The Leibniz ScienceCampus – Byzantium between Orient and Occident – Mainz/Frankfurt aims to establish a broad platform for interdisciplinary Byzantine studies within an institutional framework. It comprises representatives from several fields, including Byzantine studies, Christian archaeology and Byzantine art history, as well as all disciplines that contribute to research into the Byzantine Empire and its culture. The Mainz/Frankfurt ScienceCampus promotes the integration of dispersed scientific disciplines dedicated to Byzantium. It brings together thematic, multidisciplinary, historical and cultural research under one roof and, by presenting Byzantine studies as a whole, aims to improve the visibility of this scientific field.

The Wolfgang Fritz Volbach-Fellowship was conceived as a link between the centre of research Mainz and international scholarly work within Byzantine Studies. It allows scholars working on a subject related to the Leibniz ScienceCampus - Byzantium between Orient and Occident - Mainz/Frankfurt a four-week research stay in Mainz or in Frankfurt. Scholars will be able to use libraries and scholarly infrastructures there and can participate in the lively interdisciplinary professional debates at both universities.