ReIReS is supporting the development and implementation of innovative research in the domain, and also grants access services to the community.

Three Settings

The core of ReIReS’ action is the provision of the transnational access to the largest available integrated system of expertise and facilities in historical religious studies, in order to fulfil the aim to offer to scholars the intellectual, physical and virtual means to approach research in historical religious studies assuming a new and innovative perspective.

The ReIReS work plan integrates three settings:

1. Transnational access (TNA)
2. Joint research activities (JRA)
3. Networking activities (NA)

Transnational Access

TNA activities give access to two different platforms that combine diverse providers across Europe, and each one of them involves a separate WP:

• Transnational Access to Special Collections (TASC, WP3) offers access to libraries and special collections that preserves documents, manuscripts and rare books and to a set of expertise and services to deal with these materials;
• Transnational Access to Archival Documents (TAAD, WP4) gives access to archives that preserve documents, letters, images, audios and videos relevant for historical religious studies and to a set of expertise and services to deal with this variety of materials.

If you want to know which datasets will be combined, go here.

Joint Research Activities

JRA activities (WP6 and 7) aim to increase the technological and research capabilities of the consortium, developing:

1. new digital tools to significantly improve the discovery and use of the existing resources and databases (WP6) and
2. an effective reframing of historical religious studies consistent with the needs that scholars address to ReIReS and with the most recent methodological and epistemological developments of the disciplines involved in the domain.

JRA is strongly connected with TNA, since the development of innovation in technology and research methodology takes an inescapable advantage from the feedback of users of ReIReS facilities.

Networking Activities

WP2 provides the effective integration of TNA activities, stressing the epistemological and methodological unity of ReIReS and allowing the consortium to answer to the need of the users to have access to an interdisciplinary framework and to submit complex research projects. WP2 contributes to the integration of the TNA activities together with the JRA activities provided by WP6 and 7, strengthening the culture of cooperation within the consortium. It integrates also the TNA activities and the JRA activities with the training programme of workshops and courses: the effective development and implementation of both transnational access services and of the technological search for innovation takes a crucial advantage form the direct relation with scholars and users provided by the training activities of WP5.