Do you collaborate with partners in the creative industries or with organizations in the cultural sector or cultural policy (including in the field of heritage) in your research, and would you like to boost or develop these collaborations further? Or would you like to explore new ways to increase your research impact and share your knowledge with cultural partners? 

Then it’s good to know that you can still apply for an incentive budget from the faculty focus area Culture, Heritage, Arts Impact Network (CHAIN). A group of colleagues has been tasked with awarding a maximum of 8,000 euros to 5 projects per year to stimulate new collaborations with partners in the cultural sector or creative industry, or to expand existing projects – also with a view to the research assignments that may eventually emerge from those collaborations. Good to know in the context of the transition plan: CHAIN funding has ceased since January 2026, but there is still sufficient budget to organize yet one more application round. The upcoming deadline for the very last CHAIN application round is Thursday, November 12, 2026. You can find more information here.

You can find more information here about the five themes that have been formulated. If your idea doesn’t fit with those themes, you can still apply. A wildcard budget has been set aside for great plans that are less related to the themes.

We very much welcome applications from colleagues with a temporary or junior position, applications for projects with an eye for inclusion, applications in which makers play an active role, and applications developed bottom-up from, through or with the cultural industry or the field.