Opportunities

NEW Opportunities

2022/23 Societies and Cultures Institute (SCI) Development Fund Internal Call

As academic year 2021/22 comes to an end, the International Institute for Cultural Enquiry (IICE), is transitioning to become the Societies and Cultures Institute (SCI).

SCI intends to support HASS led challenge-facing and curiosity driven interdisciplinary research, by enabling HASS PIs to develop collaborations and partnerships, test innovative ideas or build an evidence base.  

To do this, it will provide vital development funds for emerging research projects that address challenges in a disruptive and innovative manner and have the potential to be submitted to an external funding Call within one year of the Development Fund period ending.

Two previous rounds of Development Funds have been awarded by IICE and the projects supported can be found here.  

We have a maximum of £30,000 to award through the Development Fund in academic year 2022/2023. This can support an individual project with a maximum value of £7,000.

Please see the full SCI Development Fund Internal Call Guidance 2022_23.

Applications are now OPEN.

If you are interested in receiving funding, please request a SCI Development Fund Application form from culturalenquiry@exeter.ac.uk.

Deadline: Monday 5th September 2022

 

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

International Institute for Cultural Enquiry

2022 Doctoral Summer School: POSTPONED

Responsible Research

Ethics and The Academy

DATES TBC

Knightley Building, Streatham Campus, University of Exeter

 

The International Institute for Cultural Enquiry (IICE) is pleased to announce its second Doctoral Summer School.  Following on from the very successful 2021 Summer School (on Decolonising Methodologies), IICE is offering up to 15 places on its 2022 Summer School.

The theme this year is Responsible Research and will explore how doctoral students (at MPhil or PhD stage) can select, design and implement their research programmes within an ethical framework.  We will be addressing questions such as:

  1. How can we evaluate the ethical dimensions of our research?
  2. What does it mean for doctoral research to be ethical?
  3. How can I choose my research topic, and my methodology, in an ethical manner?
  4. What are my responsibilities as a researcher towards the subject of my research?

These can include:

  • The peoples and societies I am researching
  • The environment and eco-systems impacted by my research
  • The histories and cultures of my research subjects

The Summer School will include practical sessions, discussion groups, reading and reflection, and keynote presentations from experts in the field.

The Summer School accepts applications from all registered, pre-viva MPhil and PhD students at the University of Exeter (travel and accommodation will be provided for students based at the Penryn campus; some other travel funds may be available – applicants should mention this in their “Description of PhD Research”). Applications from MPhil/PhD students in the early stages of their research are particularly encouraged. Applicants should note that the summer school is designed as an integrated package, and therefore applicants are committing to attendance at all sessions during the Summer School.

Application is by:

  1. CV (2 A4 pages max, 11pt font)
  2. Description of your PhD research and reflection on the research’s ethical dimensions (1 A4 page max, 11 pt font).

Applications should be submitted by midnight Monday 2nd May 2022 and sent as a single PDF attachment to IICE via the email:

 

 

If you have an idea for a potential collaboration (or just want to know more about what we do), please do get in touch by emailing culturalenquiry@exeter.ac.uk

 


Previous Opportunities

Steering Group and Research Theme Lead Opportunity

From August 2022, The International Institute of Cultural Enquiry will transition to become the Societies and Culture Institute (SCI), alongside the other four UoE Institutes, and will have a new website launched in the Autumn.

Aligning with the University’s STRATEGY 2030, SCI’s overarching aims are:

 

1.   To drive a step-change in HASS-led interdisciplinary research at Exeter by creating and leading challenge-facing interdisciplinary initiatives, collaborating with and enriching the University’s STEMM research strengths.

 

2.   To enrich Exeter’s PGT and PGR offerings through teaching and research programmes fully informed by, and growing out of, innovative collaborations.

 

3.  To develop the University’s practice and insights by broadening research impact through building meaningful, socially responsible collaborations with non-academic partners.

 

In order to support delivering on these aims, SCI is seeking to set up a Steering Group of academics from across disciplines and career stage. The Steering Group members will have the opportunity to input into the direction of SCI and form ‘Task & Finish’ groups for activities or areas of development that particularly interest them.  We anticipate termly Steering Group meetings (one ‘in person’ per year), and then as much input and activity from you as you wish/are able to give.

 

Within the Steering Group, there will be three Research Themes Leads to drive forward and scope interdisciplinary activity in the below three research themes:

 

1.  Global and Regional Inequalities: SCI will interrogate the persistence (and intensification) of social inequalities on a range of levels, and explore and record the experience of injustice that stems from them. Through exploration of the societal structures that underpin and perpetuate these inequalities, SCI will identify means of countering these trends.  

 

2.  Effects of Environmental and Social Change: SCI will address the major challenges of our time, working alongside science-based approaches, with research into behavioural and societal factors underpinning these changes.  Understanding the causes, and consequently devising potential solutions, lies in a more developed understanding of societies and cultures.

 

3.  Cultural and Political Disenfranchisement: The cultural and political institutions, which have been the building blocks of the international order, are under increasing strain. On-going pressures can, in part, be traced to current regional and global challenges, tracking increasing suspicion of these institutions. SCI will trace the origins and development of these pressures, examine why they are felt across numerous fields and sectors, and address how society might productively respond to them.

