Research Funding

Every two years, the Foundation awards the Willy Brandt Prize for Contemporary History. The prize is awarded to outstanding research that deals either directly with the work and legacy of Willy Brandt or with a chapter of contemporary history associated with him and his political life. The thesis should not be older than two years and may already have been published; dissertations or habilitations must have been accepted by the respective faculty at the time of submission.

The Foundation will bear the printing costs for the publication of the prizewinner’s work to an appropriate amount. It may offer to publish the work at the Foundation’s expense in the publication series „Willy Brandt – Studien und Dokumente“ . All details can be found in the Call for Proposals and the Rules of Procedure (in German).

The former recipients of the Willy Brandt Prize are

• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2023: Pénélope Léa Patry
  Willy Brandts frühe Europavorstellungen aus dem skandinavischen Exil (1933-1947): Entstehung und Ausformung eines außenpolitischen Bewusstseins zwischen Internationalismus und Europäismus
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2021: Felix Lieb
  Arbeit durch Umwelt? Sozialdemokratie und Ökologie 1969–1998
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2019: Michael Frey
  Vor Achtundsechzig. Der Kalte Krieg und die Neue Linke in der Bundesrepublik und in den USA, Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag 2020 (Beiträge zur Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts; 26)
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2017: Scott Krause
  Bringing Cold War Democracy to West Berlin, 1933–1972: A Shared German-American Project, London, UK, Routledge 2018
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2015: Kristina Meyer
  Die SPD und die NS-Vergangenheit 1945–1990, Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag 2015 (Beiträge zur Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts; 18)
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2013: nicht vergeben
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2011: Claudia Hiepel
  Willy Brandt und Georges Pompidou: Deutsch-französische Europapolitik zwischen Aufbruch und Krise, München: Oldenbourg 2012 (Studien zur Internationalen Geschichte; 29)
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2009: Petri Hakkarainen
  A State of Peace in Europe. West Germany and the CSCE, 1966–1975, New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books 2011
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2007: Robin M. Allers
  Besondere Beziehungen. Deutschland, Norwegen und Europa in der Ära Brandt (1966–1974), Bonn: Dietz 2009 (Willy-Brandt-Studien; 2)
• Willy-Brandt-Preis 2005: Daniel Friedrich Sturm
  Uneinig in die Einheit. Die Sozialdemokratie und die Vereinigung Deutschlands 1989/90, Bonn: Dietz 2006 (Willy-Brandt-Studien; 1)

Willy Brandt Small Research Grants

The Willy Brandt Small Research Grants are short-term scholarships that are intended primarily to enable young scientists to complete an ongoing research project. Work that either deals directly with Willy Brandt’s work or legacy or with a chapter of contemporary history that is linked to him and his political work is eligible for funding.

The Foundation awards up to two Small Research Grants per year. The amount of the scholarship is determined on a case-by-case basis and amounts up to 5,000 €. The Board of Directors of the Foundation decides on the awarding of the Prize. There is no legal entitlement to a Willy Brandt Small Research Grant. The application procedure for the Small Research Grant 2023 has ended. The winners will be announced shortly.

The former recipients of the Small Research Grants are:

• 2023 Christine Meibeck, M.A.
  Universität Potsdam
• 2022 Dr. Martina Garategaray
  National University of Quilmes in Buenos Aires, Argentinia
• 2021 Dr. Marina Pérez de Arcos
  London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
• 2021 Dr. Christoph Jünke
  Fernuniversität Hagen
• 2020 Felix Pankonin
  Leibniz-Institut für jüdische Geschichte und Kultur – Simon Dubnow, Leipzig
• 2019 Dr. Olga Rosenblum
  Russische Staatliche Universität für Geisteswissenschaften (RGGU) Moskau, Russland
• 2018 Dr. Aleksei Sorokin
  Staatliche Dostojewski-Universität Omsk, Russland
• 2018 Miriam Zlobinski M.A.
  Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin