How to Secure an ERC Grant in the Humanities? Find Something Interesting for People Outside Your Field, Says Theologian Konrad Schmid
So far, ERC Grants have been awarded to only two Slovak researchers, both of whom are chemists. Some researchers, especially in the humanities, may „lose the faith“ when considering applying, as ERC rules require proposals that focus on "frontier research" and promise "groundbreaking" results. How can research in the humanities be framed to meet these criteria? Professor Konrad Schmid of the University of Zürich has kept the faith. Not only because he is an ordained pastor and a professor of Protestant theology, but also because he persevered and succeeded in securing an ERC Advanced Grant for his study of the Bible, a book that has been examined for centuries. During his visit to the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty of Comenius University, he shared his insights on his research, his experience applying for the ERC Grant scheme, and why it is important for a university to have theological faculties.
So far, our country has not been very successful in winning ERC grants. Only three have been awarded to Slovak researchers, all in the field of chemistry. The only humanities ERC grant at a Slovak academic institution was awarded to a Polish ethnologist. This might be discouraging for some researchers. However, you succeeded in securing an ERC Advanced Grant in theology. What do you think is important when developing a proposal that might stand a chance of success?
In order to be successful, I believe three factors are most important. The first and most crucial factor is having a strong idea—something interesting and original that hasn’t been dealt with before. This idea must also be appealing to people outside your field. It needs to be a question that is immediately relatable and plausible to everyone. The second factor is being completely clear—crystal clear—about what you want to achieve in your project. Different parts of the project need to be well integrated into this central idea. The third factor is being realistic about what you can and cannot do. You need to ground the project in your own competencies, not just promise whatever you can think of.
The ERC states in its conditions that it supports "frontier" research. However, you received an ERC Advanced Grant for the project "How God Became a Lawgiver," based on the study of Biblical texts from the Old Testament. How did you manage to find something groundbreaking in the study of texts that have been examined for over 2,000 years?
In all three major religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—there is the idea that God is a lawgiver. It is something that seems completely clear: God is the one who says, "You shall not steal," "You shall not murder," and so on. However, there has been little research on the cultural history of this idea. What factors led to the development of this concept? So, I tried to frame the proposal around this idea of God as a lawgiver.
I think one should not be intimidated by terms like "groundbreaking" and "earth-shattering." You have to focus on what you can realistically achieve. Am I competent to do this? Am I an expert? Will people believe that I can accomplish it? Because the evaluators will notice.
Were you successful with your first application for the ERC Advanced Grant?
No. For my first submission, I had a very bold proposal that included all three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. However, it was rejected. I had to rescale it to make it more closely aligned with my own area of expertise. After that, it was accepted.
Were the evaluators experts in your field?
For ERC grants, the evaluation process is two-step. The first evaluation is by a panel, and it doesn't necessarily include experts from your very specific field. Therefore, it is important that your 5-page proposal is clear and understandable to a broader audience. If you pass the first round, you submit a 15-page proposal, which is then evaluated by experts in your field.
The important part of the proposal is the assessment of impact. Was it not difficult to persuade the panel about the impact of studying something as abstract as God as lawgiver?
Of course, you shouldn't promise more than you can deliver and say, "My research will change society forever." In my case, I am providing a historical explanation of how the idea of divine laws came about. If you look at how this idea of divine laws is used today, you can see that it has become an instrument for human ideologies. For example, in American politics, evangelicals or religious parties use the Bible as a political tool to persuade the public that something they want to achieve is a divine commandment. And if you can explain—as a scholar in the humanities—that there were specific historical conditions that led to the development of the idea of divine laws, then you can also criticize its current use. Scholarship can say: "No, what is viewed as divine law has a history; it did not fall from heaven. It is an idea that developed in specific historical circumstances."
The humanities usually do not require as much funding for research as the life sciences or physical sciences. The ERC Advanced Grant is €5 million. If you don’t mind me asking bluntly—was it difficult to spend the money?
I can tell you it was not a problem at all! Especially not in Switzerland, where salaries are quite high. In my case, 70% of the money went into salaries. My project had four subprojects: one focused on the religion of ancient Mesopotamia, one on ancient Greece, and two on the Hebrew Bible. I hired four postdocs, one for each subproject. I was looking for specialists in ancient Mesopotamian or ancient Greek law. With the grant, I was able to advertise the positions globally, and I ended up assembling a wonderful group of experts. The remaining funds were spent on conferences and publication fees. When you receive an ERC grant, all your publications must be Open Access, so you need to pay the publishers.
