Background:
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has been supporting German Studies at universities in the United Kingdom for many years. DAAD-Fachlektors in Politics teach at several British universities with a strong emphasis on contemporary German Studies. Students’ exchange and staff mobility to and from Germany is being supported by several DAAD programmes open to all disciplines. We expect to continue these programmes at comparable levels over the years to come. In 1994 the DAAD and the University of Birmingham established the Institute for German Studies (IGS) as a joint venture. Today the IGS is the British pillar of the worldwide network of similar DAAD-supported Centres for German Studies. In the last fifteen years the IGS has proved to be a distinguished research institution and has acted as a successful postgraduate school for the training of future generations of specialists on Germany.
A strong basis for German studies has thus been laid. The DAAD is willing to further strengthen innovative and interdisciplinary approaches in research and teaching on German Studies and hopes to encourage the intellectual support of our partners at universities in the UK to this end.
We are therefore launching a new programme for the support of German Studies which is open to applications from all universities in the United Kingdom. We plan to continue this new programme for at least three years, from 2010 to 2012.
Programme Objectives:
In this call for papers the term “German studies” describes research and teaching about contemporary Germany (including comparative studies) as well as its role in the European Union and its interaction with other European countries and the world at large. The focus is on approaches based in the social sciences and/or interdisciplinary orientated cultural studies that go beyond, though do not exclude, the literary manifestations of contemporary German culture.
Within that framework the specific objectives of the programme are
- to fully realise and further expand the scholarly potential that has been developed over the past fifteen years
- to contribute to the ongoing political and cultural dialogue between the United Kingdom and Germany
- to enhance cooperation between existing institutional structures in the field of German Studies so that the entire academic community in the United Kingdom and at overseas German Studies Centres can take maximum advantage of these and related initiatives
- to encourage universities in the UK to further develop their own intellectual and financial commitment to German studies.
Programme strands:
Funding is available in particular for the following kinds of projects:
(1) Organisation of an annual German studies summer school for postgraduate researchers (MA/PhD-students) from all over the United Kingdom
(2) mobility of UK and German students and staff in the context of joint research projects (priority will be given to projects involving several UK universities) (regular DAAD scholarship rates or per diems and lump sums for travel apply, see Annex)
(3) Short research visits (up to three months) of staff from German university or of staff from the worldwide DAAD-network of German Studies Centres to one or several universities in the UK (regular DAAD per diems and lump sums for international travel for visiting professors apply, see Annex)
(4) Other innovative institutional research projects focussing on contemporary Germany that are not eligible for support under other ongoing DAAD programmes.
While we encourage joint applications from several institutions under all programme strands, only proposals submitted by a representative consortium of universities in the United Kingdom will be considered under programme strand (1) and only one grant, if any, will be awarded under this strand. Institutions or consortia submitting proposals for programme strand (1) must at least match the DAAD contribution. Under the other programme strands, the availability of matching funds from institutional, public or private sources would be regarded as an asset.
Institutions and consortia may apply for funding under several programme lines in one proposal. Individual institutions or staff may join several consortia or submit both individual and consortial proposals. Proposals may be submitted for a maximum two year funding cycle at this time.
Procedure:
Proposals may be submitted by all UK institutions of higher education and full-time staff employed by them, regardless of nationality.
Applicants affiliated to the University of Birmingham must submit proposals through the Institute of German Studies (IGS).
There is no proposal form. Proposals should include a description of the project (no more than 10 pages) and a budget with detailed data on planned expenditure and institutional funding commitments. Budgets must be calculated separately for each German fiscal (i.e. calendar) year. A maximum amount of EURO 37.500 could be allocated to each project per year. Decisions on grant awards will be taken by the DAAD on the basis of a review of proposals by an international panel of experts in German studies.
Proposals must be mailed or faxed to the DAAD London Office and be post-marked no later than December 31, 2009.