Examples of Projects Initiated by the Academy
The endeavours of the Academy to promote research and learning are today mainly directed towards initiating and stimulating scholarly work in those fields which are considered particularly important or particularly in need of enhancement.
The Academy’s support frequently takes the form of conferences and symposia, often of a multidisciplinary character, but even more often in the form of diverse research projects. Thus the bulk of its support was targeted for universities and university colleges and also to benefit other bodies within the cultural sector. Its financial support also includes funding intended for travelling grants for junior scholars and to support guest lectures at the universities as well as temporary travelling grants for visits to western European universities.
The following are some of the major projects for which the Academy has allocated funding in recent years.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY SUBJECTS
4 Completion of the early 20th century excavation of Alvastra pile dwelling in the province of Östergötland (The Museum for Antiquities).
4 Excavations of the site of Södra Råda medieval wooden church (National Heritage Board).
4 Archaeological excavation and examination of Gråborg fortress, one of the largest in Sweden on the island of Öland and which is the property of the Academy. (Academician Hagberg).
4 A publishing project regarding the Viking Age of the island of Gotland (The Museum for Antiquities).
4 Two projects in classical archaeology, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum (Academician Rystedt) and Corpus of Cypriote Antiquities (Academician Åström).
HISTORICAL SUBJECTS
4 Funding two new temporary posts within research projects led by The National Heritage Board, viz. Medieval Sweden and the Churches of Sweden.
4 Studies in the development of population, vegetation and land use in Stensjö hamlet, the property of the Academy.
4 A long-term project entitled ”The Huselius Project – Uppsala Cathedral” with support of the Huselius fondation and led by Academician Åman.
4 To provide within the framework of Nordiska Museet research school for museum employees support to a postgraduate student in the area of textile research.
4 The Axel Oxenstierna Project: The Works and Correspondence of Axel Oxenstierna, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden 1612–1654 (The National Archives of Sweden).
4 The National Edition of Hand Drawn Cadastral maps 1628–1650 (The National Archives of Sweden).
4 Medieval Book Fragments (The National Archives of Sweden).
4 Swedish Incunabula (National Library).
PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY OF IDEAS, AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
4 Support has been provided for the publication of the Skara missal.
LINGUISTICS
4 The Runic section of the National Heritage Board has been granted founds to finance a temporary research post.
4 A Dictionary of Primitive-Nordic Personal Names (The Language and Folklore Institute in Uppsala).
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
4 Funding has been provided for two research posts at Linköping University to initiate research on Saint Birgitta in celebration of her 700th anniversary.
Finally, the Academy is supporting a number of temporary academic posts at most Swedish Universities. At present twelve four-year postdoc scholarships are being provided in the faculties of theology and humanities country-wide besides a vast number of minor grants in the social sciences. These are intended to encourage young researchers recently awarded PhD’s, to go further with their academic studies. Recently, together with the Swedish Academy, the Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities has established eight chairs in linguistic research and literature with the help of economic support from the Wallenberg Foundation.
