On January 27 2016, the Research Centre for the Humanities (RCH) made the first public presentation of its program during a press conference attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Education and representatives from the country’s welfare foundations.

The Research Centre for the Humanities (RCH) is a new non-profit research institution that commenced operations on January 2015. The RCH is administered by a Governing Board, an Academic Advisory Board and an Executive Administrative Board. During its first year of operations, the Centre has been supported by donations from the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation (for more information click here) and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

The Centre’s primary objective is the funding of research in the humanities through a process of public calls for the submission of research proposals by young scholars with doctorate degrees. The Centre intends to annually fund as many as 10 such proposals, up to €10,000 each, submitted by a) post-doctorate researchers who have received their doctorate degree in the past five years and do not hold a full-time position, b) independent researchers who have received their doctorate degree at least five years prior to submitting their proposal and do not hold a full-time position and c) research groups of no more than three members.

The RCH also focuses on closely collaborating with similar research centers and institutions worldwide on scholarship recipient exchange programs, co-organized research projects and other scholarly initiatives. The Centre has already concluded bilateral agreements with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), Berlin.

The second public call for the submission of research proposals to be funded in 2017 will soon be posted on the RCH webpage.