Dear All

Here is information from HEFCE on the new centres.

Best wishes

Norman


>From: Shelley HOLLINGSWORTH [7305] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Fri 02/06/2006 14:37
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: New funding to raise understanding of China, Japan, Eastern Europe
>and Arabic-speaking world
>
>
>
>
>NEW FUNDING TARGETS GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF CHINA, JAPAN, EASTERN EUROPE
>AND ARABIC-SPEAKING WORLD
>
>Today, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the
>Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Arts and Humanities
>Research Council (AHRC), and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) announce the
>launch of five new collaborative centres as part of their joint £25million
>Language Based Area Studies initiative.
>
>The initiative aims to create a world class cadre of researchers who will
>enhance the UK's understanding of the Arabic-speaking world, China, Japan
>and Eastern Europe, including areas of the former Soviet Union.
>Understanding these areas is of cultural, political and economic importance
>to the UK.  The development of the necessary language skills alongside the
>development of an in-depth understanding of these regions will be central to
>the work of the centres.
>
>New networks of collaboration are also being established through the five
>centres with universities coming together to share expertise.  Each of them
>will be directly investing in studentships and other academic positions at
>post-doctoral levels creating structured career opportunities and
>encouraging the next generation of highly skilled researchers into language
>based area studies.
>
>The five new centres to be funded through the initiative are:
>*       Lead by Dr Frank Pieke, the British Interuniversity China Centre
>(BICC) sees the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Manchester combine
>forces to develop the UK's premier teaching and research facility on China.
>
>*       Based at the University of Glasgow, Richard Berry will lead a
>collaboration of St Andrew's University and the Universities of Aberdeen,
>Edinburgh, Paisley, Strathclyde, Newcastle and Nottingham to establish a
>research centre looking at Eastern Europe and Russia.
>
>*       Professor Robert Hillenbrand of the University of Edinburgh will
>head up the centre studying the Arabic-speaking world in partnership with
>the Universities of Durham and Manchester.
>
>*       The Universities of Leeds and Sheffield will work together, lead by
>Professor Victor King to create an international centre of excellence in
>research and training on Japan and China.
>
>*       At UCL, Professor George Kolankiewicz will work with the
>Universities of Oxford and Birmingham to establish the Centre for East
>European and Former Soviet Union Language Based Area Studies (CEELBAS).
>
>In a joint statement the Chief Executives of the funding bodies said, "We
>are delighted that working with other funders we have been able to establish
>partnerships that will invigorate language skills across the diverse range
>of research that makes up area studies.   These five new centres are a solid
>investment that will help to develop and enhance the research base within
>area studies, ensuring that it contributes fully to the economic development
>and quality of life for the people of the UK and beyond."
>
>NOTES FOR EDITORS
>
>1.      This initiative is jointly funded by the HEFCE the ESRC, the AHRC
>and the SFC over a 5 year period.  HEFCE is contributing almost half of the
>initiative's £25million budget with the rest of the funders making up the
>balance.
>
>2.      The HEFCE is the major public funder of higher education in England.
>It distributes some £7 billion per annum for teaching, research and
>knowledge transfer.  Its total expenditure on research in 2005/06 is £1.25
>billion. More at http://www.hefce.ac.uk <http://www.hefce.ac.uk>
>
>3.      The ESRC is the UK's largest funding agency for research and
>postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It provides
>independent, high quality, relevant research to business, the public sector
>and Government. The ESRC total expenditure in 2005/6 is £135million.  At any
>time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in
>academic institutions and research policy institutes. More at
>http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk <http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk>
>
>4.      Each year the AHRC provides approximately £80 million to support
>research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from archaeology
>and English literature to design and dance. In any one year, the AHRC makes
>approximately 700 research awards and around 1,500 postgraduate awards.
>Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only
>applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities
>researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the
>higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported not
>only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the
>economic success of the UK. For further information visit www.ahrc.ac.uk
>
>5.      SFC is a non-departmental public body responsible to * but operating
>at arm's length from * the Scottish Executive. It distributes more than £1.5
>billion of public funds annually on behalf of the Scottish Executive.  The
>Council provides financial support for learning and teaching, and research
>and associated activities in Scotland's 20 higher education institutions
>(HEIs). As well as providing financial support for learning and teaching in
>Scotland's 43 further education (FE) colleges, the Council also provides
>resources to enable colleges to offer bursaries to students on non-advanced
>courses. For further information please visit www.sfc.ac.uk
>
>UK Council for Area Studies Associations (UKCASA
>www.ukcasa.ac.uk
>Elected officers of UKCASA:
>Chair: Professor Philip Davies, De Montfort University
>Vice-Chair: Professor Mike Smith. Glasgow Caledonian University
>Secretary: Dr Susan Hodgett, University of Ulster
>Treasurer: Professor Tony Chafer, University of Portsmouth
>Administrative support:
>Dr John Canning
>School of Humanities (Modern Languages)
>University of Southampton
>Highfield
>Southampton
>SO17 1BJ
>Tel: 023 8059 5408
>Fax: 023 8059 4815
>Area Studies on the Web
>UKCASA website: www.ukcasa.ac.uk
>News from UKCASA and Area Studies Community www.ukcasa.blogspot.com
>Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies www.llas.ac.uk


------------
Norman Stockman
Department of Sociology
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen AB24 3QY
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/socsci/staff/details.php?id=42

Hon. Sec., British Association for Chinese Studies
http://www.bacsuk.org.uk/