ICSSR launches first set of projects for networking and social science research

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in association with the Deutsche For-schungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), the UKEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Netherlands Organi-sation for Scientific Research (NWO) have launched the first set of projects for networking and social science research cooperation between researchers in India and the four European countries.

The ORA scheme provides a straightforward mechanism for leading social scientists to obtain na-tional funding to collaborate with partners elsewhere in Europe, avoiding many of the bureaucratic obstacles and restrictions associated with other types of European funding.

The scheme is open to proposals in any area of the social sciences, resulting in an exciting portfolio of projects that will influence policy and push the boundaries of our understanding of individual and social behaviour.

This is the first multilateral social science research collaboration that India has entered into. The networking projects will rationalise and economise Europe's efforts of engaging with India to pro-duce high-quality, high-impact social science research addressing major global challenges including economic growth and development, energy and climate change, and health and well-being.

The first joint call announced under this India-Europe initiative in May 2011 resulted in six projects agreed for funding over a period of three years. All projects have an Indian partner and five have a UK partner and other European partners. The six projects awarded funding will cover areas of growing social concern ranging from ageing and wellbeing, bullying and pupil-safety, globally ac-cessible medicine to mapping the cultural authority of science, and climate governance.

The awards include:

"Mapping the Cultural Authority of Science across Europe and India"

European Principal Investigators: Professor Martin W. Bauer, London School of Economics (LSE), STeP (Science, Technology & the Public Sphere), Institute of Social Psychology (IPS), London, United Kingdom; Dr. Petra Pansegrau, Institute of Science and Technology Studies (IWK), Biele-feld University, Germany

Indian Principal Investigators: Dr. Rajesh Shukla, NCAER Centre for Macro Consumer Research (NCAER-CMCR), New Delhi; Dr. Anil Rai, Andian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IARSI), New Delhi

"Ageing and Well-being in a Globalising World"

European Principal Investigators: Dr. Ajay Bailey, Professor Inge Hutter, Population Research Cen-tre, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Professor Maria Evandrou, Centre for Research on Ageing and ESRC Centre for Population Change, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

Indian Principal Investigators: Professor K.S. James, Population Research Centre, Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore; Professor S. Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies, Thirvananthapuram

"Indian-European Multi-level Climate Governance Research Network (MCGRN)"

European Principal Investigators: Professor Miranda Schreurs, Environmental Policy Research Cen-tre (FFU), Freie Universit-t Berlin, Germany; Professor Frank Biermann, Institute for Environmen-tal Studies (IVM), Department of Environmental Policy Analysis, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Indian Principal Investigators: Dr. Arabinda Mishra, TERI University, New Delhi; Professor Joyashree Roy, Global Change Programme, Jadavpur University, Kolkata; Professor K.V. Devi Prasad, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry

"Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Pupil Safety and Well-being"

European Principal Investigators: Professor Peter K. Smith, Dr. Alice Jones, Unit for School and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom; Professor Catherine Blaya, International Observatory of Violence in Schools, Bordeaux, France; Dr. Mechthild Schaefer, Unit for Counselling and Intervention, Department of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU), M-nchen, Germany; Dr. Frits A. Goossens, Department of Special Education, Department of Developmental Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Indian Principal Investigators: Dr. Suresh Sundaram, Department of Psychology, Annamalai Uni-versity, Annamalai; Dr. Damanjit Sandhu, Department of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala

"From Identity to Interests? Quantitative and Qualitative Explanations of Electoral Change in Rural and Urban India"

European Principal Investigators: Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, Centre d'-tudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI), Science Po, Paris, France; Dr. Mukulika Banerjee, London School of Eco-nomics and Political Science, United Kingdom; Dr. Louise Tillin, King's College, King's India Institute (KII), London, United Kingdom

Indian Principal Investigator: Professor Pralay Kanungo, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Dr. Unna V. Govindarajan, Janagraaha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Bangalore; Dr. Narender Kumar, Department of Political Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow

"Advances in Research on Globally Accessible Medicine (AROGYAM)"

European Principal Investigators: Professor Roger Jeffery, Centre for South Asian Studies, Univer-sity of Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Professor William Sax, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg, Ger-many

Indian Principal Investigators: Professor Mohan Rao, Centre for Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Professor K.R. Thankappan, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiru-vananthapuram

The objective of the Indian-European Research Networking Programme is to promote the strength-ening of the social sciences within and between the five countries, by providing additional funding to allow joint research activities for internationally excellent research in relevant areas. This funding will allow established research groups in cognate areas in the different countries to work more closely together in order to develop and complete internationally advanced collaborative research and publications.