In March 2025, the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) established the Priority Programme “Rethinking Disinformation (Re:DIS)” (SPP 2573). The programme is designed to run for six years. The present call invites proposals for the first three-year funding period (2026–2029). The submission deadline is 1 November 2025.

Disinformation and misinformation have received considerable attention across various academic fields. Recent research addresses a plethora of topics, including dissemination and reception of disinformation (communication and media studies), belief formation (philosophy, psychology), automatic detection (linguistics, computer science), platform regulation (law), societal effects and political challenges (social sciences), and the definition and classification of relevant phenomena. Yet research remains fragmented across disciplines and methodologies. Re:DIS aims to establish a network for the coordinated advancement of disinformation research, with an emphasis on bringing together normative and descriptive approaches as well as conceptual and empirical methods.

Re:DIS adopts a broadly epistemic perspective on disinformation. It uses “disinformation” as an umbrella term for publicly disseminated content that worsens the epistemic position of recipients, regardless of the content’s truth value or the intentions of its producers. One’s epistemic situation can be worsened in various ways beyond being deliberately misinformed or misled – for instance, through overflow with irrelevant information, decontextualised facts, emotionally manipulative content, or undermined trust in reliable sources.

Accordingly, Re:DIS will not only consider the straightforward cases of disinformation that have received substantial scholarly attention – such as conspiracy theories, fake news, propaganda, political lies and “bullshit” – but also welcomes projects that explore more sophisticated and less-studied forms of disinformation. Re:DIS is especially interested in research projects that address foundational theoretical questions and conceptual distinctions which have either been overlooked or too readily assumed to be settled in applied research concerned with identifying, evaluating or countering disinformation.

Re:DIS will not address a number of phenomena that, due to their prevalence in digital spaces, are often mentioned alongside disinformation: hate speech, insults, threats and bullying fall outside its research focus.

The Priority Programme focuses on research at disciplinary intersections between philosophy, psychology, law, computer science, linguistics and the social and political sciences. The programme particularly encourages interdisciplinary projects, while also being open to intradisciplinary research that clearly benefits from being pursued in an interdisciplinary environment. Proposals should identify research problems situated at the intersection of at least two disciplines and specify the added value expected from collaboration. We also encourage interdisciplinary tandem proposals.

To enable collaboration, successful applicants and their team members are expected to engage actively within the programme. This includes attending regular virtual meetings, participating in annual retreats and contributing to thematic workshops.

In addition to its research objectives, Re:DIS includes a strong outreach component. Funded projects are expected to either develop their own outreach initiatives or participate in centrally coordinated activities. The outreach strategy is designed to engage with practitioners, journalists, educators, civil society actors and students.

Submitting a Proposal

Proposals should be written in English and must be submitted to the DFG by 1 November 2025. Proposals are to be submitted solely via the elan portal(externer Link), the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system, in order to ensure proposal-related data is recorded and documents are securely transmitted. To enter a new project within the existing Priority Programme, go to Proposal Submission – New Project/Draft Proposal – Priority Programmes and select SPP 2573 from the current list of calls. 

The duration of each project should be 36 months. Projects are expected to start in the summer of 2026.

Proposals can be submitted using the modules from the Research Grants Programme (Sachbeihilfe), including the Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators (Eigene Stelle) module. Funding for cross-project workshops and annual meetings will be covered by the Priority Programme centrally.

When preparing your proposal, please note the Guidelines Priority Programme (DFG form 50.05(interner Link), section B) and the Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals (DFG form 54.01(interner Link)). These forms are available on the DFG website and through the elan portal. The DFG funds research projects carried out at universities or non-university research institutions in Germany. Please check the Principles of Eligibility(interner Link) for details.

If this is the first time you are submitting a proposal to the DFG, please note that you must register in the elan portal before you can submit your proposal. You must do so by 18 October 2025. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day. Applications who already have an elan account are requested to check their data in elan. If necessary, you can update your data directly in the portal. It is not necessary to register again.

Roundtable Online Meeting

To provide further information on the programme and enable exchange among interested researchers, a roundtable online meeting will be held on 27 June 2025, from 4–8 pm (CET). We kindly ask interested parties to register in advance by joining a Moodle course. The registration link and more information about Re:DIS will be made available here(externer Link).

If you have any questions concerning the Re:DIS programme or your application, please contact Dr. Romy Jaster (Spokesperson): re-dis.philosophie@hu-berlin.de(externer Link)

Equity and Diversity

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

Good Research Practice

According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice(externer Link) in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Portal(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact Research Integrity team(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office.

Further Information 

More information on the Priority Programme is available here(externer Link).

When submitting a proposal, please use the elan portal(externer Link) and refer to the Guidelines Priority Programme (DFG form 50.05(interner Link), section B “Individual Projects within Existing Priority Programmes”) and the Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals (DFG form 54.01)(interner Link). The FAQ about preparing a proposal(interner Link) may also be helpful.

For enquiries about the scientific aims of the Priority Programme, please contact the Priority Programme coordinator:

Dr. Romy Jaster, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Philosophie, phone +49 30 2093 70454, 
re-dis.philosophie@hu-berlin.de(externer Link)

Contact Persons at the DFG Head Office

Programme contact: 

Dr. Niklas Hebing, Humanities and Social Sciences 1, phone +49 228 885-2949, niklas.hebing@dfg.de(externer Link)

Administrative contact:

Sandra Fuß, Humanities and Social Sciences 1, phone +49 228 885-2233, sandra.fuss@dfg.de(externer Link)

Privacy Policy

We, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), take the protection of your personal data and its confidential treatment extremely seriously. Therefore, please refer to the DFG’s Privacy Policy(interner Link). If you intend to transmit personal data of third parties, please make sure to do so only if the necessary legitimation under data protection law exist. Before transmitting data of third parties to the DFG, please forward the DFG’s Data Protection Notice to the individuals affected (data subjects). If there is a legitimate interest not to inform individuals beforehand (e.g. for reasons of secrecy or in case of a nomination or candidate proposal), these individuals should be informed no later than at the time of publication.