FASoS Research Institute
Moving boundaries, bridging disciplines
The research institute of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) at Maastricht University studies societies and cultures as they unfolded during the modern and contemporary era in a radically interdisciplinary manner. We analyse the interrelationships of Europeanisation, globalisation, scientific and technological development, political change and cultural innovation. We are interested in how today’s societies cope with and reflect these challenges in various ways. These could be artistic practices and practices of remembrance as well as specific forms of governance and political integration as well as strategies for managing knowledge, technologies and risks. While our research starts from today’s problems, we have a strong interest in how the modern world came to be.
Fast facts
- Interdisciplinary research
- Unique organisational structure
- €6,099,884 external funding received in 2023
- 143 researchers
- 233 scientific publications in 2023
- Led by Prof. S. Wyatt
Research
To nurture and maintain this kind of innovative, interdisciplinary research, the research institute of FASoS has created a matrix organisational structure. Its backbone are four distinct research programmes, each of which is composed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers. While the research programmes form the core of the research activities at FASoS, the faculty also has five centres as specific research hubs and to facilitate interaction with external academic partners and societal stakeholders. Together, the research programmes and the research centres provide a framework that facilitates flexibility, networking, and mobility beyond disciplinary boundaries.
News
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In their NRO-funded project CO-PILOT of €25,000, Johan Adriaensen, Mirko Reithler and Robyn Ausmeier explore the potential of using Large Language Models (LLMs) as a scaffolding tool for in-class use.
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The 2024 Turriano Prize from ICOHTEC (the International Committee for the History of Technology) was awarded to Jacob Ward’s book Visions of a Digital Nation (MIT Press, 2024). The Turriano Prize recognises the best first book by an historian of technology.
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Aleksandra Komornicka has received a Veni grant of € 320,000 from NWO for her project ‘The Market Next Door: Western European Multinationals and the Remaking of Central Europe, 1969-1993’.
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Lauren will spend February-June 2025 in Amsterdam at NIAS among a group of international fellows who are working independently in a wide variety of disciplines, problems, and research perspectives.
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Janosch Prinz received, together with Enzo Rossi (UvA) and Manon Westpahl (Münster), a €310,000 Gerda Henkel Foundation grant for the project “Contours of a Non-Oligarchic Democratic Future”.