[Funding Opportunity] Silk Roads Youth Research Grant

Research Grant by Unesco supporting shared heritage of the Silk Roads for young scholars. Application deadline is 18 April 2021.

The Silk Roads Youth Research Grant is a new initiative aiming to mobilize young researchers for further study of the Silk Roads shared Heritage. Every year 12 research grants will be awarded to young women and men under 35 years of age, inviting them to address specific issues relating to the Silk Roads shared heritage and plural identities, as well as its internal diversity, and its potential in contemporary societies for creativity, intercultural dialogue, social cohesion, regional and international cooperation, and ultimately sustainable peace and development. Postgraduate researchers aged 35 and younger at the time of application are eligible to apply for the grant. The proposed research may be carried out by an individual researcher or may be part of a group or collaborative project.

Eligible Research Fields

A broad array of research fields, including multidisciplinary and multidimensional proposals not limited to one specific region or chronology, are eligible. Proposed research may cover any of a number of themes associated with the Silk Roads shared heritage including, but not limited to:

• Science and Technology
• Traditional Knowhow and Craftsmanship
• Religion and Spirituality
• Language and Literature
• Arts and Music
• Traditional Sports and Games

However, proposed research must focus on the results of cultural interactions and exchanges, and within a given field must showcase the concrete resulting elements, be they tangible or intangible, as identifiable in two or more cultures along the Silk Roads and beyond. Research may be interdisciplinary in approach, and where possible, provide dynamic and novel ideas on the processes of exchange and transformation along the Silk Roads and its meaning and value in contemporary societies.

For example, research topics and sources may therefore include, languages and scripts, maps and other historical documents, literature, poetry, music, dance, theatre, architecture, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, science and medicine, astronomy and navigation, sustainability, disaster and climate management, water resource management, trade and diplomacy, etc.

Source: Silk Roads Youth Research Grant – Applicant Guidelines | Silk Roads Programme