Winners of the UNESCO Silk Roads Youth Research Grant 2022
©Ali Raheem/ UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk RoadsUNESCO Silk Roads Youth Research Grant – Reinforcing the Capacity and Contribution of Young Researchers to the Silk Roads
UNESCO is delighted to announce the awardees of the 2022 Silk Roads Youth Research Grant. The call for proposals ran from March to October 2022 and was open to postgraduate researchers aged 35 and younger working individually or within a group. In total, around 850 research proposals covering a diverse array of topics were received from all over the world. These were assessed by a Scientific Panel comprised of 9 renowned international academics and experts from various disciplines related to the study of the Silk Roads, who awarded 12 grants valued at 10,000 USD.
Organized with the support of the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for UNESCO, the Silk Roads Youth Research Grant aims to mobilize young researchers for further study of the Silk Roads shared heritage. This initiative is part of the Silk Roads Programme’s ongoing efforts to better understand the rich history, shared legacy, and spirit of the Silk Roads. Applicants were required to submit proposals detailing research into cultural interactions and exchanges, and the concrete resulting elements, be they tangible or intangible, as identifiable in two or more cultures along the Silk Roads and beyond.
After careful consideration by the Scientific Panel, the 2022 UNESCO Silk Roads Youth Research Grant is awarded to:
(In alphabetical order)
Ms Ermelinda Eliasse (Mozambique) and Mr Patrick Sanga (United Republic of Tanzania)
‘Swahili Culture: An Anchor for Social Cohesion and Cooperation in East Africa’
Ms Sandunika Hasangani (Sri Lanka)
‘Shared medicinal practices along the Silk Road: Indigenization of Unani medical practice in Buddhist cultures’
Ms Gunay Heydarli (Azerbaijan)
‘The Catholic missionaries as mediators on the Silk Road: interfaith and cultural exchanges between the Safavid Empire and Europe’
Ms Hadel Jarada (United States of America)
‘The Silk Road Theologians: Charting the History of the Ḥanafī-Māturīdīs from China to the Middle East during the Mongol Period’
Ms Amruta Kishore (India)
‘Cultural dialogue between the architectural styles of Persia, India and China prior to the diffusion of Islam along the Silk Road’
Mr Koki Maeda and Ms Ikuno Fujii (Japan)
‘The potential of the Maritime Silk Routes as shared heritage – Through comprehensive surveys along the Maritime Exchange Network’
Ms Yuan Mi (People's Republic of China)
‘A Comparative Study of the Thoughts of Man and Nature Relationship Between Chinese and Indian Philosophy’
Ms Puspita Ayu Permatasari (Indonesia)
‘iWareBatik – SHARE(Southeast Asian Textile Heritage): Southeast Asian Textile Heritage Digital Database and Curatorial Exhibition Project covering Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Vietnam’
Mr Björn Reichhardt (Germany)
‘Sources of Wealth: Milk, Microbes, and the Making of Heritage in Central Asian Pastoralism’
Mr Ali Sadraei (Iran (Islamic Republic of))
‘Tracking and Studying the Middle Pleistocene Hominin populations along the Silk Road: Northeast Corridor of the Iranian Plateau’
Ms Melike Temiz (Türkiye)
‘Comparison of illuminations in Islamic manuscripts according to the cultures on the Silk Road: Present-day geography of Uzbekistan-Iran and Turkey’
Ms Yixing Zhou (People's Republic of China)
‘Documentation, Archaeology, and Fieldwork: New Thoughts on the Interaction, Dialogue, and Exchange between Christianity and other Religions along the Silk Road Under the Mongols’
UNESCO congratulates this year’s grantees and thanks all those who took the time to submit applications to the 2022 Silk Roads Youth Research Grant. Once again, the scientific panel was extremely impressed with the quality of the proposals received, and the final decision was a difficult one.
For updates concerning future award cycles of the grant, we invite you to regularly check the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme website.
More information:
Contact: silkroadsgrant@unesco.org
