L’étude des religions occupe depuis plus d’un siècle une place relativement marginale dans l’enseignement et la recherche en France, non seulement en tant que domaine spécialisé ou disciplinaire, mais aussi, plus largement, en tant qu’objet d’étude au sein des sciences humaines et sociales au sens large, voire au-delà dans le domaine des sciences expérimentales (notamment la médecine). “Structuration de la recherche” met en œuvre différents dispositifs pour renforcer les synergies au sein de la recherche nationale dans le domaine de l’étude des faits religieux et propose, dans ce cadre, des mobilités.

Presentation

The interdisciplinary programme ‘Religions and societies facing contemporary challenges’ (ReligiS), led by the University of Strasbourg for a period of six years (2025-2031), resulting from the France 2030 call for expressions of interest ’Research programmes in the humanities and social sciences’, aims to promote critical, objective and methodical knowledge and appropriate analytical tools for understanding religious phenomena in their wide variety of contemporary forms.

For over a century, the study of religions has occupied a relatively marginal place in teaching and research in France, not only as a specialised or disciplinary field, but also, more broadly, as a subject of study within the humanities and social sciences in the broad sense, and even beyond, in the field of experimental sciences (particularly medicine). The French academic landscape in this field has changed considerably over the last two decades, but it remains marked by a significant dispersion of research efforts and a still strong compartmentalisation between scientific disciplines, as well as by an undersizing of the structures responsible for promoting and transferring knowledge and expertise to public authorities and civil society.

All social sciences and humanities disciplines are involved, ranging from history to law, sociology, philosophy and theology, languages and literature, as well as archaeology and the arts, psychology, linguistics and management sciences. The programme brings together a consortium of 13 partners, including the National and University Library (BNU). It is organised around several areas of focus : three scientific areas led by eight interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) and four cross-disciplinary areas supporting scientific structuring and the transfer of research results to society. For details, see Présentation | Maison Interuniversitaire des Sciences sociales et des Humanités d’Alsace | MISHA.

Axis 5.1, ‘Research Structuring’, implements various measures to strengthen synergies within national research in the field of religious studies and, within this framework, offers mobility opportunities. One possibility is to benefit from special access to the National and University Library to work on its collections labelled “collections of excellence for research” in religious studies.

Purposes

The call for applications aims to welcome a researcher to the Bnu for a period of six (6) consecutive months, for the purpose of studying and promoting its collections in religious sciences, both physical and digital, with priority given to rare, unpublished or little-known items.

This residency aims to foster a project that combines the expertise of researchers and collection specialists from the outset, with a view to promoting open science.

The researcher whose application is accepted upon completion of the call shall receive the title of “chercheur associé de la Bnu” [Bnu associate researcher]. This designation does not grant the status provided under Article L 432-1 of the French Research Code.

Eligibility conditions

For his or her application to be eligible, the candidate must :

• Be a lecturer/university professor, research fellow/research director, tenured research engineer, or postdoctoral researcher.
• Be available to come to BNU premises as often as the research topic requires.

There is no nationality requirement.

Possible topics to be proposed by candidates

The subject developed during the researcher’s stay must be directly related to the Bnu’s religious studies collections, both physical and digital, with priority given to rare, unpublished or littleknown items.

Candidates may spontaneously propose research topics based on collections they have previously identified or chosen from the collections listed in Appendix 1 of these regulations.

Candidates must indicate the area of the ReligiS programme in which their research project falls, a list of which can be found in Appendix 2 of these regulations.

Schedule and duration of the researcher’s stay

The associate researcher will be hosted for a period of six (6) consecutive months, at the candidate’s discretion, during the academic year running from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027.

Financing arrangements and eligible expenses

The grant is in the amount of €10,000 (ten thousand euros) for candidates residing abroad or in France outside the Grand Est region.

It is in the amount of €6,000 (six thousand euros) for candidates residing in the Grand Est region (except candidates residing in the City et Eurometropolis of Strasbourg).

This amount constitutes an allowance intended to cover the researcher’s travel and residence costs and is not intended as remuneration. There will be no employment contract.

The terms of payment are as follow : grant funds will be paid out in two instalments made by the University of Strasbourg which runs the ReligiS programme. Funds will be paid exclusively by bank transfer. For this purpose, the researcher shall provide a bank detail statement (RIB) upon receiving notice of the grant award decision.

The first payment shall be made at latest one month prior to the researcher’s arrival. It is intended to cover transport costs incurred by the researcher and his/her initial move-in costs. This amount by default shall be equivalent to half of the total amount of the grant awarded, unless the candidate can justify the payment of a higher amount on this date.