What do you think overall of the ERC grant scheme?
The big advantage of the ERC is that there are no limitations; the only criterion is academic excellence. All fields and topics are eligible, with no restrictions whatsoever. I believe the ERC is not biased against the humanities, and there are certainly opportunities to secure a grant in this field.
What I find problematic is the 10 to 12% success rate for ERC grants. I also serve on the Swiss National Science Foundation Research Council and am familiar with other funding agencies, where the success rate is typically below 30%. Many of the proposals for ERC grants are of high quality and are certainly worth pursuing, but they simply didn’t meet the strict threshold by a few points.
What should be done with these proposals in order to avoid wasting the time and potential of the researchers?
The national government or the university should provide funding. For example, at the University of Zurich, we have a grant scheme for strong proposals that didn’t receive ERC funding, to ensure that the time and resources invested in their preparation are not wasted.
What do you think of professional training before applying for an ERC grant?
In Switzerland, there is a central office that offers advice, where people read your proposal and give you feedback before submission. I think that's important. At the University of Oxford, which is very successful in ERC Grants, successful applicants share their applications with other interested members. That’s very helpful. With the Advanced Grant, you don’t have an interview before a panel, but for the Starting or Consolidator Grants, it’s a good idea to undergo training for the interview. It’s a big benefit to talk to people outside your field. If you have to explain your proposal to someone who is not an expert in your area, it helps you clarify your own ideas.
However, on the other hand, professional training can also present a problem. There is an emerging industry of consultants who specialize in helping people submit ERC proposals. I don’t think this is the intended purpose—paying professionals to do the work for you goes against the spirit of the process.
Our university has two theological faculties, but not all universities have them. What is the role or significance of theology at universities in the 21st century?
I would say that a modern university without theology would be many things, but not truly a university. If you look at the history of universities, the first university was the University of Bologna in 1088, followed by Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge. Typically, these old universities had four faculties: philosophy, theology, law, and medicine. "University" means universitas, everything. I believe that universities still exist not only to find things that are helpful or useful in life, but to research everything that exists, simply because it exists. Questions about the basic conditions of life, the arbitrariness, and the finitude of human existence—these are the kinds of questions theology addresses, and I find that important.
Why?
Because, particularly in an increasingly secularized society, it's crucial to have a critical and rational approach to fundamental questions about human life. Even people who identify as secular often have religious thoughts. But some of these thoughts can be strange. Theological faculties can help contribute to maintaining a religion that is well-reflected upon and grounded. I think Europe has a good tradition of having theological faculties at universities. For example, in the US, where there is a strict division between religion and society, you can see how religion starts to control society, influencing elections, and politicians develop some rather odd ideas. Theology is also important for preserving cultural heritage.
What is the relationship between religion and theology?
We can say that theology relates to religion in the same way that anthropology relates to humans, zoology to animals, or botany to plants. It's the critical reflection on what exists as religion.
Why is it still important to study the Bible?
The Bible is by far the most published book in human history. We estimate that since the invention of the printing press, about 5 billion copies of the Bible have been produced. It exists in virtually every language spoken by more than 100 people. If you look at the second or third most published books, you'll find the Mao Zedong's Quotations in China, with around 800 million copies, and the Quran, with around 800 million copies. It’s truly the most important book. The Bible has shaped culture for the past 2,000 years, influencing how people think and their understanding of their own cultural categories.
Is there anything new that can be said or discovered about the Bible?
It's like with the interpretation of any text. If you take a modern writer like Goethe or Schiller, you can't say, "We need 30 years, and then we’ll have interpreted all their writings." It’s an ongoing process. It’s never finished because time changes. The same goes for the Bible, or even the Old Testament. We can’t say, "We need another 50 years, and then we’ll have finished interpreting it." It’s an open project. New generations will come and look at it with fresh perspectives and experiences. It’s fascinating to see how these open texts are received and adapted across different situations and generations. New fields of biblical research include the reception of the Bible in various cultures or the political instrumentalization of the Bible. And there can always be surprises, like the findings from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which revolutionized the study of biblical texts.
Barbora Tancerová, Dávid Benka
Konrad Schmid is professor of Ancient Judaism and the Hebrew Bible at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. He studied theology at the University of Zurich, Greifswald, and Munich. He was Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He served as Member in Residence at the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton. USA and was a Fellow of the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, USA. Currently, he serves as president of the Scientific Society for Theology, president of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament and as member of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He received ERC Advanced Grant in 2019 for a project „How God Became a Lawgiver: The Place of the Torah in Ancient Near Eastern Legal History.“ |