LUCE is the funding mechanism for advancing excellence in research within the School of Humanities at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at VU Amsterdam. Our mission is to cultivate novel, interdisciplinary research that critically engages with the current state of knowledge and contributes to the advancement of academic inquiry.
Derived from the Latin phrase in luce ponere (to bring to light), LUCE stands for:
Linking – fostering interdisciplinarity across the faculty and in collaboration with other faculties, universities, and societal partners on regional, national, and international levels
Urgency – emphasizing timely and critical engagement with emerging questions and problems, shifting paradigms, and underexamined perspectives
Creativity – encouraging the development of novel theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical frameworks that advance research
Expansion – empowering staff and PhD researchers to broaden their networks, deepen their research impact, and advance their academic careers
We encourage School of Humanities researchers from any career stage to apply for funding calls for projects that fit within our broad themes of: interdisciplinarity, criticality, engagement, and innovation. Applications will be evaluated by the LUCE Commissioners and a team of appointed School of Humanities researchers whose expertise best matches the applications. For questions about funding calls, please contact us at LUCEfund.sgw@vu.nl.
The School of Humanities is pleased to announce a total budget of €75,000 for 2027. Our goal is to award grants of €2,000 and, in selected cases, up to €5,000 for:
- Hosting a Conference, Workshop, or Event
- Preparing a Research Application
- Hiring a (Student) Research Assistant
- Research Dissemination
- PhD Support
All calls are due 15 December 2026.
Please note the following: Members of the School of Humanities are allowed to apply to only one call per year. PhD candidates and students are not allowed to apply. Priority will be given to interdisciplinary group projects over individual initiatives, and therefore funding for individual research travel is highly limited. All budget requests should be proportional to the project's impact: larger budgets are expected to benefit a greater number of members of the School of Humanities.
LUCE calls are announced once per calendar year and all costs must be registered by 15 December 2027.