Scholarships

Since 2012, the WIFU Foundation has been providing funding and awarding grants PhD and postdoctoral research fellowships, with the aim of providing targeted support for early-career researchers in the field of family entrepreneurship. In doing so, the Foundation makes an important contribution to the further development of research, teaching and practice in this field, in line with the purpose set out in its articles of association.

Scholarship holders are generally members of the WIFU research group and base their doctoral or postdoctoral research projects on the key questions addressed in ongoing research projects. This results in academically sound work of great relevance to the theory and practice of family businesses.

Guidelines on the awarding of PhD and postdoctoral fellowships:

Guidelines on the Award of Scholarships (PDF)

The WIFU Foundation supports outstanding research into family businesses by awarding PhD and postdoctoral fellowships.

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Why it’s worth applying

  • Planning certainty through monthly scholarship payments over several years
  • A high degree of academic freedom for curiosity-driven doctoral and postdoctoral research projects
  • Interdisciplinary approach
  • Funding opportunities for conferences, material costs and international research stays
  • Integration into the WIFU network
  • Participation in WIFU colloquia (e.g. summer camps, boot camps, online formats)
  • High visibility of research findings in the academic and practical spheres of family businesses

Publications by our scholarship holders (selection)

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Our scholarship recipients

Dr Matheus Franco

Current scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Matheus Franco has been a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair for Corporate Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation in Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University since 2023.

His research topic is: Business model innovation in heterogeneous family businesses

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Dr Muhammad Anwar

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Muhammad Anwar was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair in Corporate Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation in Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University from 2020 to 2024.

His research topic was: Business Model Innovation in Family Firms

 

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Dr Rodrigo Basco

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Rodrigo Basco was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in General Business Administration and Family Entrepreneurship at Witten/Herdecke University from 2013 to 2016.

His research topic was: Family Business, Corporate Governance (cross-country comparisons)

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Kristin Beer

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Kristin Beer was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair for Organisation and Development in Entrepreneurial Families at Witten/Herdecke University from 2018 to 2019.

Her research topic was: Lifestyles in entrepreneurial families

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Dr Tobias Begemann

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Tobias Begemann was a research fellow at the former Chair of Commercial Law, Employment Law and the Law of Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University from 2015 to 2016.

His research topic was: The SE & Co. KG (public limited partnership) as a legal form for family businesses

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Sönke Bock

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Sönke Bock was a research fellow at the former Chair of Commercial Law, Employment Law and the Law of Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University from 2015 to 2018.

His research topic was: Provisions in articles of association designed to resolve deadlock situations at shareholders’ meetings – alongside a critical examination of so-called ‘shoot-out’ clauses

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Solvej Lorenzen

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Solvej Lorenzen was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair for Corporate Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation in Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University from 2021 to 2024.

Her research topic was: Environmental and Social Sustainability of Mittelstand and Family Firms

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Yaran Xiao

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Yaran Xiao was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair for Organisation and Development in Entrepreneurial Families at Witten/Herdecke University from 2022 to 2024.

Her research topic was: ‘The social, cultural and religious embeddedness of family firms and business families’

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Prof. Dr Daniela Giménez

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Prof. Dr Daniela Giménez was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in General Business Administration and Family Entrepreneurship at Witten/Herdecke University from 2013 to 2016.

Her research topic was: ‘The role of women in the formulation and management of strategy in family-owned SMEs’

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Julian Grunewald

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Julian Grunewald was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in Family Business Management at Witten/Herdecke University from 2016 to 2018.

His research topic was: Identifying and resolving stakeholder crises in family businesses as part of the development of restructuring plans

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Prof. Dr Anne Heider

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Prof. Dr Anne K. Heider was in 2016 Scholarship holder at the former WIFU FoundationChair of Human Resources and Organisation in Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University.

Her research topic was: Innovation behaviour in family businesses

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Dr Philip Klinken

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Philip Klinken was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in Human Resources and Organisation, with a particular focus on family businesses, at Witten/Herdecke University from 2015 to 2015.

