Summary
International fellowship programme for gender research supporting research activities in the area of gender studies at the University of Graz.
Target groups
Habilitands/Post-Doc / post-doctoral graduates / Professors /
Implementing organization
Graz University - Coordination Centre for Gender Studies and Equal Opportunities /Contact
Lisa Scheer, lisa.scheer@uni-graz.at
Implemented/introduced
established at Uni Graz in 2019
Relation to gender equality targets
Statutory section Equal Opportunities Plan 2017:
§ 14 Gender Studies and/or women’ studies and gender research
(1) The University of Graz supports both the establishment and expansion of gender studies and/or women’s studies and gender research in research and teaching.
The objective(s) of the tool
Intensifying research – networking – promoting junior talent
With the fellowship programme, local and international networks of University of Graz’s domestic gender research are strengthened. The programme aims at stimulating thematic links within the university and at intensifying and expanding existing international research collaborations. By having international senior fellows (postdocs), junior fellows (predocs) and researchers of Uni Graz (postdocs) collaborate on shared subject matter and jointly publish their results (in written form, in the form of a symposium and/or other media), the programme establishes a research environment geared towards cooperation.
Description of the tool
The fellowship programme enables teams of four or more junior and senior fellows to realize concretely defined steps within larger scientific endeavors – e.g.: working on project applications, expanding research questions or conducting fieldwork. Each project team is free to choose the nature of their collaborative effort which can range from concrete research projects or developing and establishing research networks to extensive project submissions. On-site work at the University of Graz fosters exchange between international scientists and scientists residing in Graz. Incoming international experts (senior fellows) also aid in broadening the gender research context present in Graz. To this end, science-to-science as well as science-to-public-dissemination are important instruments representing a central aspect of the fellowship programme; their form may be chosen freely. By mandating the inclusion of junior fellows at predoc level into the projects, the fellowship programme also promotes junior talent.
Two calls were issued for the first cycle of the fellowship programme (2019-2022, 3 years, €400.000 PA); researchers at Uni Graz were invited to submit their proposals in the area of gender studies. In the selection process, an international jury of experts ensures (criteria) that proposed projects
- are compatible with local gender research,
- feature thematically apt foci,
- have been codeveloped by the fellows,
- contain a concrete step attainable within the programme’s running time
- are headed by a local senior fellow whose qualification status is equivalent to habilitation and who has a proven record of focusing on gender in their teaching and their publications.
Approved projects are supported with material resources and staff funding. Staff funding includes:
- incoming senior fellows: employment for 4 months or remuneration as University Professor
- incoming junior fellow(s): employment for 8 months as predoc in part-time (75%)
- local junior fellow(s): employment for 12 months as predoc in part-time (75%),
obligatory enrollment as doctoral student at the University of Graz.
It is possible to share the respective positions between two persons – in realizing their projects, project leads are granted the greatest possible freedom.
The programme’s namesake is Elisabeth List (1946-2019), former Professor at the Uni Graz Institute of Philosophy who substantially contributed to (inter)national feminist theory, critiques of science, theories of corporeality and theories of the living.
How the tool works, practical experience
Interest was high; applications for the first 3-year cycle exceeded the allocated resources. Evaluation of the programme happens in parallel to its organization the findings of which will be considered in the next cycle.
Attachments
Further information (in German only)