The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and seventeen other European national funding organisations and the European Commission have launched a new €18.5 million research funding opportunity for arts and humanities academics.

Organised by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) and facilitated in the UK through the AHRC, this Joint Research Programme (JRP) call is intended to enable large trans-national Collaborative Research Projects (CRPs) to increase understanding of “Cultural Encounters”

This HERA call represents a significant opportunity for the UK arts and humanities research community to secure major international funding for arts and humanities projects – up to €1 million per project in a fund of up to €18.5 million.

By launching the ‘Cultural Encounters’ HERA JRP call for proposals, the national funding partners want to create collaborative, trans-national research opportunities that will derive new insights from humanities research in order to address the major social and cultural challenges facing Europe.

History shows that the interactions between individuals and groups of people are among the most formative dimensions of human endeavour and social change. These processes of encounter and migration (of people, ideas, goods and objects) have impacts all the way from the ‘micro’ level of individual lives to the ‘macro’ levels of ideology and societal institutions.

Arts and humanities research in the UK is a major force in European research. Of the 19 projects awarded funding under the earlier HERA call in 2009, 18 involved or were lead by researchers at UK Research Organisations.

International collaborations such as this offer exciting and important opportunities to researchers to undertake new research, tap into wider networks and allow them to jointly address major social and cultural challenges facing Europe.

To ensure as many UK academics as possible have an opportunity to participate in this research call the AHRC will be holding two information sessions in March –  in Edinburgh (13 March) and London (19 March). 

The briefings will provide a significant opportunity to ask questions about the Cultural Encounters theme, eligibility and how to apply. It will also be an opportunity to network and forge new contacts. Please see the Hera Cultural Encounters web page  for how to register to attend these events.

Outline proposals need to be submitted electronically via the HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) website by 2 May 2012.

A programme-specific website can be consulted for the latest updates at HERA.