Franco-German Research Fund on Provenance of Cultural Objects from sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose

• The French Ministry of Culture (hereinafter MC) and the Federal Government Delegate of Germany for Culture and the Media (hereinafter BKM) have mandated the Centre Marc Bloch (hereinafter CMB) to launch specific binational calls for proposals dedicated to collaborative research projects between German and French museum institutions and scientific research institutions on the provenance of cultural objects from Sub-Saharan Africa. This fund will respond to the need to enrich the documentation and context of circumstances surrounding the acquisition of these objects. The call for proposals, evaluation, selection and follow up will be managed by the CMB.

Funding Information

• This Fund is a three-year initiative with an annual budget of 720.000€.

Eligibility Criteria

• The CMB will verify that the eligibility criteria are met in conformity with the publicly available information on the project website.
• Project proposals deemed ineligible will not be evaluated and cannot be subject to funding. French and German partner institutions must submit a single binational scientific project.
• The French and the German partner institutions must designate one Project Coordinator (PC), who will be the CMB’s contact person, as well as one contact person for the other partner institution.
• The PC must hold a PhD or be employed by a museum structure on a fixed-term contract for the duration of the project or on a permanent basis.
• Each project proposal must fall within the scope of humanities and social sciences. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary projects are encouraged.
• The consortium therefore must include:
  • One French partner institution and one German partner institution and at least one partner from SubSaharan Africa,
  • One partner from a research institution and one partner from a museum institution

Evaluation Criteria

• The following criteria will be used to evaluate the overall quality of each proposal:
  • Scientific quality of the research project,
  • Originality of the proposed approach to furthering scholarship on the subject,
  • Strength and coherence of the cooperation between the partner institutions and/or teams and the quality of the strategy to build or consolidate durable transnational relationships,
  • Quality and feasibility of the research plan e.g., methods of implementation, mobility of scientists, students, museum experts, etc.,
  • Adequation between the proposed budget and the expected project outcomes,
  • Outreach to a broader public.
• Specific attention will be paid to the added value of the Franco-German partnership.

For more information, visit Centre Marc Bloch (CMB).