Examining European cultural encounters
Comprising 19 national and regional funding organisations, the HERA JRP CE (HERA Joint Research Programme Cultural Encounters) project called for multilateral and transnational project proposals addressing general historical and theoretical issues. The focus was on in-depth investigations of aspects of cultural encounters. The initiative supports the creation of collaborative transnational research opportunities that provide insights from humanities research, with a view to addressing the critical social, cultural and political challenges facing Europe. Building on the success of the first HERA JRP programme, partners defined and developed a common research priority, launched a transnational funding mechanism and amassed a significant amount of their funding in one virtual pot. The board was responsible for decisions related to financing of HERA JRP CE projects, knowledge transfer strategy and implementation, and monitoring of the selected projects. The call attracted almost 600 pre-proposals from scholars throughout the participating countries. At the end an independent international Review Panel ranked 88 full proposals, the top 18 of which were funded in total almost EUR 18 million. A description of all the proposals funded under this Eranet Plus project can be found on the HERA website. HERA JRP CE achieved all its planned objectives to date. At organisational level, these include the website launch, organising a big match-making event, running the selection process, finalising the contract negotiations, organising the HERA JRP Cultural Encounters launch conference and formulating a knowledge transfer strategy. The knowledge generated by the funded projects can be useful for informing and developing more effective European policies in critical areas.
Keywords
Cultural encounters, ideologies, societal institutions, humanities research
