SDN

Tim Unwin Early Career Researcher Grant

Early career researcher grants of up to £500 are available to members of the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes to assist with a research project related to nineteenth-century French studies. The grant is named to recognise Professor Tim Unwin’s generous support of the Society and of early-career researchers.

The scheme is open to postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers within 7 years of their PhD/DPhil viva, who have not yet been appointed to a permanent full-time academic post.

For an indicative list of items eligible for funding please consult the guidance below.

Costs should not be covered by the applicant’s institution, though they may supplement funding provided by their institution if that is insufficient to cover the full expenditure relating to the project.

Awards will be made on the basis of the panel’s evaluation of the case made for the added value that this grant will bring to the development of the applicant’s research (where research is understood in the context of the Society’s mission to advance education for the public benefit specifically in relation to nineteenth-century French history and culture). Applicants will be asked to confirm that they are not already in receipt of any research funding that could cover the requested costs.

Recipients are requested to acknowledge the support of the Society for Dix-Neuviémistes in any output that results from this research activity.

Recipients are also encouraged to consider the society’s conference or its journal Dix-Neuf  as ways of disseminating these research findings.

Application forms should be returned by 1 September 2025 to the Secretary of the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes, Heather Williams, h.williams@cymru.ac.uk.

About

Tim Unwin was Founder President of the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes from 2000 to 2007. His pioneering presidency was a time of great optimism and excitement for the Society. Tim was particularly happy and heartened to see young colleagues get on board, at this early stage, to give the SDN the best possible start. He believes that, since then, the Society has gone from strength to strength, with a truly international reach that allows it to encourage and showcase the very best scholarship in our field. Tim hopes that his donations to the society (only a portion of which go towards the Tim Unwin ECR Grant) will help to foster and encourage innovative scholarship either from younger colleagues or indeed from more established researchers.

As a committed dix-neuviémiste, Tim has written extensively through his career on nineteenth-century authors, most notably on Gustave Flaubert and Jules Verne. Major publications include Art et infini: l’oeuvre de jeunesse de Gustave Flaubert (Rodopi, 1991), Jules Verne: Journeys in Writing (Liverpool UP, 2005), and (as volume editor) The Cambridge Companion to the French Novel (CUP, 1997) and The Cambridge Companion to Flaubert (CUP, 2004). Tim took early retirement in 2010, then took over as General Editor of French Studies from 2012-2019. He has co-moderated the Francofil discussion list since its inception in 1995. He is a former President of the Association of University Professors and Heads of French (AUPHF), and has served on the editorial board of the Australian Journal of French Studies, the international advisory board of the Journal of European Studies, and the editorial committee of Essays in French Literature and Culture. His career postings took him from the UK (Exeter, Edinburgh, QUB) to Australia (UWA, Perth), then back to the UK where he held the James Barrow Chair of French at Liverpool and, latterly, the Ashley Watkins Chair of French at Bristol, where he was also Director of the Bristol Institute for Research in The Humanities and Arts (BIRTHA). He is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

Guidance on items eligible for funding from the Tim Unwin ECR Grant