Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law - Call for Applications

The ICCAL Collaboration Lab – Comparative Public law for Democratic Resilience in Europe and Latin America

Important News

We have extended the deadline to hand in the team proposals until October 4, 2024. Moreover, we offer a Q&A session via Zoom on September 20, 2024, at 16:00h (CET) for everyone who is interested in applying (or has already applied) to answer any doubts about the application or the project itself. In case you're interested in participating, please send an e-mail to coll-lab@mpil.de to receive the Zoom link.

Overview

The ICCAL Collaboration Lab (the “Lab”) seeks to bring together a diverse group of established and early-career scholars from, based in, or working on, Latin America and Europe, to undertake sustained academic collaboration for three years, with occasional visits to Heidelberg. Building on two decades of valuable lessons of the ICCAL - Ius Constitutionale Commune en América Latina project, the Lab will explore the role of comparative public law for democratic resilience in Europe and Latin America.

What is the ICCAL Collaboration Lab?

The Lab consists of ten teams, each composed of at least two established and early-career scholars, from both Latin America and Europe. Through the prism of comparative public law and human rights, each team will explore a structural issue of relevance for democratic resilience in Latin American and European societies. Besides working as independent units, Lab Teams will also gather in clusters, with the possibility of organizing workshops, seminars, summer schools and other scholarly activities. The ultimate vision is for the Lab to create a space for excellence in comparative research, the development of policy-relevant knowledge, mentorship and academic development for young researchers, and the further strengthening of mutual learning between Europe and Latin America in these challenging times.

What does the Lab offer?

The Lab’s collaborations will be hosted at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, in Heidelberg (Germany). With the support of the Max Planck Society, during the three years of collaboration, the ICCAL Lab will provide financial support for travel and accommodation for one annual gathering of all Lab Teams in Heidelberg, and for fellowships to support yearly one month-long research visits to the Max Planck Institute in that city by team members. The ICCAL Collaboration Lab will initiate its activities in January 2025. A first seminar of 3 days to present the projects is projected for March 2025.

Call for Lab participants

The ICCAL Lab invites joint proposals from ideally four scholars or practitioners with an interest in engaging, as a team, in a sustained three-year research collaboration to comparatively explore a structural issue of relevance for democratic resilience in Latin American and European societies. Each Lab Team should be composed of scholars or practitioners at various stages of their careers (from early career to more senior scholars and practitioners) and include members from, based in, or working on, Latin America and Europe. Diversity in terms of gender and nationality is strongly encouraged. The selected team members are expected to commit time to the successful implementation of their collaboration project within the Lab, including attending and contributing actively to on-site activities supported by the Lab. By the end of their collaboration, each Team should produce a scholarly contribution (for example, an original article, manuscript, or multimedia content) that advances our comparative understanding of the potential, and challenges, of public law and human rights for fostering democratic resilience in Latin America and Europe. The specific form of deliverables will be discussed and agreed upon with each Team, in the context of their overall contribution to the Lab.

The Lab proposes the following topics for joint Team projects. Proposals that address other aspects of democratic resilience in Latin America and Europe are also welcome. These topics are just a suggestion.

We recommend reading the text "Comparing Constitutional Democracy in the European Union and India: An Introduction" by Phillip Dann and Arun K. Thiruvengadam to help develop your research proposal. You can access the text here.

I’m interested! What should I do?

Send a Lab Team proposal, identifying your Team and the topic you would like to tackle. Your application should include, in a single PDF file, the following information:

• Your idea on one page. Please, identify the specific topic you will address. Remember that you can frame your proposal within one of the topics suggested in the call or propose a different topic, linked to democratic resilience. Highlight the comparative (Europe – Latin America) dimension of your project, and its potential for furthering our comparative understanding of the potential, and challenges of public law and human rights for fostering democratic resilience in these regions.
• A brief presentation of each Team member with a link to the c.v. and the list of publications. Ensure the team is diverse in three aspects: gender, career stages, and European and Latin American background. There should be at least one researcher with Latin American background and one researcher with European background.

Lab team proposals, in English or Spanish, should be submitted via email to coll-lab@mpil.de prior to 23:59 (CET) on October 4th, 2024.

Please note that the ICCAL Collaboration Lab is focused on collective team work. Applications by individual scholars or practitioners will not be supported. Individuals may participate as members of more than one team proposal.

Important Dates:

• Q&A Zoom session: September 20, 2024. Please send an email to coll-lab@mpil.de to receive the link.
• Submission of Research Proposal deadline: October 4, 2024.
• Notification of Acceptance: October 31, 2024.
• Commencement of Collaboration: January, 2025

Note: Due to the evolving nature of the project, topics and dates may be subject to change.

FAQ

How diverse should the teams be?

Teams must include at least one member from Latin America and one from Europe. Additionally, age and experience diversity among team members is positively valued, as the lab aims to foster mentoring relationships and support young researchers. Gender and nationality diversity are also positively valued.

What happens if my team does not meet all diversity criteria?

We will review your application and allow specific exceptions. Nevertheless, consider that diversity criteria will be part of our rating process.

Can European or Latin American researchers based in other regions participate?

European or Latin American researchers whose jobs or institutional affiliations are located in other regions are welcome to participate in the call. More important than institutional affiliation is that the academic and professional background of the members is rooted in Europe and Latin America.

Is it possible to submit a proposal on a topic that is not explicitly mentioned in the call for applications?

Yes, the listed topics are just suggestions, and the lab is open to other themes related to the general objective of the project.

Can teams submit multiple proposals?

Team members individually and teams as a whole can be part of multiple submissions if they wish. However, we recommend focusing efforts on submitting a well-structured proposal.

Do you have any additional questions?

Please contact us at coll-lab@mpil.de or connect to our Q&A Zoom session on September 20, 2024 at 16:00 (CET).