not apply to constituted bodies.

    What is funded?

    Funding is available for innovative individual projects such as conferences, lectures, workshops, or campaigns. A project duration beyond the financial year (e.g. inclusion tutorials) requires a separate justification. In principle, it is possible that the money applied for from the Diversity Fund represents partial funding, meaning the project may also receive other funding. Applications can be made for material resources, including auxiliary staff, travel expenses, and costs for speakers. The amount of funding is limited to 750 Euros, but exceptions to this limit may be possible in particularly well-founded individual cases.

    Each project requires a defined target group. Personnel costs (except for auxiliary staff), finalisation and qualification work and hospitality costs are not eligible for funding. Funding is not available for projects that are coming to an end or have already been realised.

    How is funding provided?

    Applications can be made for material resources including auxiliary staff, travelling expenses and costs for speakers. After the application deadline (end of the year, 31 December), a jury will decide on the allocation of funds by 15 February. Outside of these deadlines - in justified cases and if funds are available - micro-projects that are a reaction to current events can be funded with a maximum amount of €150.

  • Application Process

    Funding applications are accepted until December 31, 2025.
    For the application, the form "Application form for funding from the Diversity Fund of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena"pdf, 2 mb · de with a project description including project process and calculation must be submitted to the Diversity Office by e-mail by the deadline.

    A decision on the funding application will be made in the weeks following the deadline and applicants will be notified by 15 February at the latest. The notification of approval or rejection will be sent in text form. Outside of these deadlines - in justified cases and if funds are available - micro-projects that are a reaction to current events can be funded with a maximum amount of €150.

    Please note:

    • The funding amount must be spent in the current financial year (corresponds to the following year of the application; please take into account the deadlines for the closing date)
    • Funding from other donors must be reported to the committee.
      Two months after completion of the project, a results report suitable for publication on the Diversity Office website must be submitted, at the latest by 1 February of the following year.
    • A final account of the project must be submitted with the project report. In the event of expenditure that does not correspond to the purpose applied for, the funding can be subsequently cancelled. In this case, the approved funds may be reclaimed.
    • The sponsor must be visible for marketing measures.
    • Funding from other donors must be reported to the jury.
  • Jury

    The funding decision is made by an awarding committee (jury) on the basis of the application documents. The jury's decision is published by 15 February at the latest and is generally valid for the current financial year. This means that the approved funds must be spent and settled by the end of the budget (usually at the beginning of December).

    The awarding committee is made up of one representative each from:

    • the Vice President's Office for University Community and Engagement,
    • the Diversity Office,
    • the group of university lecturers,
    •  the group of academic staff,
    • the student council or one of the student council departments,
    • the representative body for severely disabled persons and
    • the Equal Opportunities Office, if applicable

    The Equal Opportunities Officer has the right to attend and speak.

    The current jury consists of the following members:

    • Annette Wagner-Baier (VPU),
    • Prof. Dr. David J. Green (Diversity Office),
    • Evelyn Hochheim (LehreLernen),
    • Marlene Henning (StuRa-Queer-Paradies),
    • Susanne Schoele (SBV) und
    • Dr. Alexander Zwickies (GSB)
  • Information on data protection

    Data protection information regarding your application to the Friedrich Schiller University Jena Diversity Fund


    Friedrich Schiller University Jena processes personal data in connection with your application for funding for a project through the University's Diversity Fund. With this data protection notice, we would like to inform you about the processing of your personal data in accordance with Art. 13 GDPR.

    Name and contact details of the data controller

    Friedrich Schiller University Jena
    represented by the President
    Fürstengraben 1, 07743 Jena


    Telephone: +49 3641 9-401000
    E-mail: praesident@uni-jena.de

    Internally responsible:


    Diversity Officer of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
    Prof Dr David J. Green
    Zwätzengesse 3
    07743 Jena


    Phone +49 3641-9-400 970
    E-mail: Diversitaet@uni-jena.de 


    Contact details of the data protection officer


    Friedrich Schiller University Jena
    Legal Office
    Fürstengraben 1, 07743 Jena


    Telephone: 03641-9-402087
    E-mail: datenschutz@uni-jena.de 


    Purposes and legal basis of processing


    Your personal data will be processed by Friedrich Schiller University Jena for the purpose of processing your funding application. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit.a, e GDPR in conjunction with § 11 ThürHG.


    Recipients of the data


    Your personal data will only be processed internally by the Diversity Office and the awarding body for the purpose of checking your eligibility for funding and communicating with you.
    Project-related data (title, content, implementation period, etc.) will also be used for the Diversity Office's public relations work.
    Otherwise, your data will only be disclosed to other legal entities such as social insurance institutions and other authorities on the basis of legal requirements, if and to the extent that Friedrich Schiller University Jena is obliged to do so by law.


    Storage period

    The personal data concerning you will be stored until the purpose of the data processing no longer applies. The purpose continues beyond the duration of the project until your funding application has been fully settled. Irrespective of this, data will be stored until the expiry of statutory or official retention obligations.

    Rights of the data subjects

    According to the GDPR, you have the following rights under the conditions specified in the law: right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR), right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR), right to object (Art. 21 GDPR).

    You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR).

Cooperation Patnerships

If you have any further questions, please contact the Diversity Office:

Room 104
Zwätzengasse 3
07743 Jena Google Maps site planExternal link

  • Femtoring-ReWi

    External link de

    Femtoring is a mentoring programme for women (cis and trans) and non-binary people at the Faculty of Law. The focus of this project is to empower women and non-binary people, to network, to provide (female) role models and to give career guidance.
    The three pillars of the programme are
    1. the individual support relationship between mentor and mentee,
    2. the accompanying programme in the form of lectures, workshops and meetings and
    3. the formation of an alumnae network from which current students and alumni alike should benefit.
    Miriam Nomanni, Dr Barbara Bushart and Isabelle Schaal were responsible for implementation in the Faculty of Law in the 2022 funding round.
    In the 2023 funding period, the project will be overseen by the Faculty of Law's equal opportunities team.

    Project

  • Reading and talk: "I am Linus"

    External link de

    The reading and discussion evening "Ich bin Linus" with Linus Giese unfortunately had to be cancelled due to illness. At the request and with the approval of the jury, an online reading and discussion tour with the editors and authors of the anthology "Urban Fantasy Going Queer" was organised as an alternative event with the same project goal. In 3 dates with 2 readings each, the participants were able to learn a lot about the challenges of niche literature and also about the empowerment that writing and publishing their own stories can bring.
    Anna Klassen and Sarah Oleniczak were responsible for the realisation in the Queer Paradise department of the University of Jena's student council.

    Project

  • Lecture series "Educational inequalities"

    External link de

    Two lectures (Prof. Dr Michael Hartmann: "Excellence and elite in the higher education system" and Lisa Rosen HSU/Uni BW Hamburg: "Internationalisation as a counter-movement or reification of racist discrimination? Diversity policies in the mirror of European higher education reforms") and a panel discussion (Prof. Dr Marcel Helbig, LIfBI, Univ.-Prof. Dr mult. Nikolaus Knoepffler, University of Jena, Prof. Dr. Roland Merten, University of Jena: "Justice in educational contexts") organised by the Educational Science Student Council. The aim of the series of events was to raise awareness of the disparities between the social ideal of equitable participation in education and the reality of disadvantaged groups in the education system. The lecture by Prof Michael Hartmann and some of the speakers for the panel discussion were financed by the Diversity Fund. It is planned to continue the series of events in WS 2023/24.
    Charlotte Dietel and Lukas Tran were responsible for the implementation in the FSR Educational Science.

    Project