Research Funding

As an independent cultural institution, the GUI supports international scholars working in the field of contemporary art theory and related disciplines.

7th Günther Uecker Research Fellowship: Art Mediation in the Museum Context

For the year 2026, the Günther Uecker Institute (GUI) is announcing a fellowship developed in cooperation with the Staatliches Museum Schwerin. In the context of a planned Uecker exhibition there (2026/2027), a research fellowship will be awarded that is embedded in an art-mediation engagement with the exhibition project.

The Uecker exhibition at the Staatliches Museum Schwerin examines the complex oeuvre of Günther Uecker, with a particular focus on his engagement with light. Building on this, the research fellowship will accompany the processes of exhibition conception and mediation planning over a five-month period in 2026. Within the framework of the fellowship, formats are to be developed that convey perspectives on Uecker’s work within the museum space. The fellowship seeks to investigate modes of translation in which processes of self-observation, reduction, and intensification of perception are transformed into sustainable mediation strategies—textual, performative, dialogical, or digital.

The fellowship is aimed at master’s students, doctoral candidates, as well as recently graduated young professional theorists, artists, art mediators, and researchers in art education. Experience in art-mediation practice, in dealing with museological questions, and in interdisciplinary collaboration is an advantage.

You can find the full call for applications here.

Please use our online form to submit your application.

The application deadline is 15 February 2026.

Publication Funding in the Context of the Notes on Uecker Series

In the bilingual series Notes on Uecker, published by the Deutscher Kunstverlag, we present manuscripts by authors engaging with hitherto under-explored areas within Günther Uecker’s oeuvre. In the research year 2024, the GUI will focus on the aspects of nature, the earth, and human beings in their relations with one another, taking Uecker’s body of work as a starting point. A core concern will be an investigation of the term ‘Gestaltung,’ which can be understood as organization, design, or form, and the moral, philosophical, and aesthetic aspects that interconnect with it. We are eagerly expecting research paper submissions, especially those establishing links with materiality in the context of Uecker’s artistic works. 

Our funding program offers support for every step of the publication process, from manuscript production up to the finished book, and covers the costs of editing, translation, image rights, printing, and distribution. Texts can be submitted in English or German and should not exceed 50 standard manuscript pages. 

Please use our online form to apply. We look forward to reading your fresh insights into and in-depth research on Günther Uecker’s work.

Should you wish to submit a longer-format work, such as your dissertation or habilitation, please contact us directly at: 

Dr. Katharina Neuburger
Scholarly Director
kn@guenther-uecker-institut.de