Open Research Area for the Social Sciences
Eighth Call for Proposals 2023
Eighth Call for Proposals 2023
In order to strengthen international cooperation in the field of social sciences, wishing to fund high-quality scientific research within their own countries, and aware that some of the best research can be delivered by working with the best researchers internationally, the ORA partners are launching an eighth ORA call for proposals in order to fund the best joint research projects in the social sciences. The scheme will provide funding for integrated projects by researchers coming from at least three of the four subscribing countries – in any combination of three or more countries.
Four funding organisations will participate in this eighth ORA competition: the Agence nationale de la Recherche (ANR, France), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation, Germany), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, United Kingdom) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC, Canada).
There is a possibility for cooperation partners in Japan (if applicable) to obtain special funding from a Japanese funding agency. The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) will provide an independent funding opportunity on an application basis to support the cooperation partners in Japan involved in the successful proposals.
Proposals may be submitted in any area of the social sciences. However, the disciplinary coverage varies according to the involvement of the national agencies. Applicants who are uncertain of whether their proposal would be eligible should contact the relevant national agencies for clarification.
ORA 8 will use the same format as ORA 7: the call will follow a one-stage, one-application procedure. Funding will be distributed among the national agencies according to the affiliation of the researchers and according to the funding rules of each agency.
How to Apply
SSHRC is the coordinating agency for this round. All proposals for this call will be submitted through the SSHRC Convergence Portal. For detailed guidance on how to submit proposals, please refer to the ORA 8 Convergence Guidance for Applicants (see link below). Please note that applicants based in Germany are also required to submit their proposal (identical documents) using the DFG’s elan portal.
The deadline for the submission of proposals is Tuesday, 14 November 2023, 17:00 Eastern Time (23:00 Central European Time). Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be accepted. German applicants should note that if they are using the elan system for the first time, they need to set up an elan account by 7 November 2023 at the latest.
Webinar for potential applicants
We will hold a webinar for potential applicants to this call on 21 September 2023, which we strongly encourage you to attend. The webinar will be open to participants from around the world and will provide information and guidance from the funders on the requirements of the call as well as an opportunity for questions and answers. In order to allow for different time zones, we will be holding two identical webinars with a duration of approximately one hour each.
Good research practice
Please note that according to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, as of 1 August 2019, DFG funding may only be awarded to institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice in their own regulations in a legally binding manner.
This means that also for international proposals, funding from the DFG can only be received if the guidelines for safeguarding good research practice (see link below) have been implemented by the German applicant´s institution. If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team at the DFG Head Office (see contact below). Further information regarding the implementation can be found on the Research Integrity website (see link below).
Further Information
All proposal documents as well as the links to the webinars and the outcomes of previous ORA rounds can be found at:
All queries relating to this call should be directed to the Call Secretariat at:
All queries relating to the SSHRC Convergence Portal should be directed to:
All country-specific queries should be directed to:
Germany, DFG
- Sigrid Claßen
phone: +49 228 885-2209
sigrid.classen@dfg.d
- Christiane Joerk
phone: +49 228 885-2451
christiane.joerk@dfg.d
Canada, SSHRC
Note: Contact SSHRC well in advance of the application deadline if you wish to submit your ORA 8 proposal in French.
France, ANR
- Maria Tsilioni
phone: +33 1 73 54 83 04
Maria.TSILIONI@agencerecherche.f
United Kingdom, ESRC
Japan, JSPS
Please note the DFG’s data protection notice on research funding, which can be viewed and downloaded at:
If necessary, please also forward this information to those individuals whose data will be processed by the DFG due to their involvement in your project.
Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice, Code of Conduct:
Information on the implementation of the Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice, Code of Conduct:
Contact of the DFG´s Research Integrity team (Good Research Practice):