UK-Germany collaboration supports world-leading research

German flag

The arts and humanities research projects funded show the importance of transnational collaboration.

Nineteen collaborative research projects have been awarded in the third round of funding delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG) partnership.

The awards bring together arts and humanities researchers in the UK and Germany to conduct outstanding projects spanning a wide range of academic disciplines.

From vaccine hesitancy to the internet of things

The projects explore topics including:

  • ethical questions relating to vaccine hesitancy
  • the human role in the devastation of landscapes
  • the maritime cultural landscape in Scandinavian Scotland
  • regulatory issues related to the Internet of Things.

After receiving high-quality proposals, both funders agreed to support 19 projects. This means an increase in budget, totalling over £5.2 million in the UK, matched by over €5.2 million for research teams in Germany. The projects will start in 2022 and are expected to run for three years until 2025.

Importance of transnational collaboration

The projects show the importance of transnational collaboration in supporting world-leading research.

This is part of a long-standing collaboration between the two funders, which was renewed earlier this year. The bilateral funding agreement has been extended for five years and will facilitate a total of eight funding opportunities. The fourth call is now open for applications.

Unleashing new ways of thinking

Professor Christopher Smith, Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and UKRI’s International Champion said:

The projects funded by this partnership demonstrate the importance of breaking down international barriers to unleash new ways of thinking.

Working with the DfG has enabled us to champion the transnational potential of the arts and humanities, which help us to better understand ourselves and the world we live in.

I am looking forward to seeing the impact of these projects and continuing to build on this successful collaboration with our German partners.

Further information

Full list of successful funded projects

Devastation, dislocation and (re-)settlement. Breaking/replacing the people-place connection in landscape

Professor Sam Turner (University of Newcastle)

Professor Dr Thomas Meier (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg)

Discipline: World Geography

FAIR Epigraphy

Professor Jonathan Prag (University of Oxford)

Univ.-Professor Dr Marietta Horster (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)

Discipline: Ancient History

From Smart Technologies to Smart Consumer Laws: Comparative Perspectives from Germany and the United Kingdom

Dr Guido Noto La Diega (The University of Stirling)

Professor Dr Christoph Busch (Universität Osnabrück)

Professor Dr Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider (Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)

Discipline: Private law

GALaCSy: The Earliest Translations of the Pauline Epistles

Professor Hugh Houghton (University of Birmingham)

Dr Frank Feder (Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen)

Professor Dr Holger Strutwolf (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster)

Discipline: Theology

Images and Imagination of Impairment and Disability in the “Hans-Würtz-Collection”

Professor Simon McKeown (University of Teesside)

Professor Dr Oliver Musenberg (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Discipline: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology

Interreligious Communication in and between the Latin-Christian and the Arabic-Islamic Sphere: Macro-theories and Micro-settings

Dr Theresa Jäckh (University of Durham)

Professor Dr Daniel König (Universität Konstanz)

Discipline: Medieval History

Microvariation and youth language practices in Africa

Dr Hannah Gibson (University of Essex)

Jun.-Professor Dr Nico Nassenstein (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)

Discipline: General and Comparative Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages

Moral Obligation, Epistemology and Public Health: The Case of Vaccine Hesitancy

Professor Tom Sorell (The University of Warwick)

Professor Dr Sven Bernecker (Universität zu Köln)

Discipline: Theoretical Philosophy

Prosodic structure at the interface between language and speech

Professor Alice Turk (The University of Edinburgh)

Dr Tina Bögel (Universität Konstanz)

Discipline: Applied Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Computational Linguistics

Rethinking Enlightenment: The reception of John Locke in Germany

Professor Thomas Ahnert (The University of Edinburgh)

PD Dr Lore Knapp (Universität Bielefeld)

Professor Dr Konstantin Pollok (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)

Discipline: History of Philosophy

Roman melting pots: Tracing food residues and cultural diversity in a frontier zone

Professor Martin Pitts (University of Exeter)

Professor Dr Simon Hammann (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Discipline: Classical archaeology

Romani Migration between Germany and Britain (1880s-1914): Spaces of Informal

Business, Media Spectacle, and Racial Policing

Professor Eve Rosenhaft (University of Liverpool)

Dr Felix Brahm (Universität Bielefeld)

Discipline: Modern History

The Norse and the Sea: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Scandinavian Scotland

Professor Alexandra Sanmark (University of Highlands and Islands)

Docent Dr Sven Kalmring (Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen Schloss Gottorf)

Discipline: World Archaeology

The Sound of Nature: Soundscapes and Environmental Awareness, 1750-1950

Professor Martin Willis (Cardiff University)

Dr Wilko Graf von Hardenberg (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Discipline: Modern History

The Universe as an Open System

Dr Karim Thebault (University of Bristol)

Professor Dr Stephan Hartmann (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

Discipline: Theoretical Philosophy

Weather Reports – Wind as Model, Media, and Experience

Professor Ryan Bishop (University of Southampton)

Professor Dr Birgit Schneider (Universität Potsdam)

Discipline: Theatre and Media Studies

´Werck der bücher’: Transitions, experimentation, and collaboration in reprographic technologies, 1440–1470

Dr Stephen Charles Mossman (The University of Manchester)

Dr Ing Vincent Christlein (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Dr Nikolaus Weichselbaumer (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)

Discipline: Medieval German Literature

Where have all the Workers Gone? Labour and Work in Ghana, 1951-2010

Professor Gareth Austin (University of Cambridge)

Professor Dr Phil Andreas Eckert (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Discipline: Modern and Current History

World Futures: Multimodal Viewpoint Construction by Russian International Media

Dr Anna Wilson (University of Oxford)

Dr Peter Uhrig (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Discipline: Applied Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Computational Linguistics

Top image:  Credit: Getty Images

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