France-Stanford Collaborative Projects Call for Proposals

The France-Stanford Center seeks to fund research projects across all disciplines. Priority will be given to projects with the potential to develop new collaborations involving junior researchers, and to those leading to collaborative work on interdisciplinary issues. We are especially interested in “Two Cultures” projects bridging the sciences and humanities by drawing upon both humanistic and scientific methods and approaches. 

Two Cultures Projects
In 1959, the English novelist and chemist C.P. Snow delivered a lecture – later published as a short book – in which he lamented the division of the intellectual world into “two cultures” that were mutually uncomprehending and even hostile: humanists and scientists. Snow argued that the gulf between these two cultures was deeply impoverishing for both and a great misfortune for the larger world that urgently needed the combined efforts of all scholars. His argument seems at least as persuasive today as in 1959. Stanford has its own two-cultures tradition of “techies” and “fuzzies.” But the France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies has long helped build bridges among disciplines and now seeks to help build even larger bridges between the “Two Cultures.” We hereby solicit proposals for projects involving both humanistic and scientific methods and perspectives.
Our inaugural Two Cultures project, which took place in 2021-22, was The Constitution of Individuals and Groups in the Biological Sciences, and our 2023-24 project is, Theoretical Water: Archimedes’ Floating Bodies (3rd c. BC).

Francophone Projects
The center solicits proposals for projects involving a third party institution in francophone countries outside of France. Proposals should be submitted jointly by researchers affiliated with a French institution, any Stanford department and a francophone institution.

Applications for AY 2025-26 are now open. Deadline: March 3, 2025.

Apply

The France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies invites proposals for collaborative research projects to be held during academic year 2025-26 (September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026).

Program details

• Budget: Projects will be funded up to $20,000 USD.

• Duration: One academic year (September 1 - August 31). Project extensions are available in some cases.

• Expenses: The grant may be used for travel, lodging, and living costs, as well as research-related services. The grant may not be used for purchasing equipment, tuition fees, conference registration fees, salary payments nor publishing fees.

How to apply

All applications must be submitted in Slideroom. The following documents must be included in PDF format:

• Non-technical summary of the project
• Project proposal
• Criteria for selection statement
• Compliance with ethical and environmental norms statement
• Biographical resumes
• Letter of intent
• Budget

Questions?

Please contact francestanford@stanford.edu