Frankfurt Lab

The HTA Postgraduate Grant Artistic Research is a stipend programme for graduates of the Hessische Theaterakademie, made possible by the Hessische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung, Kunst und Kultur.

Who can apply: Frankfurt LAB –the contemporary performing arts and music lab in the Rhine-Main region– is providing scholarships for artistic research for former students of the Hessische Theaterakademie (HTA). The invitation to apply is aimed at graduates who have completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree, a Diploma or a Doctorate in one of the thirteen HTA study courses: Acting, Applied Theatre Studies, Choreography and Performance, Classical Voice/Music Theatre, Contemporary Dance Education, Dance, Directing in Theatre, Dramaturgy/Comparative Dramaturgy and Performance Research, Performative Arts in social fields (MA), Performing Arts and Music Management, Stage Design/Scenic Space.
Those entitled to apply are individuals who at the time of the project are graduates of the Hessische Theaterakademie and are not enrolled in any other HTA study course. The degree may not date back more than 10 years.

How much can be applied for: The € 5.000 scholarships are granted to individual persons for two consecutive months, i.e. € 2.500 per month.

What is being promoted:The HTA Postgraduate Grant aims to support open-ended artistic research projects and the conceptual development of art projects that serve both further training and qualification in the arts. The project in question can also be preliminary research for a project, or a partial project of a follow-up project.
The scholarships granted are intended to enable work on art projects that can be defined as art research on the basis of their approach. In keeping with the idea that the main potential of artistic research is the reciprocal interrogation of art and science, project entries are particularly welcome that by their nature are critical of institutions, and concepts that receive no support through the traditional promotion structures and institutions. Also welcome are projects that deal with artistic forms suitable for a young audience, or that take a site-specific approach. This programme aims to create scope especially for art projects whose development (for example, because of the research aspect) is not possible within the conventional production framework of theatre institutions. Furthermore, it is the expressed wish of Frankfurt LAB and HTA that the scholarship holders exchange their ideas in the alumni network of the HTA.

Application and Promotion deadlines:
Interested parties must enter their project concept at the latest by 20th March 2026. The project proposal must articulate the issue that forms the basis of the respective research project. The concept should also explain how the artistic analysis relates to the following three working stages:
1) Research: How will the artistic research project proceed? How is the research object to be examined? What material will be used and how will it be gathered or generated?
2) Presentation: Frankfurt LAB supports the scholarship holders with regard to their various presentation wishes (with advice and infrastructure – if possible). A presentation is not obligatory.
3) Documentation: The applicant is required to explain the forms in which the research project entered will be documented: how is an adequate documentation elucidating the research process to be imagined and carried out? How can it be guaranteed that the artistic research work is suitable for being archived? Here unconventional media forms of documentation are just as welcome as traditional forms, but not obligatory.

The application should indicate two consecutive months in 2026 during which the research project is to be implemented (for example, September and October 2026). Please note that these two months must fall within the time-frame of the grant programme. The eventual project period for accepted projects begins with the positive approval of the grant (1. May 2026) and ends on 31. December 2026.
Only living expenses are subsidised in the form of the scholarship granted to the applicant. The scholarship amounts to € 5.000 for two months, i.e., € 2.500 per month.

The selection is made by a jury consisting of representatives of the Hessische Theaterakademie, the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt LAB as well as a scholarship holder from the previous year.

The research project applied for in the framework of the HTA Postgraduate Grants for Artistic Research programme must be completed by the end of the year 2025. A final report must be entered at the latest two months after the end of the respective project.

Laura Ahumada Garcia
Nastya Dzyuban
María Fernández Aragón
Anna Lublina
Matthias Schönijahn

Rebecca Ajnwojner
ASJA
Anna Krauß
Isabell Ratzinger
Judith Strodtkötter

Viktorija Ilioska
Kaisa Kukkonen
Marie Meyer
Emmilou Roessling
Carla Vollmers

Fanti Baum
Jeanne J. Eschert
Verónica Garzón
Désirée Hall
Olivia Hyunsin Kim

Onur Ağbaba, Lotta Beckers, Rahel Crawford Barra, Am Ertl
Anabel Möbius
Maxi Menja Lehmann, Isabelle Zinsmaier
Amelia Uzategui Bonilla

Maximilian Brands, Bastian Sistig
To Doan, Verena Katz
Katzarzyna Kania, Katarzyna Ustowska
J.F. Schmidt-Colinet

Olivia Hyunsin Kim
Katarzyna Kizior
Rotterdam Presenta
Lili Ullrich

Lina Lindheimer
Katharina Pelosi
Philipp Scholtysik
Scripted Reality

Rose-Anabel Beermann
Jens Heitjohann
Laura Hicks
Arnita Jarnusubrēna
Katja Mustonen
Iva Sveshtarova