Grant -- ISRF Flexible Grants for Small Groups (FG5)

ISRF Flexible Grants for Small Groups (FG5)
Category I: £5,000 (or €5,500), or Category II: £4,250 (or €4,700)
12
31 December 2019
Europe
0
Yes

Eligible Applicants: Scholars from within Europe are eligible to apply as Principal Investigator  (PI) to convene a small research group of 2-8 scholars (which may include graduate students). The PI  should hold a PhD and will normally have a permanent appointment at an institution of higher education and research. Applications may be made by those whose sole or principal post is a part-time equivalent. Independent scholars with an academic affiliation may also apply.

The award will enable researchers to conduct a research collaboration. The ISRF aims to support independent-minded researchers to do interdisciplinary work which is unlikely to be funded by existing funding bodies, and therefore encourages innovative proposals involving novel groupings of researchers, especially in interdisciplinary areas involving overseas collaborators, normally with a maximum of two researchers from any one university.

Eligible Research: The ISRF wishes to support innovative research which breaks with existing explanatory frameworks so as to address afresh empirical problems with no currently adequate theory or investigative methodology. Innovation may also come from controversial theoretical approaches motivated by critical challenge of incumbent theories. Interdisciplinarity in the generation of new investigative initiatives may be achieved by combining and transforming empirical methods and theoretical insights from the social sciences. Projects ranging across the breadth of the social scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary research fields are welcome, and relevant applications from scholars working within the humanities and the natural sciences are also encouraged.

Nature and Timing of Support: There are two categories of award, (I) Flexible, and (II) Residential. The ISRF intends to make several awards in each category. Both categories of award are intended as providing support for intensive small group research collaboration. The award’s amount and the uses it can be put to are the same for both categories.

Category I: The Flexible award is intended to facilitate collaborative face-to-face working over a period of up to a year, by providing the PI(s) with funds for expenses for meetings and small workshops, for travel, and for associated fieldwork and practical work.

Category II: The Residential award is intended to support a week’s intensive face-to-face group work in an onsite residential meeting. The designated date for this is [TBC], and the venue in Berlin is provided at no cost; PIs will be able to use their monetary award for participants’ travel, and for extra expenses associated with the residential research programme. The awarded research groups will each have provided for them a dedicated onsite research space, accommodation in ensuite study bedrooms, and full board. There will also be social space shared by all research groups, and the ISRF will host an informal social event. The ISRF-funded Interdisciplinary Editor at The Conversation will also be available for groups or individual group members to discuss ways in which research findings may be disseminated to a wider audience. 

Value: The amount of an award depends on the nature of the work proposed, and the category of award. For Category I (Flexible) awards, the ISRF expects applications up to a maximum of £5,000, to cover the intended activities of the group for the duration of the project; for Category II (Residential) awards, requested funds should not exceed £4,250, primarily to cover participants’ travel to and from the Berlin residency (PIs are free to seek additional funding for travel to Berlin).

Applicants should note that the ISRF cannot offer reimbursement to universities for teaching or lecturing expenses, or residential stipends.

This opportunity is closed to applications.