Trilateral "Villa Vigoni" workshops

The humanities and social sciences are rooted in diverse cultures and languages. Languages and cultures constitute both their object and the medium of their communication. In order to promote the exchange between researchers active in France, Germany, and Italy and the construction of scientific networks within the humanities and social sciences, as well as to explicitly encourage the use of French, German, and Italian as scientific languages, the Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme (FMSH), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), and the Villa Vigoni have set up the "Trilateral Workshops" program.

Applications for this program can come from all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences. They will be selected on the basis of a competitive evaluation procedure.

Format 

Each trilateral workshop consists of a series of three scientific meetings, organized at the rate of one meeting per year. They will all take place at Villa Vigoni (located on the shores of Lake Como). The participants in the Workshops form a core group of 12 (minimum) to 16 (maximum) researchers coming, if possible in a balanced way, from the three partner countries and from different institutions within the same country. This group will remain the same for all meetings.

The submission of the project and the coordination of each workshop are ensured by a group of three researchers active respectively in France, Germany and Italy. The project leaders guarantee that they have an institutional affiliation (university, research organization, etc.) for the duration of the proposed project.

Early career researchers

The participation of researchers at the beginning of their career is highly desirable. In order to facilitate the submission of a project, postdocs (up to 6 years after the defense of the thesis) may choose to submit their application in a reduced format. This variant is only possible if at least two of the three project leaders and at least half of the participants are in the post-doctoral phase defined above. In this case, the conditions are as follows: support for two years for two (instead of three) meetings and with a group of 9 (minimum) to 12 (maximum) participants; each of the three partner countries must be represented by at least 2 (if there are more than 9 participants, by at least 3) persons.

Furthermore, in this case, the institutional affiliation of the project leaders is only required for the first year after the acceptance of the project. For the second year, it must be justified during the first year; if this is not possible, the coordination of the project must be transferred to another member of the group who is himself in the post-doctoral phase defined above and who has the institutional affiliation required for the second year of the project.

The two-year variant for postdocs will be implemented from the 2021 call, initially for a duration of three years.

Guests

A limited circle of invited researchers (maximum 2 per meeting) may be added to the meetings, who do not necessarily come from Germany, Italy or France. The funds provided by the three partner institutions do not, however, include these guests, with the exception of the DFG, which allows the German coordinators of the Trilateral Workshops to also finance participants from countries other than Germany, France and Italy, provided that their participation is scientifically motivated. However, this will not lead to an increase in the total amount allocated.

Languages

The working languages of a trilateral workshop are French, German and Italian.  In their application, the coordinators explain how the three languages will be used in practice during the work.

Procedure

Projects are selected on the basis of an application file that explains the theme, the objectives, the methods, the planned work program and the expected participants.

All formally correct and complete applications will be submitted to a multi-stage selection procedure. This means, among other things, that they will be peer-reviewed and examined by a selection committee composed of representatives of the three program organizations as well as scientists from the three partner countries.

Proposals can be submitted in one language; however, at least one summary of the scientific project must be submitted in all three languages (German, French, Italian).

To submit an application, it is mandatory to use the application form available on the website.

Each application must be submitted in electronic form (pdf format in a single document) and sent to Villa Vigoni (segreteria@villavigoni.eu) which will forward it to the other program partners.

Special instructions

• The titles of the selected projects as well as the names of the coordinators of these projects are published on the Villa Vigoni website.
• Funding includes the costs of organizing the meetings, accommodation and catering at Villa Vigoni as well as the reimbursement of travel expenses. It is not possible to request funding for other expenses, such as the publication of the results of the work, within the framework of this program.
• It is strongly recommended that you contact one of the three organizations in charge of the program before submitting your application.

→ Download the application form

Data protection

Please take into account the data protection regulations of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Villa Vigoni and pass these regulations on to all persons involved in your project whose personal data will be processed by the three institutions.

• FMSH : https://www.fmsh.fr/sites/default/files/fichier/mentions_rgpd-fmsh_appel_vigoni.pdf
• DFG : www.dfg.de/datenschutz 
• Villa Vigoni : https://www.villavigoni.eu/informativa-sulla-privacy/