Impact of Religion – Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy
”The Impact of Religion - Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy” (IMPACT) is a an interdisciplinary project at Uppsala University, that runs over a 10 year period and with the purpose to clarify the significance of religion in society, in economic, social, political, cultural and legal terms in Sweden and the Nordic countries. IMPACT involves some 60 researchers from six different Faculties, of which about ten researchers from the Faculty of Law is taking part in the project.
Since 2008, thanks to a `Linnaeus Grant´*, Uppsala University has been conducting this 10-year interdisciplinary research project, and initially, funding for the research was to total SEK 50 million for the whole of this period.
In a published report on the findings of a midterm evaluation, IMPACT is rated very highly and a 10% increase in support is recommended. Among other things, the following is stated in the report, on page 24:
The level of collaboration across Faculties and between departmental units enabled by the Linnaeus grant is impressive and IMPACT has become a hub of national and international excellence.” […] ”IMPACT is an excellent, vibrant and well-functioning centre that has put religion back on the agenda of social sciences. IMPACT involves multidisciplinary faculty and doctoral students providing true interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary interactions across a very wide spectrum of expertise.
The evaluation, which was carried out by external assessors, focused on such aspects as academic quality, dissemination of research results, the university's commitment, gender equality in the research environments concerned and recruitment of international researchers. Means of assessment on which the evaluation was based included a self-evaluation, interviews and site visits.
The Director of the Steering Group for IMPACT is Per Pettersson, Professor of the Sociology of Religion. Deputy chairman of the steering committee is Professor Anna-Sara Lind who took over the duties from the Faculty's Professor of Private and International Law Maarit Jänterä-Järeborg in 2014.
* The Swedish Research Council and Formas support 40 research environments (`Linnaeus Centres´) in various academic disciplines by awarding `Linnaeus Grants´. The purpose of these grants is to develop strategic and internationally competitive research groups at Swedish higher education institutions. For each Centre, the Linnaeus Grant amounts to SEK 5-10 million a year over a ten-year period.