SCAS News - 4 June, 2014

Four Promising Researchers have been Admitted to the Pro Futura Scientia Programme

After a rigorous selection procedure, four new scholars have been selected Pro Futura Scientia Fellows in the
ninth admittance round since the programme was initiated in 1999. The cutting-edge research programme for
early career researchers was set up by the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) and Riksbankens
Jubileumsfond (the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences; RJ) in order to give especially
promising researchers in the humanities and social sciences optimal scope for developing as researchers, over
several years, in stimulating environments. This ambition still holds true, and the programme has been developed
and refined in recent years.

Both the Swedish Collegium and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond emphasize the importance of this kind of investment
in elite research in the fields of the social sciences and humanities, in order to enable an attractive career path for
promising early career scholars.  

This year, a total of 28 researchers were nominated to the programme. Among these, ten were invited to
interviews.

The principal of SCAS, Björn Wittrock, who is chair of the selection committee for the Pro Futura Scientia
Programme, confirms the hard competition, but also points out that this is the obvious outcome for a top level
programme such as the Pro Futura Scientia. The experiences from previous years show the important role that
this kind of ambitious initiative may play, and indicate the high quality of the programme. Among other things,
a large number of those researchers who have previously been admitted to the programme have been appointed
professors during or after their time as Pro Futura Scientia Fellows. Three of them are members of the Young
Academy of Sweden.

Those four scholars who have now been admitted as Pro Futura Scientia IX Fellows were selected not only
because of their high quality research, but also their ability to work independently and with ground-breaking
results. They will receive their diplomas during a ceremony at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study
in September.

The new Pro Futura Scientia Fellows are:
Angela Breitenbach, Faculty of Philosophy, King’s College, University of Cambridge
Elise Dermineur, Department of History, Lund University (Nominated by Umeå University)
Meelis Friedenthal, Faculty of Theology and Department of History, University of Tartu
Stephanie Wynne-Jones, Department of Archaeology, University of York (Nominated by Uppsala University)

For further information about the new Pro Futura Scientia Fellows, please see here (in Swedish).

Read more:
Pro Futura Scientia History and Mission
Nominations and Selections
Pro Futura Scientia Fellows (1999 - present)
Riksbankens Jubileumsfonds Pressrum