New calls for proposals to explore Big Data
Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft will be launching four new calls for its Sandpit program next year. Having kicked off the program with “Big Data in clinical research” in 2024, the Foundation’s follow-up calls in 2025 will be looking for innovative project ideas on Big Data in the social sciences, the natural sciences, engineering, and the humanities.
“Big datasets are evolving into a vital raw material,” says Peter-André Alt, Management Board Spokesperson of Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft. “Big data research projects enable us to analyze complex and often unstructured data and to gain valuable insights. The Wübben Foundation sandpits offer a place for experimentation for unconventional research approaches, and for project ideas that we hope will be of great relevance to society.”
Successful applicants will receive €50,000 to run a three-day sandpit event, including a workshop to document the results. They may nominate between six and eight sandpit participants with whom they have not collaborated in the past and select up to eight further participants, who will be suggested by the Foundation. The aim is to bring together researchers from different disciplines.
Applications are open to researchers at all career stages (post-doc onward) who are working at a German university. Applications will be reviewed anonymously. The key criterion is not the researcher’s achievements to date, but the potential to develop non-mainstream research topics, approaches, and insights, and to push the boundaries of scientific discovery.
The topics and deadlines for the new Sandpit calls in 2025 are:
- Big Data in the social sciences
Call open from January 1, 2025 to March 1, 2025 - Big Data in the natural sciences
Call open from April 1, 2025 to June 1, 2025 - Big Data in engineering
Call open from July 1, 2025 to September 1, 2025 - Big Data in the humanities
Call open from October 1, 2025 to December 1, 2025
Interested researchers are invited to submit their proposals via the Foundation’s website. Further information about the Sandpit program and eligibility criteria can be found here. The winners of the first Sandpit call on “Big Data in clinical research” will be announced in January 2025.
The Foundation
Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft is a private grant-making foundation based in Berlin. It aims to strengthen Germany’s position as a science and research location by supporting outstanding academics at various career stages.