British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences

CO-REACH Social Science Collaborative Research between Europe & China

2008 Call for Proposals

The CO-REACH Social Science Programme aims to bring together Chinese and European researchers, working in the social sciences and in part of the humanities, to collaborate on a joint topic of mutual interest, and to explore the possibilities of future co-operation in these areas. It is open both to European and Chinese scholars experienced at collaborating together and to those with little or no previous experience of China-Europe collaboration.

CO-REACH (Co-ordination of Research between European and China) is a network of European S&T policy and funding organisations involved in promoting research co-operation with China. It is supported by the European Commission as an ERA-NET Co-ordination Action. The network is intended to improve coherence and synergy in Europe’s S&T relations with China.

Funding partners: Partners from the following seven countries will fund the programme:

• Austria (The Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture)
• Finland (The Academy of Finland)
• France (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research)
• Germany (Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
• The Netherlands (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research)
• United Kingdom (The British Academy, the Economic & Social Research Council, and the Arts & Humanities Research Council)
• China (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Thematic priorities: Applications are invited in the following five broad research areas:

• Law, Governance and Policy Making
• Participation, Co-determination and Quality of Life
• Labour Market Change, Migration and Social Cohesion
• Demography, Family and Social Welfare
• Cultural Heritage

Funding instruments: UK applicants may apply for one, or several, of the following funding modalities:

• Research visits
• Workshops, seminar series, summer schools
• Minor research costs (small-scale field work, data sets, consumables, small equipment, some personnel costs).

Full details of eligible costs for UK applicants are available on the following website: www.britac.ac.uk/intl/co_reach_ssprogramme_costs.html

Financial conditions: Each of the funding partners has contributed a sum of money to a virtual common pot. The total budget for the call is €1.75 million. The maximum award for one project is approximately €100-200,000. Successful applicants will receive funds from their national funding organisation(s). Projects should run for no longer than two years from June 2009.

Eligibility: UK applicants should have research experience in one of the thematic fields and be affiliated to a UK University or research organisation. Applications should involve a minimum of two researchers/research groups from two different participating European partner countries, as well as a minimum of one researcher/research group from China. Researchers/research groups from other countries may participate in projects so long as they have secured their own funding. Please note: the Principal Chinese Investigator should be based in one of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ institutes.

Application process and further details: For further information and access to the electronic application process, please consult the CO-REACH website: www.co-reach.org

Application deadline: No call for new proposals is expected to be made in 2009-10.

Contact: For further information on the call, please contact: united.kingdom@co-reach.org