Frequently Asked Questions
Please check these questions - and their answers - before contacting the Foundation. If you contact the Foundation with any of these questions below, we will simply refer you back to this page.
These questions are relevant for the Academic Jewish Studies Grant Programme, which is currently open for applications.
General questions
Q. When is the deadline for applications?
A. This year’s deadline is midnight on Sunday, 10 February 2013. At this time the Foundation’s website will stop accepting applications.
Q. When can I expect to be notified of the outcome of my application to the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe’s Academic Jewish Studies Grant Programme?
A. You can expect to hear from the Foundation in mid-August 2013. You will be notified earlier if there is a special reason to do so.
Q. The Foundation requests English translations for all of the supporting documents that are written in a language other than English. Do these need to be certified translations?
A. No, translations supplied to the Foundation do not need to be certified, though they must of course be competent and accurate.
Questions from individual applicants
Q. I would like to apply for a Language Studies Grant or a Small Grant for Research Purposes, but the summer programme or conference I plan to attend begins before 1 July 2013. Am I still eligible to apply?
A. Yes, you may apply and we will try to notify you of the outcome of your application as soon as we possibly can, hopefully by mid-June. Additionally, we will also prioritise the transfer of your grant monies.
Q. I’m a Masters student studying at a European institution, am I eligible to apply to the Academic Jewish Studies Grant Programme?
A. As a Masters student, you are eligible to apply for both the Small Grants for Research Purposes and the Language Studies Grant categories. Please note, you may not apply for a Doctoral Fellowship.
Q. Can I apply for more than one of the different funding categories within the Academic Jewish Studies Grant Programme?
A. Yes, you may apply for more than one category. However, you may only apply once to a single grant category (for example, you may apply for a Small Grant for Research Purposes and a Doctoral Fellowship, but you may not apply for 2 Small Grants for Research Purposes.)
Questions from institutional applicants
Q. I am planning a conference / event to begin before 1 July 2013, am I still eligible to apply?
A. Yes, you may apply, but you may only be notified of the outcome of your application just before the event date itself. Likewise, your payment transfer may only occur just before or even slightly after the event date itself.
Q. My Department / Institution is seeking funding for multiple activities, events, projects, scholarships and staff costs. Should we apply for each of these separately (ie, submit separate applications to the Teaching Post, Academic Journal, Summer Schools categories)? Or, should we apply for all of them together within a single application for an Institutional Grant for Infrastructural Support?
A. You are allowed to do either, as long as you are submitting only one application to any single category. While this is a decision for you and your Department / Institution to make, there are advantages and disadvantages for either choice. On the one hand, the Institutional Grants for Infrastructural Support are one of our most competitive grant categories. On the other, the Foundation will note that your Department has multiple applications across different categories, and is unlikely to fund all your requests.
Q. My Department / Institution would like to apply to host multiple Post-Doctoral Fellows; are we able to submit more than one application to this particular category?
A. As a rule, we will only accept a single application for each type of Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Research and Teaching) from an academic institution. If you submit more than one, we will ask you to choose one of your applications for our expert committee’s evaluation and the other will be disqualified.
Q. The Foundation requests proof of my Institution or Department’s charitable status; however, we are a public organisation, supported by the government. Are we still eligible to apply to the Foundation?
A. Yes, though you will still need to demonstrate that your Institution’s activities qualify as charitable according to the UK authorities. You can do this by sending us a copy of the portion of your University’s statutes that state that it is a publically-funded, not-for-profit, research institution. If this document is in a language other than English, then you will also be required to submit an adjoining English translation.
Q. As a part of the application, the Foundation requires the financial statements and the organisational budget for my Department / Institution or University, as well as English translations of any documents not in English. These financial documents are dozens and even hundreds of pages long; do I need to translate everything?
A. No, a translation summarising the main income and expenditure included in your financial statements and organisational budget will be sufficient. This document should be no longer than 10 pages. .
Questions beyond the grant round
Q. The Academic Jewish Studies Grant Programme is currently closed, but I have a project that needs funding. Are you able to make funding decisions outside of the grant round?
A. Unfortunately, we are not able to make funding decisions outside of our grant round. Usually, the Academic Jewish Studies Grant Programme receives applications between the second week of December and the first week of February. All applicants must submit a completed application form, as well as all the required supporting documentation including English translations (if necessary) in order to be considered for funding.
Q. I / my Department or Institution was awarded a grant from the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe. The project would not have been possible without the Foundation’s support, and we would like to express our gratitude by publicly acknowledging this contribution. Are we able to do this?
A. The contract you will receive if you are awarded a grant specifically notes that you should not mention the name of the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe in any way without prior permission of the Foundation. Our wish to remain private does not indicate a lack of pride in your achievements; instead, it reflects the Rothschild family’s longstanding tradition of anonymous giving. If you have a special need to acknowledge the Foundation’s contribution, then please contact Ms Sally Berkovic, CEO of the Foundation, directly S.Berkovic@rothschildfoundation.eu. She will make decisions on a case by case basis.