His research topic was: Personal skills and motivations in business succession

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Fynn-Willem Lohe

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Fynn-Willem Lohe was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in General Business Administration and Family Entrepreneurship at Witten/Herdecke University from 2014 to 2017.

His research topic was: ‘Risk-taking in family firms: investigating boards of directors, acquisitions and internalisation from the perspective of socio-emotional wealth’

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Andrea Gerlitz

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Andrea Gerlitz was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in Family Business Management at Witten/Herdecke University from 2021 to 2024.

Her research topic was: Corporate Sustainability in Family Firms

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Marc Scheffler

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Marc Scheffler was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair in Corporate Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation in Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University from 2021 to 2025.

His research topic was: Technological Frames in Family Businesses

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Dr Christina Strauß

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Christina Strauß was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair for Leadership and Dynamics in Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University from 2023 to 2024.

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Dr. Axel Walther

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Axel Walther was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair in General Business Administration and Family Entrepreneurship at Witten/Herdecke University from 2016 to 2017.

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Dr Juliane Wegner

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Juliane Wegner was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair for Leadership and Dynamics at Witten/Herdecke University from 2014 to 2016.

Her research topic was: ‘The Inevitable Conflict within an Entrepreneurial Family: The Origins and Course of Conflicts in a Specific Type of Family’

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Thomas Urban

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Thomas Urban was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in Leadership and Dynamics at Witten/Herdecke University from 2016 to 2019.

The topic of his research was: Between seismographic intuition and a loss of direction – entrepreneurial families in the crisis-ridden 20th century

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Dr. Vanessa Weimann

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Vanessa Weimann was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in Family Business Management at Witten/Herdecke University from 2016 to 2019.

Her research topic was: Corporate Entrepreneurship in Family Firms

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Sina Bohnen

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Sina Bohnen was a research fellow at the former WIFU Endowed Chair in Leadership and Dynamics at Witten/Herdecke University from 2017 to 2021.

Her research topic was: ‘The role of women and their scope for action in family businesses from a historical perspective’

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Dr Theresa Arnold

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Dr Theresa Arnold was a research fellow at the WIFU Endowed Chair for Organisation and Development in Entrepreneurial Families at Witten/Herdecke University from 2021 to 2024.

Her research topic was: ‘Systems theory in family business research: A systems-theoretical exploration of the business family and paradoxical communication’.

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Leon Erne

Former scholarship holder of the WIFU Foundation

Leon Erne was an external research fellow at the Chair of Family Business at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management from 2023 to 2025.

His research topic was: Environmental Sustainability in Family Businesses

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Questions for our former scholarship holders

Frequently Asked Questions about the WIFU Foundation’s scholarship programme

  • Early-career researchers at universities throughout Germany whose research projects have a clear link to family entrepreneurship may apply for a doctoral or postdoctoral fellowship from the WIFU Foundation. In justified exceptional cases, fellowships abroad are also possible.

    To be eligible for a doctoral scholarship, applicants must have been accepted as a doctoral student at a university. Both doctoral and postdoctoral projects must be supervised by a university professor throughout the entire funding period.

  • Funding is available for doctoral and postdoctoral projects that examine, from an academic perspective, topics relating to Research pathways deal with.

    The WIFU Foundation supports, in particular, curiosity-driven, interdisciplinary research that meets both high standards of scientific quality and has clear relevance for both academia and professional practice.

  • A PhD scholarship from the WIFU Foundation amounts to 20,400 euros per year (1,700 euros per month), a Postdoctoral Fellowship 36,000 euros per year (3,000 euros per month). The scholarships are awarded for a period of twelve months and may be renewed several times, subject to a positive evaluation. In addition, subsidies may be provided to cover material costs, conference attendance and research stays.

Contact
Tanja Steinbrecher 2025 New

Tanja Steinbrecher

+49 2302 8898302 foerderung@wifu-stiftung.de
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