Small Grants

To facilitate cross- and inter-departmental collaboration, CenMAS Hub is offering a total of 12 small grants (around €5,000 each) over two rounds (2026 and 2028) for junior and senior researchers at the Faculty of Arts.

The small grants will fund research activities, with an emphasis on fieldwork (but also data collection, archival research, etc.). Priority will be given to research activities that fall within the broad objectives of the ERA-AREAS project (i.e., origins and effects of crises).

Call for Applications: CenMAS Hub Small Grants (autumn 2026)

The Center for Multidisciplinary Area Studies (CenMAS) invites applications for 6 small research grants of approximately €5,000 each for junior and senior researchers and Ph.D. candidates at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University.

The grants are intended to support research activities by CenMAS Hub members that contribute to the development of interdisciplinary and collaborative area studies at the Faculty of Arts. Particular emphasis will be placed on fieldwork and travel, while funding may also support data collection, archival research, and other research activities necessary for the successful implementation of the proposed project.

Research Focus

We welcome proposals engaging with area studies and related questions in history, political science, social sciences, philology, cultural studies, and other relevant disciplines. The areas selected under the ERA AREAS project are Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Priority will be given to projects that address contemporary crises, conflicts, and societal transformations (in line with the ERA-AREAS project which funds the grants), or investigate their historical, societal and cultural origins. Relevant topics may include, but are not limited to:

• interstate and intrastate conflicts;
• political instability and crises of governance;
• polarization and identity-based disputes;
• institutional tensions and transformations;
• societal and political consequences of crises;
• changing regional and global power dynamics;
• historical causes and legacies of contemporary crises; and
• other processes contributing to major transformations in the contemporary world.

The call broadly supports the objectives of the ERA-AREAS project, particularly research addressing the origins and effects of crises.

Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Research

CenMAS seeks to strengthen collaboration across the Faculty of Arts and therefore encourages proposals that demonstrate a clear collaborative or interdisciplinary dimension.

Preference will be given to projects involving:

• collaboration across departments;
• collaboration within departments, particularly where researchers bring complementary expertise;
• projects that engage in comparative research, in particular comparisons across global regions
• cooperation between junior and senior researchers;
• interdisciplinary research teams; and
• research activities that have the potential to develop into larger collaborative projects.

Applicants should clearly explain the added value of collaboration for the proposed research.

Eligible Research Activities

The grants are intended primarily to support research activities that require resources beyond regular departmental or project funding. Priority will be given to travel costs associated with fieldwork.

Eligible activities may include:

• fieldwork and related travel expenses;
• interviews and other forms of primary data collection;
• archival research and associated travel;
• collection of research materials and datasets;
• research visits necessary for the completion of the proposed project; and
• other clearly justified research activities directly related to the project.

The grants are not intended to support extensive acquisitions of books or other literature. Limited purchases of research materials may be considered where they are essential to the proposed research, but applicants should prioritize activities that directly advance data collection, fieldwork, archival research, or other primary research.

Expected Research Output

Each project must demonstrate a clear plan for disseminating its findings.

Applicants are required to identify at least one planned publication in a high-ranked peer-reviewed academic journal indexed by the Web of Science database (SSCI or ESCI) ranked in the first or second quartile according to AIS or impact factor in at least one subject category resulting from the funded research. The application should explain how the proposed research activities will contribute to this publication and provide an indicative publication timeline. Successful applicants should acknowledge the funding received from the ERA-AREAS project through CenMAS in any publications resulting from the grant (the publication will be dedicated to the applicants department).

In addition to peer-reviewed publications, other forms of dissemination, including conference presentations, policy-oriented outputs, workshops, or public engagement activities, are also welcome.

Who Can Apply?

The call is open to: Members of CenMAS Research Hub

Applicants should demonstrate that their research engages with area studies or related questions relevant to the broader intellectual objectives of CenMAS. Faculty of Arts researchers may inquire about becoming CenMAS Hub members with the head of CenMAS.

Funding

A total of 6 grants of approximately €5,000 each will be awarded.

Applicants should provide a clear and justified budget. Given the objectives of the scheme, priority will be given to budgets that allocate a substantial proportion of the available funding to fieldwork-related travel and other primary research activities.

The grant should be used to support activities that are directly necessary for the implementation of the proposed research project.

The selection committee maintains the right to amend the proposed budget and the scope of activities.

Application Requirements

Applications should include:

• 1. Project title
• 2. Applicant’s name, department, and position/status
• 3. Project description, including:
  • research question and objectives;
  • relevant geographical/area focus;
  • theoretical and/or methodological approach;
  • relationship to the study of contemporary crises or their historical causes;
  • planned research activities;
  • collaborative/interdisciplinary dimension, where applicable; and
  • expected outcomes and dissemination.
• 4. Description of fieldwork, archival research, or data collection, including the location, purpose, and expected results of the proposed activities.
• 5. Collaboration plan, identifying collaborators and explaining how the project will benefit from collaboration within or across departments.
• 6. Publication plan, including the proposed high-ranked journal and the expected timeline for submission.
• 7. Brief budget justification
• 8. CV of the applicant

The application shall be submitted by email to era-areas@ff.cuni.cz, which also serves as the contact email address for queries about the call.

Selection procedure and dates

Project submission deadline: November 2, 2026

Notification of the funding decision: December 2, 2026

Funding start: December 2026 onward

Project end and final report deadline: October 4, 2028

You can download the text of the call HERE:

Funding and support

CenMAS Hub is funded by the ERA-AREAS project. The project is funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe ERA Chair scheme (Grant Agreement No. 101185327).

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.