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The Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe (CHANSE) is a joint initiative of 27 research funding organisations from 24 countries. Launched in 2021, the programme supported a range of multidisciplinary projects that investigated the processes of change, and how societies face up to innovation.
“The current geopolitical situation of Europe is very special,” says project coordinator Małgorzata Jacobs-Kozyra, research management leader at Poland’s National Science Centre (NCN). “The last few years have showcased a series of changes and crises, starting with the pandemic, which among others undermine the role of research. The success of this programme is in answering these challenges and contributing to a tangible research impact on society.”
The successful projects from across Europe drew from a broad range of academic perspectives and disciplines, and resulted in high-impact publications, contributions to important conferences, policy briefs, scientific exhibitions, art installations, theatre productions, photography, round-table discussions, films, podcasts and more. Each analysed aspects of digital technology-driven change in our lives, from rethinking our experiences around death in an era of AI avatars, to how persistent connectivity has eroded the boundary between office and home.
Jacobs-Kozyra highlights one project, DIGeMERGE, a landmark discussion convened by the IT University of Copenhagen exploring how digital technologies shape public safety, institutional trust and democratic governance during crises.
“It’s one of the cases that demonstrates a relevance of joint impact of humanities and social sciences on the real world,” adds Jacobs-Kozyra. “From one side, communication is a field of linguistics, but on the other side crisis and crisis management is a public sector challenge.” The round table organised by DIGeMERGE led to new understandings of digital emergency communication and a shared commitment to more inclusive, transparent, adaptable and trustworthy systems.
Boosting Poland’s research capacity
Coordinated by NCN, an executive agency of Poland’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education, CHANSE brought together 27 funding agencies across 24 countries, offering advantages to both host and partner nations.
“These transnational programmes offer Poland the best of opportunities and responsibilities,” remarks Jacobs-Kozyra. “On one hand, we bring together researchers and sister agencies from across Europe. On the other, Poland is building a reputation as a trustworthy partner, and this translates into further great research collaboration opportunities.”
Particular efforts were made during CHANSE to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange between researchers and non-academic stakeholders, including the creation of two additional group cross-projects comprising up to five CHANSE projects. By offering new opportunities for international research cooperation, CHANSE provided a broad range of academic, societal and economic impacts within, across and beyond the partner countries.
Lasting legacy
One of the goals of CHANSE was to create lasting impact on the European research landscape. Jacobs-Kozyra says that the project sparked long-term changes in terms of collaboration, interdisciplinarity and policy.
“We have a collection of 26 projects that have direct, real-world impact on evidence-based policymaking,” notes Jacobs-Kozyra, highlighting policy briefs delivered by HuLog, JUSTHEST, DIGeMERGE, REMEDIS and REIMAGINE ADM.
The work helped establish new research consortia in Widening countries, and laid the groundwork for increased collaboration between researchers, government agencies and non-academic stakeholders in this area.
The programme also helped to spark greater exchange between the humanities and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas. “We were approached by the European Commission to discuss the integration between humanities, social sciences and STEM. And I could exemplify it with CHANSE, that this is happening already without any special top-down focus.”
The CHANSE programme also built on two existing Horizon-funded networks for two further calls, launching 10 projects on the topic of ‘Crisis – Perspectives from the Humanities’ with Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA), and 10 social science projects with New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe (NORFACE) on ‘Enhancing well-being for the future’.
As the project enters its final stages, it finds a successor in a new European partnership on Social Transformation and Resilience (STR), coordinated by NCN Poland. “Thematically, it builds on CHANSE while broadening its scope and engaging a wider range of stakeholders and policymakers,” says Jacobs-Kozyra. “I believe this is a sign that Poland is entering a mature phase, to be a trendsetter in some areas and share best practices with other countries.”