The IPRA launches an invitation to collaborative research

IPRA (institute of religious pluralism and atheism – http://ipra.eu), in conjunction with the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Ange-Guépin (USR Université de Nantes – CNRS) and the UNAM (University Nantes Angers Le Mans) Service Europe et recherche, offers support for seeking funds and developing and submitting interdisciplinary projects in the field of religious pluralism in Europe and the Mediterranean world (5th – 21st century).
The aim of this action is to create and consolidate a community of researchers and scientific activities among a wide, coordinated and international structure and network.

IPRA is an interdisciplinary research institute (history, literature, law, philosophy, political science, etc.) funded by the Région Pays de la Loire, hosted at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Ange-Guépin and supported by the Université du Maine and the Université de Nantes. Its field of study concerns religious pluralism and atheism in Europe and the Mediterranean world. It brings together a community of scholars from local, national and international universities and institutions. Its ambition is to connect and federate the academic community on the regional, national and international scales around a series of operations: fundamental research and scientific promotion (education, training, actions toward the general public). In order to improve the impact of its research in the face of the societal challenges and to benefit from the quality and scale of the work already undertaken, IPRA seeks to serve as a hub of sources, resources, literature and promotion tools for researchers, teachers, students and more largely the civil society.

IPRA is an incubator for interdisciplinary research projects in the field of religions, atheism and secularization. By coordinating our efforts, we propose to structure and reinforce the network of scholars and associate researchers so as to become a major institute in the field. Given the low success rates in the different calls (national or international), it is necessary to provide support to the processes of creation and submission of projects. This observation encourages us to overcome and enhance the stage of cooperation and become competitive: a better international recognition means a wider participation to calls for projects and the support to those who wish to become leaders on international actions.

This present call concerns researchers, academics and scholars in all disciplines in the field of humanities and social sciences and of all geographic origins and affiliations, who wish to submit a research project corresponding to the themes and objects studied by IPRA. It may be a project in its initial phases of development or already in a more advanced stage.

IPRA relies on the services and skills of the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Ange-Guépin and the UNAM Service Europe et recherche for the identification and targeting of calls for funding as well as for the support in the project’s engineering. It offers researchers:
• Disciplinary and interdisciplinary scientific expertise for the evaluation of the project and its development
• A network of collaborators, associates, academic and non-academic
partners for the constitution of consortium (if applicable)
• Exposure and impact for the funded projects and collaborative work

Funding may be sought through the following schemes:

National (French ANR) calls (IPRA-MSH support):

• “Setting up European or International Scientific Networks” (MRSEI)
• Hosting High-Level Researchers (ACHN)
• Bilateral collaborations under the generic call for proposals (the PRCIs)
• Young Researchers Programme (JCJC)
• DefAS – Defi 8 – “innovative, integrating and adaptive societies”

International calls (IPRA-service Europe et recherche support):

-> Horizon 2020:

Collaborative research project on targeted call: Call CULT-COOP-2017-5: Religious diversity in Europe – past, present and future (in Societal challenge 6 Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective societies)

Individual project:

• Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, Advanced Grant (ERC – European Research Council)
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie (Individual fellowship – IF)

Doctoral trainings: Innovative Training Network – ITN

-> Any other funding scheme applicable.

Submission modalities:

• The pre-project must contain a description of the project, of its implementation and expected results (1-2 pages) as well as a CV of the project’s leader
• It must be in compliance with IPRA research themes
• It must be presented at least 3 months before the submission deadline at the targeted funding agency

Workflow and support processing:

• Receipt of project by IPRA
• Evaluation of the scientific project by IPRA
• Distribution to MSH or Service Europe et recherche (national or international call) – targeting appropriate calls, project engineering
• Constitution of support unit (scientific and administrative), definition of work packages, deliverables, methodology, etc. (going back and forth with MSH / service Europe et recherche and IPRA)
• Budget and final proposal consolidation
• Proofreading and submission to the funding agency

Funded projects will be managed and hosted at the Université de Nantes or the Université du Maine. They will benefit from:

• Logistic and administrative support and services, a working environment, digital assistance, etc.
• Assistance in the planning and organization of scientific and public events

Integration to IPRA: each project will be carried out and led autonomously and independently by its principal investigator (PI). The activities and deliverables will mention the IPRA as host institution for the project. IPRA will actively participate in the progress, execution and promotion of the project.

Researchers wishing to submit an idea or a project and to benefit from this support protocol are invited to send their proposal according to the aforementioned modalities to nicolas.stefanni@univ-nantes.fr

More information: +33 (0) 2 40 48 39 63

You will find these information, in French and English, in the following downloadable pdf file: