IIR and Partners Awarded ERC Synergy Grant to Study Political Systems and Societies in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa

This grant, awarded by the European Research Council (ERC), is one of the most prestigious funding schemes and is granted to only a few dozen of the world’s top research teams.

“This is an exceptional achievement. ERC grant competitions are extremely competitive, and it is particularly rare for institutions from our region to succeed in the field of social sciences. This is one of the first ERC Synergy Grants ever awarded to a Czech research institute,” said Mats Braun, Director of the Institute of International Relations Prague. “This success confirms the importance and quality of the research conducted at our institute. I would like to congratulate everyone involved in preparing the grant proposal, especially the principal investigator for IIR, Dr. Clément Steuer, and our project manager Petr Burda,” Braun added.

Party Systems and the Dynamics of Political (In)Stability in the Southern Mediterranean

The project, titled CLOSER – Party Systems and Social Cleavages in the Post-Ottoman Space of the MENA Region, will focus on the stability of societies in several countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. It will do so through an analysis of local party systems. The research will cover eight countries in the region – including Turkey, Israel, and selected Arab states – and will connect three institutions, two of which are based in the Czech Republic.

“The CLOSER project brings together political scientists, historians, and geographers around a shared research question: how can historically shaped structures of social cleavages help explain party politics in the post-Ottoman Middle East?” said Clément Steuer, principal investigator for the project at the Institute of International Relations Prague. “Our goal is to show that politics in the Middle East and North Africa is not the result of cultural exceptionalism, but rather a product of historically formed socio-economic differences deeply rooted in local societies.”

One of the project’s original contributions is its selection of countries, which includes Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, and Tunisia. The project specifically targets countries with diverse political systems. It will examine the relationship between the modern state and institutionalized religion, as well as historically overlooked and marginalized phenomena such as the role of women and minorities or the existence of liberal parties. The research will cover the modern historical period from the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 to the present day.

The aim of the project is to understand how deeply rooted historical and social differences influence the shape and stability of political systems in the region. The project offers a new perspective on the long-term dynamics of political stability in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, a region once under Ottoman rule. It also aims to develop a theoretical model that will enrich existing models based on Western European societies. Ultimately, the project seeks to contribute to a better understanding of global political phenomena such as populism and environmentalism.

The CLOSER project lead team consists of three researchers from different institutions and disciplines. Clément Steuer from the Institute of International Relations in Prague specializes in Middle Eastern and North African politics, particularly party systems and regime change. Jan Zouplna from the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences focuses on modern history and political developments in the region. The third team member is Gilles Van Hamme from the Université libre de Bruxelles, who studies geography and social structures in a global context. The project will last six years and expects to include over 40 researchers from across countries and disciplines.

ERC Synergy Grant – A Premium Platform for Collaboration

The ERC Synergy Grant is one of the four main funding schemes of the European Research Council, operating under the Horizon Europe programme. It is intended for small teams of top researchers working together to tackle exceptionally complex scientific questions across disciplines.

In this call, 712 proposals were submitted. Only about one in ten were selected for funding, with successful projects receiving an average of €10.3 million. The selected projects will be carried out at universities and research centres in 26 countries across and beyond Europe. The highest number of successful teams came from Germany (29 projects), the United Kingdom (24), France (21), and the United States (21). Six projects will be implemented in countries that have so far hosted relatively few ERC grants – including the Czech Republic, where three research institutions were successful.

“Collaboration is at the heart of the ERC Synergy Grants. In this round, teams of researchers will join forces to address the most complex scientific problems – and this time, they are more international than ever. The competition was fierce, and many outstanding proposals remained unfunded. With more resources, the ERC could fully capitalise on this wealth of first-class science. Such scientific endeavours are what Europe needs to be at the real forefront,” said ERC President Professor Maria Leptin.

Established by the European Union in 2007, the ERC is Europe’s leading organisation for funding frontier research. It supports creative researchers of any nationality and age to carry out projects across Europe. The ERC offers four core grant schemes: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants, and Synergy Grants. Through its additional Proof of Concept Grant scheme, the ERC helps grantees bridge the gap between their pioneering research and early stages of commercialisation. The ERC is governed by an independent body, the Scientific Council. Since November 2021, the ERC has been chaired by Professor Maria Leptin. The ERC’s total budget for the 2021–2027 period is over €16 billion under the Horizon Europe programme, overseen by European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva.