Grant Information

As of 2026, the GINGKO Grant programme has been suspended. We are very proud of the work it has supported over many years, covering academic, artistic and interfaith endeavours which aligned with our ethos of improving mutual understanding between MENA and the West. 

GINGKO awarded two kinds of academic research grants: the Werner Mark Linz Memorial Grant and the GINGKO Research Grant. In addition the Encounter Grant was awarded for projects that brought people together across intercultural and interfaith divides. You can read about the rich variety of work GINGKO funded here.

The Werner Mark Linz Memorial Grant

Werner Mark Linz was a German-born publisher who wanted to build bridges between cultures and continents. He was the founder of the New York publishing house Continuum and, for over fifteen years, director of the American University in Cairo Press. He was a passionate advocate for scholarship, literature, and all forms of writing both from and about the Middle East and North Africa. He was instrumental in bringing the work of Naguib Mahfouz to an international audience and collaborated with him to set up the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, an annual literary prize for a novel in Arabic. After Linz’s death in 2013, his vision and commitment helped inspire the foundation of GINGKO.

The Werner Mark Linz Memorial Grant (WMLM) was a medium-scale award that funded academic research projects, conferences or symposiums on one or more of GINGKO’s academic subject areas: the history, art history or religions of the MENA region, in any time period.

GINGKO awarded up to one WMLM Grant per year, normally up to a maximum of £10,000 for each grant. The WMLM Grant was intended for professional academic researchers based anywhere in the world. In keeping with Werner Mark Linz’s commitment to publishing writers from the MENA region, applications for the WMLM Grant were required to include at least one researcher from the MENA region or of MENA heritage.

GINGKO also particularly welcomed:

– applications for collaborative projects, conferences or symposiums involving researchers both from the MENA region (and/or with MENA heritage) and the West;

– applications from researchers based at academic institutions in the MENA region or researchers of MENA heritage who planned to return to academia in the MENA region; and

– applications for projects in regions and countries where there was limited financial support available for research.

The GINGKO Research Grant

The Research Grant was a small-scale award that funded academic research, conferences or symposiums on one or more of GINGKO’s academic subject areas – the history, art history or religions of the MENA region – in any time period.

GINGKO awarded up to three Research Grants per year, normally up to a maximum of £3,000 for each grant.

Research Grants were intended for professional academic researchers based anywhere in the world.

GINGKO particularly welcomed:

– applications from researchers in the MENA region and/or with MENA heritage;

– applications for collaborative projects, conferences or symposiums involving researchers both from the MENA region (and/or with MENA heritage) and the West;

– applications from researchers based at academic institutions in the MENA region or researchers of MENA heritage who planned to return to MENA academia; and

– applications for projects in regions and countries where there was limited financial support available for research.

Eligibility

Research Grants were intended for professional academic researchers based anywhere in the world. They were required to work for or have an official connection with a higher education institution or be able to provide other evidence of their status as professional academic researchers. Applicants were required to hold a PhD or equivalent qualification.

Subject area

The Research Grant could fund academic research, conferences or symposiums. The primary focus of the research, conference or symposium had to be at least one of GINGKO’s academic subject areas – the history, art history or religions of the MENA region – in any period.

Both these grants support academic research, conferences or symposiums in one or more of GINGKO’s academic subject areas – the history, art history or religions of the MENA region. The Research Grant is a small-scale grant; up to three are awarded each year. The Werner Mark Linz Memorial Grant (WMLM) is a medium-scale award; there is only one WMLM Grant awarded per year.

The GINGKO Encounter Grant

The GINGKO Encounter Grant was a small-scale award that funded interfaith and/or intercultural encounters bringing together people from MENA and the West. The Encounters could be, but did not need to be, academic in nature. They were required to aim to improve mutual understanding between MENA and the West. GINGKO awarded up to three Encounter Grants per year.

The encounters were expected to be impactful – in other words, designed with the aim of creating real change in all participants. They also had to be mutual, meaning that both sides would have opportunities to learn and grow. Encounters could be intercultural, interfaith or both.

Examples of possible encounters included: a season of scriptural reasoning gatherings for participants of the three Abrahamic faiths, from MENA and the West; an educational project bringing together students from MENA or of MENA heritage with students from the West; or a workshop encouraging dialogue across ethnic and religious groups from MENA and the West, to build mutual understanding and prevent future conflict.