Future of the Religious Past, the

This programme’s objective is to encourage research into the state of religion at the beginning of the 21st century: the renewed participation in traditional religions such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism and the advent of new forms of fragmented religion and personal spirituality.

Senior researchers at Dutch institutions of higher education and/or researchers at institutes recognised by NOW. Researchers not connected to an institute recognised by NWO can apply jointly with academic senior researchers. Qualified researchers from developing countries can apply via the WOTRO scheme.

What can be applied for

Subsidies for small programmes of between 300,000 and 450,000 euro maximum. Programmes that exceed this sum must be co-funded. A proposal must include at least two individual research projects, for instance a trainee research assistent and a postdoctoral.

Extra Information

The new forms of religiosity require a new interpretative framework, which this research programme aims to develop. One of the programme’s key issues is whether ‘religion’ is a part of history or whether it has a future.
The programme runs from 2002 to 2009.