Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FERBOPO (FERBOPO – FOSTERING EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH ON STATE-CHURCH-BODY POLITICS)
Reporting period: 2024-11-01 to 2026-01-31
Scope and context of FERBOPO project
This project aims at building a new research group at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (ULBS) focused on the complex relationship between State, Church and Body Politics that would foster excellence in social sciences and better integrate ULBS in the European Research Area (ERA). To this end, ULBS created a CHAIR position for Professor Lavinia STAN from St. Francis Xavier University (Canada), whose outstanding academic profile and thorough expertise in the cross-cutting fields of government, religion, economics and epistemology will foster (de)colonial feminist thinking and the institutionalisation of Gender Studies in Romania, help increase the number of excellent research staff at our university, and improve their capability to attract competitive research funding with significant spill-over effects at societal level. In addition, the project will assist ULBS in implementing institutional reforms that both align with ERA priorities and facilitate the implementation of the Gender Equality Plan (GEP).
This project aims at building a new research group at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (ULBS) focused on the complex relationship between State, Church and Body Politics that would foster excellence in social sciences and better integrate ULBS in the European Research Area (ERA). To this end, ULBS created a CHAIR position for Professor Lavinia STAN from St. Francis Xavier University (Canada), whose outstanding academic profile and thorough expertise in the cross-cutting fields of government, religion, economics and epistemology will foster (de)colonial feminist thinking and the institutionalisation of Gender Studies in Romania, help increase the number of excellent research staff at our university, and improve their capability to attract competitive research funding with significant spill-over effects at societal level. In addition, the project will assist ULBS in implementing institutional reforms that both align with ERA priorities and facilitate the implementation of the Gender Equality Plan (GEP).
WP1 – Management of Project
The preparation and signing of documents necessary for the hiring of the ERA Chair holder finalized before the start of M1 – see Deliverable D2.1.
The establishment of the Steering Committee made up by the ERA Chair Holder, the project Director and the Deputy Manager of FERBOPO was formally attested by the document signed by the ULBS Rector (M1) see Deliverable D1.1.
The Steering Committee organized regular monthly meeting to discuss, monitor and plan every activity of the ongoing WPs (continuously since the start of the project) – agenda and minutes of meetings are available upon request.
In order to have a clear understanding about the collection, analysis and storage of research data, the Steering Committee have elaborated the Data Management Plan. Data will be used in WP2, WP3 and WP5, and therefore this document outlines specifics for each of these components. Uploaded in the platform as D1.3.
The Steering Committee drafted the Action Plan, a guiding document describing each team member’s role and contribution to the project in accordance with the planned activities and deliverables described in the FERBOPO application. Uploaded in the platform as D1.1.
According to the calendar of mobilities, ERA Chair holder spent several weeks during three stays in ULBS.
WP2
The ERA Chair holder was hired at ULBS with a civil contract starting November 1, 2024 (M1). See Deliverable D2.1.
The ERA Chair holder and the Project Director conducted desk research and mapped the knowledge production in Central and East European (CEE) countries, including Romania, in relation to decolonial studies applied to State-Church-Body Politics.
ERA Chair holder and Project Director drafted an improved selection procedure for the recruitment of three postdoc researchers with no prior contractual links to ULBS. See, in this respect, the selection procedure uploaded as D2.2.
Based on the interviews and their dossiers, the following three (3) candidates were offered a job as fulltime postdoctoral researchers within FERBOPO, starting with November 1, 2025 (M13) (Milestone 2).
WP3 – Implementing the Gender Equality Plan
ERA Chair, Project Director and Director of Council for Doctoral Studies started coordinating and monitoring activities related to ULBS Gender Equality Plan. As part of this activity, they introduced and consolidated institutional Communities of Practice (CoP) in Gender Equality for ULBS researchers, students and administrative staff. The first CoP took place in M8, and revolved around selecting gender equality indicators in ULBS, mentoring needs assessment, and drafting the preliminary agenda of a dedicated event (i.e. gender equality week) at ULBS, as well as organizing campaign of raising awareness about gender and harassment in the academic environment.
Two newly employed gender equality experts were hired in March 2025 within FERBOPO for the ULBS Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office team. They produced a guide for ULBS community on the prevention of discrimination and harassment in the university.
Era chair holder provided teaching on gender in different disciplines (e.g. sociology, economics, social work) in ULBS and held a webinar on publishing in the peer-reviewed scholarly journal Women’s Studies International Forum.
WP4 (start Month M13)– Training and institutional support in academic writing
Within this WP, the Era Chair launched the writing group in academic writing, which includes the newly selected postdoc members of the Church-State-Body Politics research group, and the experienced researchers This writing group meets weekly for three-hour-long sessions with the explicit and deliberate purpose of writing research manuscripts on issues related to Church-State-Body Politics and decolonial feminism, among others.
WP5 (starts M13) – Exploratory research
ERA Chair holder and Project Director have organized the selection of team members for the exploratory research. The recruited candidates include both young and experienced researchers, in accordance with the grant specifications. The WP coordinator prepared and submitted the dossier for ethics approval to ULBS Ethics Research Committee. She organized the kick-off meeting with the research team, informed the team about the objectives of the research, and provided guidance and suggestions about the desk research, fieldwork for data collection and sampling procedure. The team provided valuable feedback and started the desk research on the topics of gender, aging and body politics in different organizational settings.
