Announcements

INFO@ASCN.CH
WWW.ASCN.CH
AN INITIATIVE OF GEBERT RÜF STIFTUNG IN COOPERATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF FRIBOURG
Call for Research Proposals from Georgia
General
The ACADEMIC SWISS CAUCASUS NET (ASCN) is a 5-year programme aiming at
promoting social sciences and humanities in the South Caucasus. It is funded by
GEBERT RÜF STIFTUNG, a Switzerland-based private foundation aiming at
supporting science.
The ASCN Management, hosted at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, launches a
call for proposals, open to researchers from and resident in Georgia. The research
topics to be submitted should be relevant to transition themes, and they should
address and deal with specific issues at stake. Furthermore, the proposals must fit
into the umbrella topic defined specifically for Georgia "Transformation, Identities
and Social Capital".
The budget made available per project will be Swiss Francs (CHF) 20'000 maximum
per year. Projects have a maximum duration of 2 years. Initial funding is provided for
12 months. Submitting several applications is possible, but the evaluation will consider
the difference in topics and approaches.

Submission

The official application form must be used to submit research proposals by the
deadline of Monday 7 June 2010. it is to be downloaded from the www.ascn.ch
website. The first page of this form is to be signed and scanned. All documents
(application form, CVs, annexes, etc.) need to be submitted as one PDF file to the
ASCN Management at: info@ascn.ch. For any queries or additional information,
please use the same address or contact the programme's Local Coordination Unit n Georgia.

Evaluation criteria

The following criteria will be applied to assess the submissions for research projects:

•  scientific quality (most important are the elaboration of research question,

methods and research plan);

•  relevance and link to the umbrella topic;

•  feasibility of the research project;

•  scientific competence of the applicants related to the submitted project;

•  implication of younger researchers;

•  level of fluency in English

Research projects are evaluated by an independent and international Scientific
Board.

Selection timeframe

The evaluation process will take place in the following steps:

•  7 June 2010: Deadline to submit research proposals

•  Mid-July 2010: Final decision of the Scientific Board

•  September 2010: Start of approved research projects