The main purpose of the support from the Centre for Integrated Research on Culture and Society (CIRCUS) is to facilitate the development of cross-cutting research projects and competitive grant applications. The deadline for applications is 7 April 2021.

The support comprises funding for writing time for two to three researchers per project group, consultation on the design and content of the application, and compulsory seminars.

Lina Eklund, associate senior lecturer at the Department of Informatics and Media

How has the support from CIRCUS helped you?
“Above all, it has provided structure for the writing; it’s easy to end up starting too late. With CIRCUS, we were given a clear schedule, which meant that we were forced to start early. That was a good thing. We also got feedback from other researchers in the same situation who were working in interdisciplinary collaborations. The seminar series also contributed a lot that was useful in the art of writing grant applications. Of course, the financial support also helped.”

Would you have been able to write the application without the support?
“Maybe, although definitely not with the quality it has now. We are also better at writing applications now.”

Is it more difficult to write grant applications for cross-cutting research projects than it is for just one discipline?
“Yes. The university world is structured on the basis of disciplines in both teaching and research. Breaking down these barriers is difficult; researchers speak different languages, have different underlying understandings of what research is and how it should be carried out. Of course, this complicates things when we are going to collaborate. Interdisciplinary research must be successful in building bridges. CIRCUS is a perfect forum for this bridge building. Someone from outside the disciplines to be brought together may be needed to provide some distance and clarity.”

Johan Eddebo, researcher at the Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre

How has the support from CIRCUS helped you?
“From my perspective, the support from CIRCUS has far exceeded my expectations. It has contributed broad expertise that helped at each and every stage of the application process and radically improved the quality of our work.”

“Naturally, the collaboration with CIRCUS has also functioned as continuing professional development that will be useful in our careers moving forward and I believe something like this should, where possible, be offered to doctoral students during their studies. Applying for grants is basically a science in itself. As a recent graduate it was almost entirely unchartered territory for me.”

Would you have been able to write the application without the support?
“We would never have produced an application of this quality without the support from CIRCUS.”

Is it more difficult to write grant applications for cross-cutting research projects than it is for just one discipline?
“It is difficult to generalise when it comes to interdisciplinary applications. In short, they present challenges and issues of a different nature compared to intradisciplinary applications. However, I cannot say with any certainty that they are more difficult to write as a general rule. If you are more of a generalist and interested in innovative problem-solving and good at finding synergies between different disciplines, they may be easier to write. While it might be quite the opposite if you really are a specialist with a somewhat narrower focus.”