PICAIS • University of Passau

Passau International Centre for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies (PICAIS)

PICAIS is the University's central cross-project platform for academic excellence and interdisciplinary convergence. It promotes research aligned with the University's strategic guiding themes, supporting interdisciplinary project ideas that break new ground in terms of the topics examined and the methods employed. The centre is especially dedicated to the advancement of early career researchers and the creation of opportunities for network-building and interdisciplinary co-operation. PICAIS attracts international visiting scholars to Passau and integrates them into the University's academic community.

PICAIS pursues five core objectives:

Providing rooms, time and financial resources for outstanding research projects;
Establishling a vibrant platform for co-operation and exchange with scientists and scholars of international standing;
Furthering the academic potential of promising early career researchers by facilitating close personal contacts and mentoring; this goes hand-in-hand with a clear commitment to family-friendliness and equal opportunities;
Creating a unique culture of collegial, transparent, open-minded and multidisciplinary co-operation;
Establishing an interface between academia and society to promote dialogue between those engaged in basic research and the social, economic and cultural actors of our networked society.

Two funding schemes

To this end, PICAIS offers funding and organisational support for

1) research-in-residence fellowships and
2) scholarly events (e.g., conferences, seminars, symposia, workshops, and lecture series) to be held in Passau/Germany.

The fellowship programme is aimed at both internationally outstanding established academics and promising junior researchers (completed Ph.D/doctorate) with academically excellent and innovative research ideas and projects. It is open to applicants from all disciplines at the University of Passau, including the humanities, social sciences, business studies, economics, law, computer science and mathematics. The calls (launched twice a year) will be open to all research topics and methods.

The scholarly events’ programme welcomes proposals for all forms of academic events that facilitate scholarly conversation and analysis of important research questions and initiate or enhance international cooperation and networking. Participants of the events can include scholars from one specific field of research or a mix of multiple disciplines. The calls (launched twice a year) will be open to all research topics, methods and different event formats.

Both programmes are set to start during the wintersemester 2020/2021.
Information will be published accordingly on this website in 2021 and by info mails as well as calls.