Fellowships in Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the Max-Weber-Kolleg

Project Information

MWK-Fellows

Grant agreement ID: 665958

DOI

10.3030/665958

Project closed

EC signature date 13 April 2015

Start date 1 September 2015

End date 31 August 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 2 832 000,00

EU contribution

€ 1 416 000,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT ERFURT
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MWK-Fellows (Fellowships in Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the Max-Weber-Kolleg)

Reporting period: 2017-09-01 to 2020-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

MWK-Fellows is an international fellowship programme for experienced researchers, which is co-financed by the European Union.

The programme offers fellowships to excellent experienced researchers who are conducting interdisciplinary research in cultural and social studies. Fellowships are awarded competitively within an open, merit-based and transparent multi-level selection process. Successful applicants have the opportunity to conduct their research projects in an intellectually stimulating and vibrant research environment provided by the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies (Max-Weber-Kolleg).

Fellows profit from the advanced study programme and an excellent research infrastructure. At the same time, they will be provided with individual support and guidance as well as training, mobility and networking opportunities. Fellows receive support in enlarging their research networks, in identifying promising career prospects in and beyond academia, and in strengthening their skills through personalized training opportunities and secondments.

Through the MWK-FELLOWS programme the Max-Weber-Kolleg strengthens the internationalization of research at the University of Erfurt. It also osters interdisciplinary research by bringing together researchers in cultural and social studies that refer to the ‘Weberian’ research programme of the Max-Weber-Kolleg. This programme combines historical, comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives with an interest in normative issues in the social sciences. It has a focus on societal challenges of contemporary societies, especially (religious) plurality, cultural diversity and social order, processes of acceleration and growth.

The successful implementation of the MWK-FELLOWS programme has significantly improved the expertise to host and successfully manage projects financed through the EU Research Framework Programmes. Additionally, the research carried out by the fellows contributed to reflect on societal challenges of contemporary societies.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work performed from the beginning of the project (September 2015) until the end of the project (August 2020):
01. Dissemination of Call 1, including EURAXESS (see Deliverable 3.1/ D9 and 3.5/ D13)
02. Evaluation and Selection Process, including Ethical Issues for Call 1 (see Deliverables 2.1/ D5 and 4.1/ D17)
03. Fellowship contracts and realisation of research fellowships for the year 2016/17 (see Deliverables D1.1/ D1)
04. Dissemination of Call 2, including EURAXESS (see Deliverable 3.2/ D10 and 3.6/ D14)
05. Evaluation and Selection process, including Ethical Issues for Call 2 (see Deliverables 2.2/ D6 and 4.2/ D18)
06. Fellowship contracts and start of research fellowships for the year 2017/18 (see Deliverables D1.1/ D1)
07. Submission of Periodic Report I regarding Call 1 and 2 (see Deliverable 1.2./D2)
08. Dissemination of Call 3, including EURAXESS (see Deliverable D 3.3/ D11 and D 3.7 D13)
09. Evaluation and Selection Process, including Ethical Issues for Call 3 (see Deliverables D 2.3/ D7/ and D 4.3/ D19)
10. Fellowship contracts and realisation of research fellowships for the year 2018/19 (see Deliverables D 1.1/ D1)
11. Dissemination of Call 4, including EURAXESS (see Deliverable D 3.4/ D12 and D 3.8/ D16)
12. Evaluation and Selection process, including Ethical Issues for Call 4 (see Deliverables D 2.4/ D8 and D 4.4/ D20)
13. Fellowship contracts and start of research fellowships for the year 2019/20 (see Deliverables D1.1/ D1)
14. Submission of Periodic Report II (see Deliverable D 1.3/ D3) and Final Report (see Deliverable D 1.4/ D4)

Results:
- improvement of international high-level research and contributing to foster the European Research Area by bringing together excellent researchers
- internationalisation by attracting promising international researchers and providing them with opportunities to cooperate with other researchers at the Max-Weber-Kolleg and its network of cooperation partners.
- enhancing research and innovation-related human resources and bring researchers in a position to better realise their potential through research stays and secondments with cooperating partners
- enhancing the competitiveness of the local research infrastructure and the capacity of the University of Erfurt to support international mobility in the ERA

Dissemination:
- strenghtening of dissemination of research results, both within academia and to a broader public. Researchers were supported to publish their research results in excellent peer review journals and publishing houses. The Max-Weber-Kolleg and the Library of the University of Erfurt also observed the requirement for MWK-Fellows to publish their publications open access. Researchers were strongly encouraged to disseminate their research results in other academic formats (conferences, workshops) and received substantial financial/administrative support to organise their own conferences and workshops.
- ecnouragement of researchers to cooperate with non-academic partners to disseminate their research to a general public. Thus, they increased the awareness and acceptance of social and cultural studies. MWK-Fellows had access to communication skill courses and could use their training budgets to participate in tailored courses for transferable skills.Secondments with non-academic cooperation partners aided researchers to initiate different forms of dissemination.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The results of the different research projects of the fellows are documented in the respective reports of the fellows.

The results of the overall project MWK-Fellows, namely
- providing fellowships to excellent experienced researchers conducting interdisciplinary research in cultural and social studies,
- providing fellows with an advanced study programme and an excellent research infrastructure with individual support and guidance as well as training, mobility and networking opportunities,
- strengthening of the internationalization of research at the University of Erfurt by attracting outstanding international researchers,
- furthering of promising career prospects in and beyond academia,
- improvement of intersectorality and of cooperation of researchers with partners outside of academia,
- dissemination of social and cultural studies research results to a wider (non)academic public,
have been achieved for all researchers that came to the Max-Weber-Kolleg through the programme.

Socio-Economic Impact
- enhancement of human resource development capacities; providing fellows with new opportunities to further their academic career and succeed on the academic job market.
- strengthening of the attractiveness of the University of Erfurt as employer for high-potential talents through achievements of the programme on different levels (internationalisation, administrative capacities, science-society-transfer)
-strengthening of the University of Erfurt’s position in the national and international competition for funding.

Societal implications
- improvement of the awareness for humanities and social science research in general
- enhancement of the visibility of the University of Erfurt and the Max-Weber-Kolleg as partner for future collaborations for potential cooperation partners within society
- raising awareness for the role of the European Union in supporting research and encouraging knowledge transfer to a general public on a local, regional, national and international public.

Max-Weber-Kolleg Research Building