Political developments in the spotlight

The ERA-NET NORFACE funds projects mainly in the social sciences. It is an initiative of a number of funding organisations, including the SNSF. 14 transnational and multi-disciplinary consortia now receive funding for projects linked to the topic "Democratic governance in a turbulent age". Over the next three years, they will focus on subjects such as disruptive changes in the political landscape, polarisation and populism, European identities, and the legitimacy of the administrative state. The overall budget of the call is 17.3 million euros.

Rural-urban divide?

Two projects involving researchers from Switzerland will be funded. Markus Freitag (University of Bern) and Silja Häusermann (University of Zurich) as well as researchers from various European countries will investigate the following topics:

• The project RUDE with Markus Freitag examines whether and how urban-rural residency is related to certain convictions. This concerns social identities, perceptions of injustice and threat as well as political attitudes.
• The project TECHNO with Silja Häusermann explores how technological change in the workplace is linked to deep political change. How can politics help workers and communities adapt to a fast-changing economic landscape and increased insecurity?

Researchers from 16 countries

A total of 197 transnational research consortia submitted an outline proposal for the call. An independent panel of international experts then invited 39 consortia to submit a full proposal. Over 60 researchers from 16 European countries will work on the 14 projects that were eventually selected for funding.

NORFACE