Research on antisemitism

Description of the theme

The politically determined agreement states that ”DKK 11.9 million has been allocated to DFF with the purpose of supporting research on antisemitism in Denmark. The funds must support increased and better knowledge on how antisemitism emerges, where it can be found, and how it disseminates. The funds are targeted underexplored areas and themes related to antisemitism in Denmark, especially ”the new antisemitism” where antisemitism generates from a contempt for the state of Israel as well as antisemitism on online platforms, including social media. The funds can also be allocated to research on antisemitism in general, including for example research on Holocaust or the history of antisemitism in Denmark. The funds could for instance be granted to projects that contribute to capacity building of the research on antisemitism.”

As pointed out in the Mapping of current Danish research on antisemitism by the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science from 2022 (only available in Danish), research on antisemitism in Denmark is, among other things, characterised by a lack of consolidation and coordination across researchers and research environments, and there is a need for capacity building within the field.

To ensure capacity building, DFF requires that all applications include at least one PhD student or postdoctoral candidate as specified in the theme-specific requirements below. Capacity building can further be supported more generally by, e.g., development/expansion of research environments and/or research infrastructure.

DFF emphasises that all applications to this theme must include collaboration between different research environments and/or research institutions. To support this and in order to strengthen the coordination of the research in the area, it is required that the applicant and the Co-PI are from different research environments and/or different research institutions. It is possible to apply with a research project that includes collaboration between two different research environments, departments, etc., at the same research institution, e.g., different departments at the same university as specified in the in the theme-specific requirements below.

It is possible to apply for research projects within a budgetary framework of up to DKK 11,900,000 including overhead/administration expenses. Thus, the entire financial framework can be granted to one larger project (e.g., with the construction of a centre or consortium). Within the upper budget limit, however, research projects of various sizes can be applied for and granted. 

As part of the assessment process, the fund expects to submit your application for individual external peer review (see section 6.3 in the thematic Call for Proposals for further information).

The following theme-specific requirements apply to your application:

• Your application must include at least one PhD student or postdoctoral candidate. This requirement is intended to support the political intention of capacity building of the research within the area.
• Your application must include collaboration between different research environments and/or research institutions. In order to support this, it is required that applicant and the Co-PI are from different research environments and/or research institutions. It is possible to apply with a research project that include collaboration between two different research environments, departments, etc., at the same research institution. This requirement is intended to support the need for coordination of the research within the area.
• In the appendix to your project description, you must account for the ways in which your application addresses the call’s theme of research on antisemitism as well as how your application meets the requirements regarding capacity building and collaboration between different research environments and/or research institutions.

Applicant and Co-PI

The project must be lead by an applicant and a named Co-PI. The applicant is main responsible towards the fund in the event of a grant.

As applicant as well as Co-PI you must have obtained a PhD degree (or similar qualifications, e.g. positive assistant professorship evaluation) at the time of the application deadline. Both the applicant’s and the Co-PI’s previous results will be assessed in relation to their career path and in relation to the scientific challenges of the project applied for. If you, as the applicant, are not an associate professor and have not been awarded a positive associate professor assessment (“lektorbedømmelse”) and the project involves the education of researchers, you must account for how the relevant supervision will be provided, and how the research student’s scientific association to the project will be ensured.

The applicant and the Co-PI must enter into a relevant and binding collaboration on a joint research project. The distribution of roles between the applicant and the Co-PI in the research project must appear clearly from the application.

Please note that DFF furthermore requires that the applicant and the Co-PI are from different research environments and/or research institutions, cf. the theme-specific requirements above in the section “Description of the theme”.

Application requirements

The research project must be run by multiple researchers, including both an applicant and a Co-PI. Your application must include at least one PhD student or postdoctoral candidate (see above under ”Description of the theme”). This requirement is intended to support the political intention of capacity building of the research within the area.

The research project must be characterised as being a coordinated and mutually binding collaboration on a well-defined research question. The research activities must establish synergy among any sub-projects.

The research project must be of a high, international standard and involve international collaboration to a relevant extent. If the research project is embedded in a specific, local context, it is expected that the project argues for the potentially limited internationalisation. In all cases, DFF expects applications to relate to the international state of the art within their area.

You can apply for funding for embedded PhD and postdoctoral scholarships, if these are well integrated into the project and fulfil a clear, independent function within the research project. Embedded postdoctoral candidates must have obtained their PhD or achieved equivalent qualifications, e.g., a positive assistant professorship evaluation (”adjunktbedømmelse”), within the last 4 years at the time of the application deadline. Periods of leave must be deducted (see section 5.3.5 in the thematic Call for Proposals). If a named postdoctoral candidate is a PhD student at the time of application, the application must include a declaration from the student’s supervisor, stating that the student is expected to submit the PhD thesis within 6 months after the application deadline. If the application includes requests for funding for unnamed PhD students and/or unnamed postdoc candidates, the application must include an account of the proposed recruitment process.

There must be a sufficiently balanced relationship between the roles of all listed project participants (scientific/academic staff, technical/administrative staff, and whether funded or not), and the concrete role of the participants must be accounted for and justified