This is an evaluation of a major research programme established in 2006, on the initiative of Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ), the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences. The title of the Research Programme was Nordic Spaces: Formation of States, Societies and Regions, Cultural Encounters, and Idea and Identity Production in Northern Europe after 1800. This external evaluation was commissioned by RJ in January 2013, following a decision taken by the Steering Group at its last meeting. We were asked to assess, the structure, management, co-ordination and format of the programme in terms of financing, cooperation and outcomes and particularly “to highlight what can be learned from the format of the programme, what was the added value, what could have been done better”1 It was specifically suggested that the evaluation team should include some members “from outside of the Nordic countries”.
On the basis of a considerable amount of written documentation, questionnaires
and interviews we have tried to come to an understanding of the implementation of this large-scale, many-facetted undertaking. Amongst our findings were that projects led by women, and particularly female led group projects were clearly under-represented and this, together with the disproportionate early cut in the funding of the only female led group project raises fundamental issues about institutionalised discrimination. Anxieties about this were not assuaged by interviews with the Steering Group.
The report includes recommendations