Objective
Most scholars today are in favour of sharing their knowledge freely, even if there is no guarantee that they will get something in return. Apparently they assume that there is some greater good involved in sharing knowledge. Where does this ideal of knowledge come from?
SKILLNET demonstrates that the ideal of sharing knowledge is a legacy of a bottom-up social network of scholars and scientists who transcended religious, political and linguistic boundaries through their correspondence with one another. From about 1500 to around 1800, the ‘citizens’ of this knowledge-based civil society referred to their community as the ‘Republic of Letters’ (RL). SKILLNET will show that the ideal of sharing knowledge proved so powerful that even after 1800, the RL has continued to be a model of tolerance and exchange for the global intellectual and academic community.
The central thesis of this project is that the RL was held together by the ideal of sharing knowledge.
To support this thesis, SKILLNET applies two theoretical frameworks which are entirely new to the study of the RL. First, it conceptualises the RL as a ‘knowledge commons’ devoted to the production and management of knowledge. Second, it conceptualises the RL as an ‘imagined community’ whose culture of memory and identity was defined by the ideal of sharing knowledge. To operationalise these theoretical frameworks, the project uses two methodologies which are also new to the study of the RL. The first is large-scale social network analysis: SKILLNET digitally unravels the social structure of this huge network and its development over time. The second is digital text-mining: analyses of a large corpus of texts to trace changes in the semantics of key ethical concepts across time and space. SKILLNET presents an innovative history of knowledge, made possible through an unprecedented pool of ‘big data’ which allow a long-term diachronic perspective and a representative spatial and social geography.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences political sciences political policies civil society
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2016-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3584 CS Utrecht
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.