Grant Competitions

The ASCN Programme, hosted at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, launches a call for proposals in social sciences, 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 one of the two below topics defined specifically for Georgia:

- Institutions, networks and power
- Religion, nation and identities

The budget made available per project will be 40'000 Swiss Francs (CHF) over two years, with a maximum of 20'000 CHF per year. Projects must have a 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 Friday 3 June 2011. Applications arriving after 3 June 2011 will not be taken into consideration. The first page of the application form is to be signed and scanned. All documents (application form, CVs, annexes, etc.) have to be submitted as one PDF file to the ASCN Management at info@ascn.ch and denis.dafflon@unifr.ch with the following email subject line "ASCN Call- Georgia 2011". For any queries or additional information, please use the same address or contact our local coordinator, Prof. Giga Zedania (giga_zedania@iliauni.edu.ge).

Eligibility
Applications for ASCN Research Project funding can be submitted only by researchers from Georgia and residing in Georgia.

Evaluation Criteria
The following criteria will be applied to assess the submissions for research projects:
• scientific quality (especially 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;
• involvement of younger researchers;
• level of fluency in English
Research projects are evaluated by an independent and international Scientific Board (visit our website for further details).

Selection Timeframe
The evaluation process will take place in the following steps:
• 3 June 2011: Deadline to submit research proposals
• Mid-July 2011: Final decision of the Scientific Board
• 1 September 2011: Start of approved research projects

Information and application form: www.ascn.ch

Workshop Session “Proposal Writing”
Monday 18 April 2011, 5pm-7.30pm
Ilia State University, Av. 32 Chavchavadze ave., Room 101

In the context of this call, the ASCN organises an information session for all potential applicants. The workshop will be held in English. It is open to scholars affiliated to institutions of higher education and other research institutions in Armenia and intending to submit a research proposal.

The session will be conducted Denis Dafflon, ASCN Scientific Coordinator (University of Fribourg, Switzerland).
Mr. Dafflon will present the application form in detail, providing information and giving advice on the most important aspects, from presentation to budgeting and scientific issues. Participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions related to the application form.

Registration

For organisational matters, we kindly ask scholars and research teams interested to participate in this information session to notify Ms. Tiko Kadagishvili (tiko_kadagishvili@iliauni.edu.ge), ASCN Local Assistant, until 14 April 2011. Please provide Ms. Kadagishvili with your name and research institution.