As part of its charitable foundation purpose, the WIFU Foundation specifically supports scientific institutions such as research institutes and chairs in German-speaking countries. The Wittener Institut für Familienunternehmen (WIFU) at the University of Witten/Herdecke is at the centre of the funding activities.
Through its funding contributions, the foundation creates reliable frameworks for excellent research, high-quality teaching, and the sustainable transfer of scientific findings into practice.
Since its establishment in 2009, the WIFU Foundation has been supporting the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) at the University of Witten/Herdecke. It currently funds the endowed professorships for „Corporate Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation in Family Businesses“, „Law of Family Businesses“, and „Organisation and Development of Entrepreneurial Families“. This support is supplemented by a Junior Professorship for Family Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In this way, the WIFU Foundation facilitates transdisciplinary research on family businesses from economic, legal, sociological, and psychological perspectives.
Since 2019, the WIFU Foundation has sponsored the Best Paper Contribution to Practice Award, which is presented annually at the international IFERA conference. The award recognises outstanding research papers that not only meet high academic standards but, in particular, offer real added value for the practice of family business.
Since 2026, the WIFU Foundation has been creating with the Family Business Research Dashboard Transparency on international research into family businesses.
This is supplemented by the annual Family Business Research Ranking, which makes leading researchers and institutions visible.
Eligible to apply are scientific institutes and institutions that deal with issues relating to family businesses and entrepreneurial families in research, teaching, or knowledge transfer. A prerequisite is thematic relevance to the goals of the WIFU Foundation and clearly recognisable added value for science and practice.
Institutional funding can take various forms, for example, the financing of academic staff positions, chairs, or professorships. The type and scope of funding are determined individually.
Crucial factors include the scientific quality and relevance of the work, its alignment with the WIFU Foundation's thematic priorities, and its potential for sustainable impact in research, teaching, and practice. The strategic complementarity with existing funding commitments also plays a role.
Interested institutes can contact the WIFU Foundation with a brief project outline or a presentation of their institutional profile. On this basis, it will be assessed whether funding can be considered in principle and how a possible further exchange can be arranged.
You are currently viewing placeholder content from Elfsight. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