The second payment will be made within one month after the researcher’s arrival. This amount represents the balance of the grant after the first payment, i.e., by default, half of the amount of the grant. It is intended to cover accommodation costs.  

Application procedures

Applications shall be submitted directly by email to aapchercheurs@bnu.fr

Before 4 May

The application file must be sent in the form of a single PDF, generated by word processing software, not scanned, and not protected.

This includes :

• A completed response template including administrative information and a presentation of the research topic proposed, specifying the objectives, the method, the various phases planned, the expected results, and the possible beneficial use thereof (no longer than 8,000 characters).
• A detailed curriculum vitae.

The submission of the application must be accompanied by an acceptance of these regulations, constituting an undertaking on the part of the candidate to comply with the provisions thereof if his/her application is accepted.

Each candidate will receive an acknowledgment of receipt of his/her application file. Application files delivered in person will not be accepted. Files that arrive incomplete or late will not be examined.

Selection of the winning candidate

Applications meeting the eligibility criteria will be forwarded to the BNU Scientific Board, which will organise the selection by evaluating the following criteria :

• The relevance of the proposed topic for enhancing the value of religious studies collections.
• The candidate’s ability to carry out his/her research within the proposed timeframe.  
• The clarity and completeness of his/her application file.
• The potential for a beneficial use of the research results. 

The scientific committee will seek the opinion of a representative from the ReligiS programme research area in which the candidate has registered his/her topic.

The director of the Bnu will notify the winner of the result. Unsuccessful candidates will be informed by email.

Jury de sélection

• Président : M. Frédéric Lemmers, Responsable de la numérisation à la Bibliothèque royale de Belgique Pays-Bas
• Vice-présidente : Mme Victoire Feuillebois, Maître de conférences au Département d’études slaves de l’Université de Strasbourg et directrice adjointe de la Maison interuniversitaire des sciences de l’homme d’Alsace.Trois membres de droit :
•  Le président de la Commission de la recherche de l’université de Strasbourg ou son représentant : Rémi BARILLON
•  Le président du Conseil scientifique de l’université de Mulhouse ou son représentant : Véronique LOCHERT
•  Le président de la bibliothèque nationale de France ou son représentant : Laurence ENGEL, représentée par Monique PUJOL

Sept enseignants-chercheurs ou chercheurs dans les domaines disciplinaires couverts par la bibliothèque nationale et universitaire choisis parmi les usagers inscrits à la bibliothèque :

Six représentants des enseignants-chercheurs et des chercheurs de l’université de Strasbourg désignés par la commission de la recherche du conseil académique de cette dernière :

•   Laurence BUCHHOLZER
•   Victoire FEUILLEBOIS [vice-présidente]
•   Béatrice GUION
•   Alexandre KOSTKA
•   Edouard MEHL
•   Sylvain PERROT
• Un représentant des enseignants-chercheurs et des chercheurs de l’université de Mulhouse désigné par la commission de la recherche du conseil académique de cette dernière : Valentine ERNÉ-HEITZ

Deux enseignants-chercheurs ou chercheurs extérieurs à l’académie de Strasbourg désignés par le président du conseil d’administration de la Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire :

•  Simon DUMAS-PRIMBAULT (Aix-Marseille université – Open Edition ; président du comité scientifique de La Revue de la BNU)
•  Racha KIRAKOSIAN (Université de Freiburg)

Deux représentants des doctorants de l’université de Strasbourg, inscrits à la bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg, désignés par le collège des écoles doctorales.

•   Félicien MASSEBIAU-SCHNUR (doctorant en droit – ED 101)
•   Géraldine MASTELLI-WEISSROCK (doctorante Archimede – ED 519)

Six personnalités du monde scientifique et culturel désignées par le conseil d’administration de la Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg sur proposition du directeur

•   Hervé de CHALENDAR (Dernières nouvelles d’Alsace)
•   Claude D. CONTER (Bibliothèque nationale du Luxembourg)
•   Emilie GIRARD (Musées de Strasbourg)
•   Frédéric LEMMERS (Bibl. royale de Belgique) [président]
•   Ariane THOMAS (Musée du Louvre)

Deux représentants des usagers de la Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg

•  Pierre ARDAILLOU (Lycée Fustel de Coulanges ; classes préparatoires)
•  Rodolphe BAUDIN (Université de la Sorbonne)

Trois représentants du personnel scientifique de la bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg :

Deux représentants élus des corps des conservateurs et conservateurs généraux et assimilés ;

•   Rosanne WINGERT
•   Catherine SOULÉ-SANDIC

Un représentant élu des autres personnels scientifiques et techniques.

•   Dmitry KUDRYASHOV (ingénieur d’étude)