The Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council are very pleased to announce that Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University has been appointed to direct their collaborative £8.3m Religion and Society Research Programme.

The Religion and Society Research Programme aims to explore the current developments concerning questions of belief, human culture, society and religion.

This will be the first UK research programme to foster collaborative endeavours across the arts, humanities and social sciences in order to understand the inter-relationships between religion and society. The programme will support projects of the highest quality and international significance.

The first call for applications has already been made and the next deadlines, for Research Networks & Workshops and for Small Grants, will be March 29th.

Professor Woodhead, currently head of the department of Religious Studies at Lancaster University, said: "This research programme responds to the pressing need to advance understanding of religion in society by bringing to bear a range of disciplinary perspectives.

"In the short term the programme will fund workshops and networks, which will enable the creation of new research partnerships and collaborations. In the longer term it will also support small and large research projects, which will explore different facets of religion and society across the globe."

AHRC Director of Research Tony McEnery said "The AHRC and the ESRC are very pleased to have secured the services of Professor Woodhead to lead the Religion and Society research programme. She is an outstanding scholar and brings many fine qualities to the post of programme director."

For further information on this research programme please go to:  http://ahrcinternalweb/FundingOpportunities/Pages/ReligionandSociety.aspx

Editors Notes

Arts and Humanities Research Council Each year the AHRC provides approximately £90 million to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,500 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.

Economic and Social Research Council The ESRC is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It provides independent, high quality, relevant research to business, the public sector and Government. The ESRC's planned total expenditure in 2006-07 is £169 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and research policy institutes. More at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk