In 1999, the Foundation of Lower Saxony launched a program of funding to maintain and improve the quality and continuity of scholarly research in museums and art collections. Its goal is to present to the public works of art and museum exhibits on the basis of solid research. The annual application process begins in February/March and is open to all museums and collections in the state that are operated by professionals. The project should, if possible, be carried out in collaboration with an additional research institution (e.g. a university) and should contribute new insight in a significant field or an important topic.
Grants will be given for up to two years for a maximum of 130,000 €. Cooperation is explicitly encouraged between the museum and a university institute. The program does not cover catalogues of the institution's assets or of special exhibitions. It is expected that the institution will itself make a financial contribution to the project.
The past awards have gone to:
- 1999 – Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum Braunschweig – Painted Limoges Enamels of the 16th and 17th Centuries
- 2000 – Burg Bederkesa Museum – Fallward Graveyards of the 4th and 5th Century A.D.
- 2001 – Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum Braunschweig – The History of Collecting and the Museum as an Institution
- 2002 – Historical and Museum Society and the Clausthal Mining Museum of the Upper Harz Region – Life in the Upper Harz Mining Towns in the 19th Century
- 2003 – Jever Castle Museum – The Rulers' Portraits in the Jever Castle Gallery - Royal Representation in a Minor Residential Palace
- 2004 – Lower Saxony State Museum of Hannover – Collection Strategies and Notions about the World: The Tibet Collections in the State Museum
- 2005 – The Museum at Wolfenbüttel Castle – Hermann Korb: Barock Architecture in the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel
A German-language brochure with further details can be downloaded here .