WP7– Communication and Dissemination
The communication officer was employed at the start of the project. The officer devised the communication, dissemination and exploitation strategy (See D.7.2 Living document describing the activities of dissemination and exploitation, including communication undertaken during FERBOPO). The FERBOPO webpage was created and maintained (See D.7.1)
The communication kit was created, and it includes the logo, the PowerPoint template, the roll-up, and other dissemination tools. These are regularly used for dissemination and communication by team members.
During Year 1, FERBOPO made substantial progress in dissemination activities, advancing recruitment, research outputs, stakeholder engagement, and digital visibility in line with the project work plan and in view of establishing a strong foundation toward achieving its long-term dissemination targets.
The preparation and signing of documents necessary for the hiring of the ERA Chair holder finalized before the start of M1 – see Deliverable D2.1.
The establishment of the Steering Committee made up by the ERA Chair Holder, the project Director and the Deputy Manager of FERBOPO was formally attested by the document signed by the ULBS Rector (M1) see Deliverable D1.1.
The Steering Committee organized regular monthly meeting to discuss, monitor and plan every activity of the ongoing WPs (continuously since the start of the project) – agenda and minutes of meetings are available upon request.
In order to have a clear understanding about the collection, analysis and storage of research data, the Steering Committee have elaborated the Data Management Plan. Data will be used in WP2, WP3 and WP5, and therefore this document outlines specifics for each of these components. Uploaded in the platform as D1.3.
The Steering Committee drafted the Action Plan, a guiding document describing each team member’s role and contribution to the project in accordance with the planned activities and deliverables described in the FERBOPO application. Uploaded in the platform as D1.1.
According to the calendar of mobilities, ERA Chair holder spent several weeks during three stays in ULBS.
WP2
The ERA Chair holder was hired at ULBS with a civil contract starting November 1, 2024 (M1). See Deliverable D2.1.
The ERA Chair holder and the Project Director conducted desk research and mapped the knowledge production in Central and East European (CEE) countries, including Romania, in relation to decolonial studies applied to State-Church-Body Politics.
ERA Chair holder and Project Director drafted an improved selection procedure for the recruitment of three postdoc researchers with no prior contractual links to ULBS. See, in this respect, the selection procedure uploaded as D2.2.
Based on the interviews and their dossiers, the following three (3) candidates were offered a job as fulltime postdoctoral researchers within FERBOPO, starting with November 1, 2025 (M13) (Milestone 2).
WP3 – Implementing the Gender Equality Plan
ERA Chair, Project Director and Director of Council for Doctoral Studies started coordinating and monitoring activities related to ULBS Gender Equality Plan. As part of this activity, they introduced and consolidated institutional Communities of Practice (CoP) in Gender Equality for ULBS researchers, students and administrative staff. The first CoP took place in M8, and revolved around selecting gender equality indicators in ULBS, mentoring needs assessment, and drafting the preliminary agenda of a dedicated event (i.e. gender equality week) at ULBS, as well as organizing campaign of raising awareness about gender and harassment in the academic environment.
Two newly employed gender equality experts were hired in March 2025 within FERBOPO for the ULBS Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office team. They produced a guide for ULBS community on the prevention of discrimination and harassment in the university.
Era chair holder provided teaching on gender in different disciplines (e.g. sociology, economics, social work) in ULBS and held a webinar on publishing in the peer-reviewed scholarly journal Women’s Studies International Forum.
WP4 (start Month M13)– Training and institutional support in academic writing
Within this WP, the Era Chair launched the writing group in academic writing, which includes the newly selected postdoc members of the Church-State-Body Politics research group, and the experienced researchers This writing group meets weekly for three-hour-long sessions with the explicit and deliberate purpose of writing research manuscripts on issues related to Church-State-Body Politics and decolonial feminism, among others.
WP5 (starts M13) – Exploratory research
ERA Chair holder and Project Director have organized the selection of team members for the exploratory research. The recruited candidates include both young and experienced researchers, in accordance with the grant specifications. The WP coordinator prepared and submitted the dossier for ethics approval to ULBS Ethics Research Committee. She organized the kick-off meeting with the research team, informed the team about the objectives of the research, and provided guidance and suggestions about the desk research, fieldwork for data collection and sampling procedure. The team provided valuable feedback and started the desk research on the topics of gender, aging and body politics in different organizational settings.
WP7– Communication and Dissemination
The communication officer was employed at the start of the project. The officer devised the communication, dissemination and exploitation strategy (See D.7.2 Living document describing the activities of dissemination and exploitation, including communication undertaken during FERBOPO). The FERBOPO webpage was created and maintained (See D.7.1)
The communication kit was created, and it includes the logo, the PowerPoint template, the roll-up, and other dissemination tools. These are regularly used for dissemination and communication by team members.
During Year 1, FERBOPO made substantial progress in dissemination activities, advancing recruitment, research outputs, stakeholder engagement, and digital visibility in line with the project work plan and in view of establishing a strong foundation toward achieving its long-term dissemination targets.
FERBOPO implementation has already driven some local changes in the following areas:
- Successfully attracted young Romanian scholars holding PhDs obtained abroad in the Social Sciences and Humanities (brain gain) as part of the new research group.
- Recruited and staffed the ULBS Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Office with qualified personnel, resulting in demonstrable outcomes.
- Successfully attracted young Romanian scholars holding PhDs obtained abroad in the Social Sciences and Humanities (brain gain) as part of the new research group.
- Recruited and staffed the ULBS Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Office with qualified personnel, resulting in demonstrable outcomes.