Postgraduate Vibeke Sørensen Grant

The Vibeke Sørensen Grant scheme for visiting scholars was set up in 1993 by the then President of the European University Institute (EUI) Emile Noël with support of the European Commission.

The grant scheme adopted its current name in 1997 to honour the memory of Dr. Vibeke Sørensen (1952 – 1995), former researcher at the EUI History Department and staff member of the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU). As a researcher she completed in 1987 her thesis on Denmark's social democratic government and the Marshall Plan, 1947-1950under the supervision of Prof. Alan S. Milward with whom she later collaborated on the collective volume The Frontier of National Sovereignty: History and Theory 1945-1992(Routledge, 1994).

Objectives

The grant scheme aims at encouraging research on the history of European integration based on primary sources held at the Historical Archives of the European Union.

Admission

All current non-EUI postgraduate scholars are eligible to apply for a Vibeke Sørensen Grant. Candidates may not benefit from any other grant in the framework of inter-university programmes during the same period. Candidates are not eligible to receive a Vibeke Sørensen Grant more than once.

Vibeke Sørensen Grants are assigned by the President of the European University Institute upon the recommendation of the HAEU Director who appraises applications on the basis of the relevance to the research theme proposed.

Application Procedures and Deadlines

Researchers may apply for the Postgraduate Vibeke Sørensen Grant from 1 February 2024 until the application deadline of 30 April 2024. 

Candidates should apply via the HAEU's online grant application form. Applications may be written in English, French or Italian, which are the main working languages of the European University Institute. Applicants will be required to upload: 

• Curriculum Vitae
• A detailed presentation of the research proposal
• A justification of the need to use the holdings of the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence for the research
• A bibliography related to the research
• A letter of recommendation from the candidate’s thesis director, or by the director of the relevant research programme
• The planned dates of stay in Florence

All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by the HAEU Director.

Grant Awards

A maximum of ten Vibeke Sørensen Grants are awarded per year without obligation to award the maximum number of grants. The research time in Florence is to last one month. Successful candidates are obliged to be present in the reading room at least four days a week during their research stay. Successful applicants will receive a research grant of 1505 € (one thousand five hundred five euros) paid after submission of a short essay on the grant holder’s research to the HAEU Director.

Publications and Commitments

Grant holders shall submit to the HAEU Director a copy of publications (article, monograph) produced based on research carried out at the archives and acknowledge in their publication the Vibeke Sørensen Grant programme.