The partners of the Open Research Area (ORA) are pleased to announce that their eighth joint funding opportunity will be launched in June 2023, with a submission deadline set for November 2023. This pre-call announcement is being issued to allow interested researchers to begin discussions with potential research partners prior to the formal launch of the funding opportunity.

The ORA was created to strengthen international cooperation in social sciences by funding high-quality research projects. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will support the participation of researchers based in Germany from all disciplines of the social sciences.

Four funding organisations will participate in this eighth ORA competition: the Agence nationale de la Recherche (ANR, France), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, United Kingdom), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC, Canada). SSHRC will coordinate the eighth call for proposals.

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) will again collaborate with the ORA as an associate partner. Applicants to the ORA call may seek partnerships with Japanese researchers. Researchers affiliated with Japanese research institutions will be required to submit their applications to the JSPS, which will organise a specific assessment.

Proposals will be accepted for research projects in any area of the social sciences. Proposals must involve researchers from at least three of the four main participating countries (Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom). Projects must involve integrated collaboration between partners from at least three countries. Stand-alone projects in different countries will not be admissible. Proposals are expected to make an original and significant contribution to scientific knowledge.

Application process

Proposals for this funding opportunity will be submitted through SSHRC’s Convergence Portal. Researchers based in Germany are required to also submit their proposal through the DFG’s elan portal. Detailed guidance on how to apply will be provided with the publication of the funding opportunity documents.

The upcoming ORA funding opportunity will follow a one-stage procedure consisting of a proposal.

Provisional timetable

The full funding opportunity announcement will be launched in June 2023 on the websites of the participating funding organisations. The closing date for proposals will be in November 2023. The application specification and relevant documentation, including the timetable, will be provided when the funding opportunity is officially launched. We will not be able to provide additional information prior to the publication.

Please note that according to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, as of 1 August 2019, DFG funding may only be awarded to institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice in their own regulations in a legally binding manner.

This means that also for international proposals, funding from the DFG can only be received if the guidelines for safeguarding good research practice (see link below) have been implemented by the German applicant´s institution. If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Scientific Integrity team at the DFG Head Office (see contact below). Further information regarding the implementation can be found on Research Integrity website (see link below).

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

Further Information

For general information, and to be notified when the call is announced, please contact:

• ORA8@SSHRC-CRSH.GC.CA

If you have any further questions, please contact:

Germany, DFG

• Sigrid Claßen
  phone: +49 228 885-2209
• Christiane Joerk
  phone: +49 228 885-2451
  christiane.joerk@dfg.de

Canada, SSHRC

• ORA8@SSHRC-CRSH.GC.CA

France, ANR

• Maria Tsilioni
  phone: +33 1 73 54 83 04
  Maria.TSILIONI@agencerecherche.fr

United Kingdom, ESRC

• ORA8@esrc.ukri.org

Japan, JSPS

• bottom-up@jsps.go.jp

Please note the DFG’s data protection notice on research funding, which can be viewed and downloaded at:

• www.dfg.de/privacy_policy

If necessary, please also forward this information to those individuals whose data will be processed by the DFG due to their involvement in your project.

Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice, Code of Conduct:

• https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3923602

Information on the implementation of the Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice, Code of Conduct:

• https://wissenschaftliche-integritaet.de/en/code-of-conduct/implementation-of-the-guidelines

Contact of the DFG´s Research Integrity team (Good Research Practice):

• gwp@dfg.de