 

In return for your time on the SCI Steering Group, we will support you to:

 

  • Run interdisciplinary events to drive and explore specific areas within our Research Themes.
  • Deliver seminars and panel discussion to drive and explore specific areas within our Research Themes.
  • Promote research outputs and impact within our Research Themes.
  • Consider your applications, in the same fair and transparent process as all application, for any SCI internal funding opportunities.
  • Offer you the opportunity to be part of SCI’s Leadership Team’s strategic meetings at certain points throughout the year.

If you are interested in being on the SCI Steering Group, please email: by Tuesday 3rd May 2022, with:

 

  • a maximum of a two page CV
  • a statement of around 500 – 600 words explaining what you will bring to the role. The statement should identify if you wish to be a Research Theme Lead and for which research theme: Global and Regional Inequalities; Effects of Environmental and Social Change; Cultural and Political Disenfranchisement.

The Director of IICE, in consultation with the ADRs of Humanities and Social Science disciplines will make the appointments. Should you require more information about IICE/SCI, please contact Professor Rob Gleave, Director of IICE or

 

  • 2021/22 International Institute for Cultural Enquiry (IICE) Development Fund Internal Call  

    The purpose of the IICE development fund is to help facilitate research that is challenge-led, large-scale, and geared towards addressing global, national or regional problems through attention to their cultural dimensions. It is intended to provide vital support for emerging University of Exeter research projects that address challenges in a disruptive and innovative manner and that have the potential to enable the development of regional, national, and international partnerships.

    We are able to distribute a total of £30,000 via the Development Fund and can support an individual proposal with a maximum value of £10,000. There is therefore scope for proposals of various scale and value.

    To find out more and apply, download and complete the 2021-22 IICE Development Fund Guidance with Application form. All applications must be submitted using the form provided. The deadline for Proposals was 09:00 on 6th September 2021.

We are thrilled to announce that the International Institute for Cultural Enquiry is holding a 5-day summer school on Decolonial Methodologies, in partnership with colleagues from the Exeter Decolonising Network.

DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM FOR MORE INFO AND TO APPLY —

Up to 15 places are available to doctoral researchers currently registered for an MPhil or PhD at the University of Exeter (Streatham, St Luke’s, Penryn or Truro Campuses); there is no restriction on the applicants’ home discipline, but the proposed PhD topic should be linked to “cultural enquiry”.   

 

Over 5 days, participants will explore how established and emerging methodologies employed in decolonial research practices can contribute to the participants’ own research programmes – at doctoral level and beyond.  The aim of the Summer School is to introduce doctoral researchers to the possibilities found in decolonial studies, and is particularly aimed at researchers who have an interest in decolonial methodologies but have not yet worked through their explicit significance for their current and future research. Doctoral researchers at any stage of their research can apply. 

The Summer School will comprise a variety of activities including key readings seminars, lectures and discussion groups, collaborative “learning through practice” sessions, research co-production and writing workshops, participant presentations, engagement with external partner organisations and reflective learning… Find out more and apply.

*If you believe you are eligible, download and complete the application form,  which should be returned to  by 09:00, 24th May 2021.

The Nuffield Foundation

The Nuffield Foundation have recently announced two exciting research funding opportunities, in collaboration with the British Academy and POST respectively.  Each of these opportunities provide a chance to work at the intersection of research, policy and community on cutting-edge, interdisciplinary projects.

The British Academy and the Nuffield Foundation invite applications from early and midcareer researchers, policymakers and practitioners to participate in an Understanding Communities research and policy innovation workshop and develop innovative and interdisciplinary research proposals.

“…that advance our organisations’ shared interest in enhancing people’s lives in the context of their communities. At least £500,000 in funding is available to deliver the research proposals that result from the workshop and more funding may subsequently be made available to develop the programme of work if proposals and projects demonstrate sufficient promise.

The British Academy’s Cohesive Societies programme aims to shed light, and develop suggestions for policy change, on how societies can remain cohesive in the face of rapid political, social, economic and technological change, drawing on a range of salient themes and policy areas for both government and civil society. The Nuffield Foundation, whose aim is to advance social well-being with research that informs social policy, has identified limitations in the collective understanding of the role of community in social and individual wellbeing in the UK, and its effect on the ability of interventions to address disadvantage, as a major social policy challenge of the 2020s…” Find out more and apply *

*Closing date: 17:00, Friday 4 June 2021

Who should apply: Early and mid-career researchers, policymakers and practitioners who are already working on the theme of communities, or whose expertise could directly contribute fresh perspectives.

 

The Nuffield Foundation POST Fellowship is open to any PhD students in a scientific or quantitative social science field who are undertaking or have recently finished their PhD studies.

“POST and the Nuffield Foundation are offering a 13-week fellowship to PhD students who are undertaking or have recently completed their PhD study (“recently completed” applies to people whose University registration ended at any point in 2021). There is one funded fellowship available.

Successful applicants will be based in UK Parliament, supporting its use of research evidence. Most fellows assist POST in providing briefing material for parliamentarians on emerging science topics….” Find out more and apply *

*Eligible applicants should complete the online application form and email to
postfellowships@parliament.uk, before the deadline at 23:59 on Sunday  18 July.


At IICE, we are always looking for ways to connect with future research collaborators, cultural practitioners, interested parties or potential external partners. If you are interested in what we do, don’t hesitate to get in touch- we would love to hear from you. In the meantime, have a browse of our projects and events.