Oct 15, 2026
Sandpit 2027
Wübben Foundation sandpits offer researchers the freedom to think beyond disciplinary conventions, test fresh approaches, and air new ideas. 15–20 Curious Minds are invited to a three-day event to give shape to a topic away from established structures and predictable group configurations.
Funding Amount
€50,000
Theme for 2027
«Education and artificial intelligence» I In cooperation with Wübben Stiftung Bildung
Who is eligible?
Researchers at all career levels (post-doc and above) and from all disciplines working at a German university
Deadline
March 31, 2027
Objective
Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft sandpits invite researchers to work outside their comfort zone in unconventional group configurations in order to give shape to an overarching topic and develop fresh approaches and research questions that promise to deliver innovative insights. The program welcomes research topics that are not covered by the mainstream of existing funding opportunities and thus promise to break new ground. The format requires all participants to be outstanding, intellectually open-minded team players so as to create a setting in which established traditions of thought and disciplinary boundaries can be called into question. Participants should not have collaborated or published together previously. The goal of the program is to generate unorthodox ideas for projects that set out to tackle highly relevant challenges in today’s society.
Theme 2027: Education and AI
Artificial intelligence is changing the way people learn, generate knowledge, solve problems, and make decisions. This raises the practical question of how AI can be used in schools, universities and other educational settings. At the same time, and far more fundamental, we need to examine what education will mean in a society increasingly shaped by AI.
What knowledge and abilities do humans need when information can be generated, processed, and analyzed automatically at any time? What skills are becoming more important in order to evaluate AI systems and their output critically and use them responsibly? How is the way we use AI affecting attention, memory, language, creativity, motivation, independent thought, and human relationships? And how do teaching, learning, and assessment have to evolve at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell human and machine output apart?
At the same time, AI raises questions about educational equity, participation, and responsibility. Who benefits from its use and who is disadvantaged? What are the consequences of unequal access, biased data, new forms of dependency, and the growing importance of private technology providers? What institutional, legal, and ethical frameworks are needed for transparent, fair, and responsible use of AI?
Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft is inviting researchers in all disciplines to explore the relationship between education and artificial intelligence from a range of different perspectives. We are looking for theoretical, empirical, or comparative approaches and project ideas that go beyond short-term questions about the application of AI, cross disciplinary boundaries, and open up new research questions or new educational formats and concepts.
In a sandpit workshop, researchers who have never collaborated with one another before spend three days working together to develop new research approaches, projects, and methodologies.
Funding
Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft is making available €50,000 for a three-day sandpit event plus an ensuing workshop to document the results. The sandpit will be organized by the researchers who have been awarded funding for the event. Funding can be used flexibly to cover costs for travel, accommodation, catering, the event location, and other expenses. The documented results will be published by Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft.
Researchers who are awarded funding may nominate 6–8 participants themselves and choose an additional 6–8 participants in a next step from a pool of potential candidates to be drawn up by a group of experts consulted by the Foundation. Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft will also nominate the workshop facilitators.
Who is eligible?
Researchers at all career levels (post-doc and above) and from all disciplines working at a German university
Application procedure
Your application should contain three separate documents:
A. Research topic
Individuals or groups of up to three researchers may submit an application by presenting a two-page (max.) outline of the specific research topic they wish to focus on in the sandpit. Groups are requested to designate a spokesperson. Explain which disciplines are essential for the sandpit. Applicants are encouraged to think outside familiar boxes. The identity and institutional affiliation of applicants will not be disclosed until the final review phase, so please do not include details that might enable reviewers to identify the researchers involved or their institutional affiliation, and do not submit preliminary data, or details related to publications, awards received, patents filed, etc. This approach will help Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft to ensure reviews are as unbiased as possible, giving priority to the most original ideas.
B. CVs and budget
Applicants should include their CVs as well as a short description of the expenses to be covered by the funding (€50,000 max. including all costs for a three-day event, travel and accommodation, research material, as well as other necessary expenses). It is possible to include a budget for a follow-up weekend to write up and finalize the results and positions that have emerged during the sandpit. Funding will be released through the university with which the applicant (or the applying group’s spokesperson) is affiliated. That university will be responsible for disbursing and accounting for funds.
C. Date and potential participants
In document C, please suggest a date for the sandpit and nominate 8 sandpit participants (with whom you have not collaborated or published previously). A list of names indicating the respective subject area and institution is sufficient. The sandpit event should take place between the beginning of January and the end of July of the year following the application deadline.
Link to online application portal: Sandpit – Are you ready to dig deeper? | Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft