The Soudavar Memorial Foundation's mission is to preserve and promote the rich and diverse cultural and artistic heritage of the Greater Iranian world in all its diverse aspects, emphasising continuities, areas of neglect, and interaction with other cultures.
Founded by a family with a long history of philanthropy, the Soudavar Memorial Foundation was formally established in 2001 and follows-on the lifelong commitment to Iran's arts, culture, and heritage by Fereidoun Soudavar (1908-1997) and his wife, Massoumeh Amir-Alai.
The Soudavar Foundation awards grants in Iranian Studies towards a diverse range of cultural and academic projects which have included postgraduate scholarships; special study grants; contributions to seminars and conferences; support for exhibitions of art from ancient to modern; musical and multimedia performances; archaeological excavations as well as the study of excavated material; and a decade-long commitment to Encyclopaedia Iranica. The Foundation emphasises the importance of books and has a substantial portfolio of publications to its credit. In addition to the six volumes to date as part of the Idea of Iran series, these include pioneering works such as the award-winning Isfahan and its Palaces: Statecraft, Shi'ism and the Architecture of Conviviality in Early Modern Iran by Sussan Babaie (Edinburgh University Press, 2008) and Eskandar Firouz's The Complete Fauna of Iran (I.B.Tauris, 2005), another prize-winning book that is widely acknowledged as the most comprehensive work to date on the fauna of Iran, with details of more than 1,000 species. In the last year, the Soudavar Memorial Foundation has expanded its activities to include Iran's cultural heritage and natural environment in collaboration with the Iran Heritage Foundation and other partners.
Please check the Foundation's website for Soudavar Memorial Foundation Grants in Iranian Studies.