Hvordan å lykkes hos NFR? Benedicte Bull

Eksempel I: “ARMED VIOLENCE IN LATIN AMERICA: HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES AND POLITICAL DILEMMAS” O Criminal armed violence must be addressed as a political and economic phenomenon. Thus the aim of this project is to study the politicization of violent criminal activity in Latin America and its effects on local populations. We understand by politicization (i) the capture of legal actors and institutions by organized crime to frame their economic interests, (ii) the direct involvement of OC in the political arena, and (iii) the emergence of illegal responses from different actors in an attempt to meet the criminal challenge.

Vurdering O Selected mark: 5 - Very good O A very good project with some weaknesses relating to quality O While addressing a critical challenge, the study proposal does not succeed in persuading the reader that the researchers have undertaken an exhaustive literature review, notably that they have explored all we know about the politicization of OC in this part of the world and about how to reduce it -- and what we know about why policy approaches adopted to date have failed, or perhaps, in exceptional cases also succeeded, and what lesson can be drawn from this experience -- lessons that could serve this study as starting hypotheses. O In fact, the proposal is rather descriptive and lacks an analytical framework, including hypotheses.

Eksempel II State Authority in a Global Age (SAGA) O The Centre for the study of State Authority in a Global Age (SAGA) will study the nature of and changes in state authority. It will do so through a focus on how state forms of governing are changing, why, and with what effects. The Centre will trace the “saga of the state”, the twists and turns in the scope, variety, forms of domination, and governance challenges the state faces over time.

Vurdering Selected mark: 6 – excellent !!! The research questions have been very clearly specified and the participants have excellent knowledge of the subject matter. Certainly this is a genuinely multi- disciplinary project combining IR, sociology, anthropology and IPE in a compelling manner. Moreover, combining interdisciplinary approaches and opening cooperation with IPE, history, law, anthropology is a welcome development for political science. By looking at state transformation, as structures and functions the project avoids a conservative roll back to traditional realism and neo-realism. All in all, SAGA is a strong proposal. It addresses an important and topical theme and does so on the basis of well anchored theoretical approaches and the concrete development of the research in several parallel pillars is well structured.

The influence of private actors on the multilateral system O In brief, our aim is: (i) to improve knowledge about the causes of the changes currently experienced; (ii) to analyse the consequences for the multilateral institutions and their strategies for achieving their goals; and (iii) to contribute to a better understanding of the evolving role of private actors in global governance. The main research activity will be to conduct case studies in two sectors – health and education – where the causes, extent and effect of private sector participation are expected to be notably different.

Confronting Transnationalization: the Economic, Environmental, and Political Strategies of Central American Economic Groups O Yet little empirical research has been done on how the process of transnationalization affects the strategies of the Central American economic groups (CAEGs), and what these strategies will mean for the sustainable development of the region. This is the topic of this proposal. The purpose of the proposed project is, in other words, to study: 1. What are the strategies of the CAEGs confronted with transnationalization? 2. What can explain the different strategies? 3. To what extent do these strategies contribute to sustainable development of the region, or deepen patterns of inequality, unsustainable use of resources, and political exclusion.

Er det mulig å dra noen lærdom?

Sett deg godt inn i programmets formål og format O Irriterende å bli felt på formaliteter O Prøv å forstå hva man er ute etter, ikke bare triks med ord for å få det til å passe O Ikke lurt å være for kreativ/prøve å f.eks utvide konsepter i søknaden (uansett hvor godt begrunnet det kan være).

Vær samstemt med kollegene O Kjenn godt gruppa du jobber sammen med. Være enige om formål og fokus. O Kompromiss-søknader blir gjerne uklare. O Vit at dere har en felles forståelse og jobber mot felles mål. (Evt. vær autoritær, men det kan straffe seg senere )

Ha et klart og forståelig formål og sørg for å formidle det godt O Viktigere enn å tilpasse søknaden politiske prioriteringer er at du er sikker på at dette vil flytte forskningsfronten og være samfunnsnyttig. O Det innebærer å ha en problemstilling, ikke bare et tema. («We will generate knowledge about, bla, bla, bla») O Tenk samfunnsnytte også om det er grunnforskning. O Ikke overvurder komiteens/ekspertenes engasjement/innsikt i spesifikke teoretiske debatter, og dermed forståelse for problemstillinger som kun er relevante innenfor disse.

Ha en forskningsstrategi O Ikke alle interessante tema er forskbare O Det må være mulig å forstå hvordan du skal gå frem for å svare på spørsmålene

Et avslag er ikke verdens ende.. O Ikke bli sur; se hva slags gode innspill du har fått. Selv om du er uenig kan det vær nyttig for å forstå hvordan du kan formulere deg annerledes/hvordan å gi en annen ramme til søknaden i neste omgang.