FAQs

Funding is awarded to disabled artists or cultural professionals from all artistic fields (the “mentees”) so that they can receive support and advice from experienced artists or cultural professionals with or without a disability (the “mentors”), and thereby promote their artistic career development.

• You are free to arrange when and where to meet directly with your personal mentor. 
• You can participate in the events offered by the “pik” programme. The event venues of these working meetings and academies will be announced in advance. We choose locations which are accessible to disabled participants.
   

Over the course of the eight-month funding period, you and your mentor are expected to meet at least six times for a duration of two hours per meeting.

The Executive Board of the German Federal Cultural Foundation is responsible for selecting the grant recipients and awarding funding, based on the recommendations of an independent jury of experts. 

• Artists or cultural professionals who would describe themselves as a person with a disability and who aspire to head their department or working area in the future. 
• Only individual artists or individual cultural professionals may apply for funding. Applications from multiple artists or cultural professionals will not be considered.
• Applicants must have a residence in Germany. 
   

Despite working at a professional level, many artists with a disability do not work full-time in their artistic field. They can apply, nonetheless.

No. If you consider yourself disabled, that is all we need to know.

• Ideally you should choose someone from your artistic field whose work you find interesting and whose advice would be useful for your current professional endeavours. You should set aside enough time to find and contact your potential mentor.
• If you need help, the German Federal Culture Foundation can offer you some tips during scheduled consultations.
• With a “letter of intent”, your mentor confirms their willingness to work with you. The letter of intent is an integral part of the application. You can find a template of the letter of intent on our website: link to the template
   

• Mentors should have years of expertise in their respective professional field.
• You may choose a mentor with or without a disability. The important thing is that you concretely describe in your application letter what steps toward professionalisation you hope to take with your mentor and how your mentor can concretely support you in this regard.
• Generally speaking, the mentoring programme is targeted at those who wish to assume managerial tasks in their artistic field. These are usually people who constantly work to professionalise themselves.
   

The application deadline for the third round is 13 December 2024.

An accessible application form is available on the website of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Link to application form (external link, opens in a new window) (in German) 

You can submit your application in writing, in video format in spoken German or in German sign language (or Signed German).

• Your personal information (name, contact details, CV))
• The area where you’re already working or where you’d like support (brief background)
• Short description of your personal motivation and ideas for the mentoring process (letter of motivation)
• Letter of intent, in which your mentor confirms that they will advise you in at least six meetings lasting two hours each.
   

• We would be happy to provide you with some guidance in advance. Simply send us your questions – either in writing via email to pik(at)kulturstiftung-bund.de or video in German Sign Language via our translation service SQAT.
• Establish contact with your desired mentor. Ask them whether they’d be willing to accompany and advise you as part of the programme. 
   

Funding recipients are only allowed to participate once. However, if your application was not selected the first time, you may resubmit your application for consideration in the next funding round. 

• Mentees receive a grant of €4,000 which the German Federal Cultural Foundation pays out in eight equal instalments.
• Mentors receive €1,200 (gross) as compensation for their services.

The money is transferred to your account as soon as funding approval is legally binding.

Funding approval is legally binding when all contracts (1st grant contract with the mentee and the 2nd contract with the mentor) have been concluded. This happens when all contracts are signed and sent to the German Federal Cultural Foundation. 

Grant money is always paid at the first of the month.
 

Yes, the mentees’ access costs are reimbursed upon request and with the provision of invoices.

Access costs are substantiated by invoices only. The invoices must be sent to the German Federal Cultural Foundation. We will then review them and reimburse the access costs to your account.

Access costs are not reimbursed if they are covered by integration benefits. Integration benefits (external link, opens in a new window) (external link, opens new window) are a form of support for disabled people, described in Title 9 of the German Social Code (SGB IX).
 

Access costs refer to costs incurred to provide accessibility. These can include costs for translation in German Sign Language or Plain Language. The fees for a personal assistant also count as access costs.