NORFACE are pleased to pre-announce a call for international social science research projects on: Enhancing well-being for the future. The call is launched with the assistance of CHANSE, Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe.

Countries participating in the call:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia*, Czechia*, Estonia, France *, Germany*, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

*Participation in the call will be confirmed in the Call announcement.

Full call topic description is available HERE.

The theme can be approached from a variety of perspectives and disciplines within the social sciences. It allows and encourages multidisciplinarity and offers opportunities for pan-European research involving researchers from different parts of Europe, as well as comparisons in different contexts and over time.

The “Enhancing well-being for the future” programme has three main objectives:

• Support leading theoretical and methodological research on well-being. This research can be multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and comparative, and should be conducted synergistically on a pan-European basis.
• Develop and disseminate knowledge about well-being that can have a substantial impact on people’s lives. This knowledge is theoretically based, supported by research, and addresses issues of social, political, economic and practical importance.
• Motivate and promote well-being research capacity on a transnational basis in the countries participating in the call, in Europe and beyond.

The concept of well-being

Although there is no consensus on a single definition of well-being, there is general agreement that subjective well-being comprises at least three elements:

• presence of positive emotions and moods (e.g. contentment, happiness);
• absence of negative emotions (e.g. depressed mood, anxiety);
• satisfaction with life, fulfilment and positive functioning.

There are many predictors, correlates and causes of subjective well-being. Much of the social science research on well-being has been data driven. Today, there is a need to develop an integrative, multi-level understanding of well-being and its interrelationship with other variables, taking into account the dynamic nature of well-being and its multidimensionality.

This call aims to encourage research projects that provide systematic knowledge about the mechanisms underlying well-being and the dynamic processes involved in changing well-being over time. Such an understanding of well-being is needed to inform evidence-based interventions or policies to improve well-being in the future and to make these improvements sustainable for all groups of the population, including the most fragile or vulnerable (e.g. children, migrants, minority groups and the economically and socially disadvantaged).

Four themes are highlighted:

(i) Crises, challenges and well-being

(ii) Environmental challenges and well-being

(iii) Well-being and mental health

(iv) Welfare, economy and politics

In addition, projects are invited to reflect on their contribution to issues that cut across the question of well-being, including its measurement, its relationship to social inequalities, and the interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to which it lends itself.

Project team: Composed of at least four and maximum six Principal Investigators, i.e. partners, eligible to receive funding from four or more different countries participating in the call

Project duration: 24-36 months

Funding per project: up to a maximum amount of 1 500 000 € (across all partners)

The goal of the Well-being call is to fund innovative social science research addressing one or more of the call themes.
This call aims to promote diversity in research. When building research consortia, applicants are strongly encouraged to take into account the following aspects:

• Gender balance
• Academic age balance
• Geographical diversity
• Knowledge exchange and impact

Indicative timeline:

Official call announcement and launch of the submission system: May 26^th, 2023

Deadline for outline proposals: September 21^st, 2023, 14.00 CET

Deadline for invited full proposals: March 26^th, 2024, 14.00 CET

Call results: October/November 2024

Earliest funded project start: End of 2024/Beginning of 2025

PARTNER SEARCH TOOL:

In order to facilitate the process of forming research consortia, a partner search tool is available HERE. This tool can be used by projects looking for partners and partners looking for projects.

For general questions please contact:

wellbeing@ncn.gov.pl

For question related to national eligibility requirements, please contact your national/regional contact point