Call for Applications: COST Action “EarlyMuse”

This is the first call for applications for ten Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) in the framework of the COST Action “A new ecosystem for Early Music (EarlyMuse)” (https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA21161/). STSMs are study visits to a research institution or stakeholder in another COST Country with the aim of supporting individual mobility, strengthening networks and fostering collaboration, gaining access to sources, data and/or methods not available in the applicant’s own institution and contributing to the objectives of the Action.

1. Timeline

The application deadline is 31 March 2023. Applicants will be notified by e-mail about the Grant Awarding Committee’s decision by mid-April 2023. The mission must be completed before 30 September 2023. STSMs have a duration of a minimum of 5 working days.

2. Eligibility

STSMs are open to scholars as well as performers. Applicants must be engaged in an official research program as a PhD student or postdoctoral fellow or can be employed by, or affiliated to, an institution or legal entity which has within its remit a clear association with research in the sense of the EarlyMuse Memorandum of Understanding. Early career scholars, women, and applicants from and to a COST Inclusiveness Target Country (https://www.cost.eu/about/strategy/excellence-and-inclusiveness/) are particularly encouraged to apply.

Please note that, while anyone is welcome to join an EarlyMuse Working Group, STSM eligibility is limited to persons whose affiliation is located in a COST Member Country or a COST Near Neighbor Country. Please see this page for details: https://www.cost.eu/about/strategy/cost-global-networking/

3. The project

EarlyMuse intends to chart new paths that will strengthen the unique place of early music in Europe, both in its intellectual and cultural practices, and in its global appeal, creating a multidisciplinary research network. Early music, in all its breadth and its experimental dimensions, has been foundational to musicology as an academic discipline; it continues to play, in changing configurations, an essential role in the training courses and research programs of musicologists. EarlyMuse aims to take this academic and artistic movement in new directions in both research and training by strengthening collaborative practices between all the stakeholders. Rethinking the scientific and experimental field, as well as the material and symbolic value of early music and its modes of promotion in the digital age and in the post-pandemic period, offers tremendous opportunities to revalorize a major part of European musical heritage. In order to address these challenges in all their complexity and diversity, the consortium brings together academic partners from several countries, with a network of music culture professionals and an industrial partner. Specifically, EarlyMuse will address six challenges: (1) scientific, (2) educational, (3) professional, (4) structural, (5) economic and (6) societal. The project will transform the scientific field, redraw the place of early music in higher education, attract original talent, deploy tools useful to emerging creative industries, and define public policy in the field of culture.

4. Thematic outlook and objective of the 1st call

This STSM call specifically addresses issues of data collection in accordance with the goals that the EarlyMuse Working Groups 1 Education, 2 Sources, 3 Publications and 4 Performance have set themselves for the first year. Two grants apiece will be awarded to WGs 2, 3, and 4; four grants will be attributed to WG 1 as specified below:

• WG 1 Education: The STSMs will serve the goal of collecting data about the state of Early Music in European universities and research institutes. Hosted by a suitable research institution of the applicant’s choice, the successful candidate will gather information to assess the extent and scope of Early Music education and training in these organizations. Outcomes will allow the WG to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for development and sustainable collaboration in order to improve the strategy of EarlyMuse in the subsequent grant periods. For more information contact WG leader Aleksandra Pister-Gainiene (aleksandrapister [at] yahoo.de).
• WG 2 Sources: The goals of the STSMs will be closely connected with RISM, its aims and experience in data acquisition, metadata storage and linking to digital resources. Two aspects are in the focus: Firstly, the identification of digital documentation resources of music sources apart from RISM, the development of methodological perspectives in the field of data collection tools and metadata storage, and the determination of data collection tools in the longer term; secondly, the identification of music collections in Europe that need urgent action in terms of preservation through cataloguing and digitization. For more information contact WG leader Grzegorz Joachimiak (grzegorz.joachimiak [at] uwr.edu.pl).
• WG 3 Publications: The STSMs will serve the goal of gathering data about the state of the art of Early Music publications primarily in the European context, but also in other countries associated with the EarlyMuse network. The successful candidates will work in a research institution relevant to the topic of the mission, collaborating closely with a researcher in that institution. The scientific mission will have the aim of collecting information about series and collections of Early Music editions, and other types of Early Music publications currently active in Europe. The outputs of the STSM will shed light on the geographical distribution of Early Music publications in Europe, their characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and, therefore, they will serve to plan future strategies and actions for the WG. For more information contact WG leader Andrea Puentes Blanco (apuentes [at] imf.csic.es).
• WG 4 Performance: The STSM will center around the question of how new relationships can be built between repertoire, scholarly work and performance. Hosted by the Historical Piano Summer Academy (4–13 July 2023) organized by the Orpheus Instituut at the late eighteenth-century Hôtel d’Hane-Steenhuyse in the heart of Ghent, the grant recipient will conduct field research into contemporary approaches to performing, researching, and presenting Early Music. For more information contact WG leader Bruno Forment (bruno.forment [at] orpheusinstituut.be).

=> Click historical-piano-summer-academy-2023 for more info.

5. Financial support

An STSM Grant is a fixed financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the STSM application. Please note that STSM Grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to performing a given mission. The Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation, and meal expenses of the Grantee.
• Up to a maximum of 2.500 € in total can be afforded to each of the ten successful applicants.
• The grant is paid only after completion of the STSMs. Applicants from ITCs and early career scholars may request a pre-payment of 50% of the grant sum.

6. Application procedure

Applications are submitted via e-COST (https://e-services.cost.eu/STSM). To prepare your application, carefully read the Grant Awarding user guide (https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2021/12/Grant-Awarding-userguide.pdf) where you will find a step-by-step explanation.
• Create an e-COST account and fill in the required online forms.
• Complete the application, adding the documents detailed below. Submit the STSM application online.

7. Application materials

• Application form on e-COST, where you will enter:

1.  the planned date and duration
2.  your motivation and workplan summary (maximum 1.500 words)
3.  specifying the content and aims of the planned STSM and explaining how the proposed STSM will contribute to EarlyMuse
4.  your bank details
5.  details of the host institution
6.  the amount of the financial support requested (in €)

• Confirmation letter from the host institution. The choice of a suitable host institution will be considered in the evaluation of the application.
• Academic CV with list of publications or professional CV
• Letter of support from the home institution

8. Reporting requirements

The successful applicant is required to submit a Scientific Report at the latest 30 days after the end date of the STSM. The report will be published on the EarlyMuse website. For general questions, contact COST Action “EarlyMuse” Grant Awarding Coordinator Judith I. Haug (haug [at] oiist.org)