Tim Killiam Grant

Launch of Tim Killiam Grant

Encouraging young social scientists to conduct research in architectural and urban history

The Tim Killiam Foundation has partnered with the University of Amsterdam (UvA) to launch the biennial Tim Killiam Grant, which will be announced during today’s celebration of the first lustrum of the Master’s Degree in Urban and Architectural History.

Within this partnership, the foundation offers a grant of €10,000 every two years for research on architectural and urban history related to the Amsterdam city centre or the city of Amsterdam in a broader sense.

This grant is intended for (former) students or PhD candidates of the interdisciplinary Master’s course in Urban and Architectural History and the Amsterdam Centre for Urban History (ACUH), which are both part of the Humanities Faculty at the UvA. With this grant, the foundation and the UvA aim to stimulate young social scientists in their research and to bring their results to the attention of a broader public: enthusiasts and interested parties, as well as professionals. The grant would be used by the winner to make the results of their research accessible to a wider audience. This could include financing the publication of a book, one or more articles, a website, an exhibition, an event, or a podcast.

Projects are put forward by self-nomination and on the recommendation of the UvA staff. One condition is that the research in question must have been completed and that the grant is used to help raise awareness of the subject. All short-list candidates must submit their own plans before the jury.

The selection of the grant winner is done in a joint discussionbetween the foundation, the UvA, and an independent expert. The first Tim Killiam Grant will be awarded in 2026.

The Tim Killiam Foundation manages the legacy of architect, draftsman and photographer Tim Killiam (1947-2014). Among his many works, Killiam was the publisher of the Amsterdam Canal Guide (1978). One of the Foundation’s objectives is to support ‘scientific research into the urban development of Amsterdam’s city centre through the ages’.

The interdisciplinary Master’s degree course in Urban and Architectural History at the UvA is a collaboration between urban historians (working in the History programme) and architectural historians (working in the Art History programme). Students examine the city as a focal point of political, cultural and socio-economic developments, and how these developments shape architectural and urban construction. The course has no geographical or time-bound limits and covers both buildings and people – from cities in classical antiquity to the modern metropolises of today. The Master’s degree course is strongly connected to Amsterdam,through excursions, case studies and collaborations with external parties, thesis research and internships.

PhD candidates in the field of urban and architectural history are affiliated with the Amsterdam Centre for Urban History(ACUH, part of the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies), which organises meetings and holds monthly seminars in which guest speakers from the Netherlands and abroad present their research.

Tim Killiam Grant versus Tim Killiam Prize

In 2022, the Tim Killiam Foundation launched the Tim Killiam Prize, an award for artists who have made an original or valuable contribution to the image of the city of Amsterdam. The first three prize winners – Arie Schippers (2023), Chad Bilyeu (2024) and Janneke Viegers (2025) – each received €15,000, plus an exhibition in the Grachtenmuseum and a bus stop campaign throughout Amsterdam.

As of 2025, the Tim Killiam Prize will be a biennial art prize. It will be awarded every other year, alternating with the Tim Killiam Grant, which focuses on architecture and urban planning.