January 2024, the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation and the Lorentz Center started a collaboration on one or more annual workshops at the Lorentz Center, within the area of physics (in the broadest sense).
The collaboration supports two different kinds of meetings:
WE Heraeus – Lorentz workshops
and
Dutch-German WE Heraeus – Lorentz Seminars
Conditions
The events should fulfill the expectations and requirements of regular Lorentz Center workshops in the area of physics.
In addition:
For WE Heraeus – Lorentz workshops:
- at least one co-organizer is based in Germany and one based in the Netherlands
- in the order of 25% participants based in Germany
For Dutch-German WE Heraeus – Lorentz Seminars:
These seminars are in particular aimed to strengthen existing cooperation between the Netherlands and Germany or to initiate new ones.
- at least one co-organizer is based in Germany and one based in the Netherlands
- approximately 1/3 participants should be affiliated with German institutions, 1/3 participants affiliated with Dutch institutions and 1/3 participants from the rest of the world
- if desired, the program may be more shifted towards lectures, less focus on the interactive part, than expected by the workshops
Funding
Both the workshops and the seminars are fully funded by the WE-Heraeus Foundation. This funding includes hotel and lunch to all participants and travel refunds for some (key) participants.
Evaluation
The Lorentz Center submits the proposal to the relevant Lorentz Center scientific advisory board(s) for evaluation on the criteria for regular Lorentz Center workshops.
High ranking proposals in scope for a workshop or seminar in the WE Heraeus – Lorentz Collaboration are submitted to the WE Heraeus committee(s), together with the ranking by the Lorentz Center physics advisory board. The WE Heraeus board selects the winner(s).
If the proposal is not selected by the WE Heraeus committee, it is still in the running for a regular Lorentz Center workshop.
Scientific Report
The scientific report, to be written after the workshop/seminar, should be submitted in English as well as in German. The German version will be published in Physik Journal and on the Foundation’s website, the English text will be published via the Lorentz Center workshop website and in the bi-annual report published with reports from all Lorentz Center workshops.
Call 2026
The workshop proposals should be submitted on our workshop application portal by May 29 2026. Our scientific boards will make a selection by mid-July, and a final decision by WE Heraeus board will be taken by mid-October 2026. The workshop will take place between April 2027 and August 2027. The workshops selected by the WE Heraeus board will receive full funding from the WE Heraeus Foundation, including hotel and lunch for all participants and travel refunds for some (key) participants. The other workshops in the call will still have a possibility to run as part of our regular program.
To prepare your proposal, please use the standard template available in the workshop application portal. In addition, we ask that you:
- State at the beginning of the proposal that you are applying for a WE Heraeus-Lorentz workshop and indicate whether you would like your workshop to be considered for our regular program if it is not selected as the winner of the call.
- Include short narrative CVs (approximately one paragraph each) for all organizers in the “Organizers” section.
- Submit two budget sheets, one in case your workshop is selected as winner of the WE Heraeus-Lorentz call, and one based on the budget for our regular workshops.
More information
Federica Burla, scientific coordinator Lorentz Center: burla@lorentzcenter.nl.
WE Heraeus -Lorentz workshops
2026
31 August–4 September 2026
Molecules to machines: Emergent behavior of active filaments
13-17 July 2026
Automated Reasoning for Quantum Mechanics
8-12 June 2026
Simulating Quantum Matter with Quantum Matter
18-22 May 2026
Advancing Pulsar Science in the Era of Modern Interferometers
2025
26-28 May 2025
Predicting barriers for reactions on metals
10-14 February 2025
Superconductivity in symmetry-broken and low-dimensional systems
