The bulk of a new research scheme being funded by the EU has gone to UK researchers in part thanks to the work of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
The announcement that UK humanities academics have received the lion's share of a €16.5m research fund focussing on both Cultural Dynamics and on Creativity is a cause for celebration as 18 out of 19 successful research projects have a UK research partner and 11 of these projects are being led by UK research teams. This means that the UK has got access to €15.5m of the €16.5m fund for these recently launched research projects.
Key research areas that the successful UK teams are now working on include:
• How design-led innovation of architecture and planning processes could improve the built environment in the future
• How creativity and innovation act as an economic and cultural force both in the past and in the present
• The relationship between creativity and innovation in the European media sector and its influence on cultural attitudes and identities
The Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: “The UK’s success in achieving the lion’s share of research funding in this Europe-wide competition is impressive. It confirms the quality of our humanities base and that the UK leads the way in cultural research.”
As a way to ensure that the UK made as many strong applications for these funds as possible the AHRC, over a three year period, worked with UK humanities researchers to help them to build relationships with continental research colleagues. Competition for these research funds was particularly fierce with 55 project teams getting to the final round of assessment and only 19 being successful. These successful proposals required the building of consortia of three or more partners based in three or more European countries.
Professor Rick Rylance, the AHRC Chief Executive, said “The AHRC has worked very hard over recent years to engage with our European partners and take a lead on joint initiatives. To secure strong participation in all but one of these exciting projects is a tribute not only to the quality of the individuals developing them, but also to the overwhelming strength of UK research in the arts and humanities. If further evidence were needed of our truly international distinction, this is it. I’m really delighted for all those involved.”
This unique EU research funding opportunity was open to humanities scholars in 13 European countries and has allowed UK arts and humanities academics access to up to one million Euros funding for each of their collaborative research projects. Organised by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) and facilitated in the UK through the AHRC this Joint Research Programme (JRP) has enabled trans-national Collaborative Research Projects (CRPs) in two humanities research areas:
“Cultural Dynamics: Inheritance and identity”
and
“Humanities as a Source of Creativity and Innovation”.
Ends
AHRC Media contact: Jake Gilmore, Communications Manager, T: 01793 416021; M: 07970 99 4586;
E: j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
Notes to Editors:
Interviews can be arranged with the UK academics Professor Jeremy Till (University of Westminster) and Professor Evelyn Welch (Queen Mary, University of London) who are both leading successful projects from this scheme.
Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £112 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,300 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. www.ahrc.ac.uk
HERA – Humanities in the European Research Area - is a partnership between fifteen Humanities Research Councils across Europe and the European Science Foundation, with the objective of firmly establishing the humanities in the European Research Area and in the 6/7th Framework Programmes. HERA has been designed to deliver new levels of co-operative research policy and practice in the humanities by embarking on an ambitious programme of communication, enquiry and sharing of expertise. Over a period of four years (2004-2008) partners are dedicated to the establishment of best practise in funding mechanisms, research priorities, humanities infrastructure and the development of a transnational funding programme. HERA is financed by the EU Framework programme 6's ERA-NET scheme and was established from the ERA-NET ERCH (European Network for research Councils in the Humanities) formulated by the Danish, Dutch and Irish Research Councils.
The proposals funded under the HERA JRP theme "Cultural Dynamics: Inheritance and Identity" are:
• The Dynamics of the Medieval Manuscript: Text Collections from a European Perspective (DynamicsoftheMedievalManuscript) - Bart Besamusca, Utrecht University, NL
• Investigating discourses of inheritance and identity in four multilingual European settings (IDI4MES) – Adrian Blackledge, University of Birmingham, UK
• Photographs, Colonial Legacy and Museums in Contemporary European Culture (PhotoCLEC) – Elizabeth Edwards, University of the Arts London, UK
• Memory at War: Cultural Dynamics in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine (MAW) – Alexander Etkind, University of Cambridge, UK
• The Assembly Project - Meeting-places in Northern Europe AD 400-1500 (TAP) – Frode Iversen, University of Oslo, NO
• Popular music heritage, cultural memory, and cultural identity: Localised popular music histories and their significance for music audiences and music industries in Europe (POPID) – Susanne Janssen, Erasmus University Rotterdam, NL
• The Role of Language in the Transnational Formation of Romani Identity (ROMIDENT) – Yaron Matras, University of Manchester, UK
• Cultural memory and the resources of the past, 400-1000 AD (CMRP) – Walter Pohl, University of Vienna, AT
• Sharing Ancient Wisdoms: Exploring the tradition of Greek and Arabic wisdom literatures (SAWS) – Charlotte Roueche, King's College London, UK
• Rhythm Changes: Jazz Cultures and European Identities (Rhythm Changes) – Tony Whyton, The University of Salford, UK
The proposals funded under the HERA JRP theme "Humanities as a Source of Creativity and Innovation are:
• Measuring the societal impacts of universities' research into arts and the humanities (HERAVALUE) – Paul Benneworth, University of Twente, NL
• Copyrighting Creativity: Creative Values, Cultural Heritage Institutions and Systems of Intellectual Property (CULTIVATE) – Helle Porsdam, University of Copenhagen, DK
• Technology, Exchange and Flow: Artistic Media Practices & Commercial Application (TEF) - Michael Punt, University of Plymouth, UK
• Developing a Network-Based Creative Community; Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice (ELMCIP) – Scott Rettberg, The University of Bergen, NO
• Creativity and Craft Production in Middle and Late Bronze Age Europe (CinBA) – Joanna Sofaer, University of Southampton, UK
• Creativity and Innovation in a World of Movement (CIM) – Maruska Svasek, Queens University Belfast, UK
• Scarcity and Creativity in the Built Environment (SCIBE) - Jeremy Till, University of Westminster, UK
• Of Authorship and Originality. Reclaiming Copyright in Support of Creative Collaboration in the Digital Environment. (OOR) - Mireille Marie Madeleine van Eechoud, University of Amsterdam, NL
• Fashioning the Early Modern: Innovation and Creativity in Europe, 1500-1800 (Fashioning the Early Modern) - Evelyn Welch, Queen Mary, University of London UK