The aim of the DEAGENCY project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role of the dead for people living in modern society. Rather than understanding people’s experiences with the dead as expressions of folk belief or as symbols and metaphors of societal problems, this project will treat the dead as active participants in relationships between individuals and broader cultural and societal processes. The project will examine how the dead affect people’s thinking, values and behaviour, how they are included in people’s social relationships, and what their influence is within broader societal, cultural and political contexts. The project will bring together ten researchers from Slovenia and elsewhere. They will conduct ethnographic research in Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on the role of the dead within the context of problematic political pasts (mass graves), a changing religious landscape (alternative spiritual movements) and changing social relations (family and neighbourly relations in a rural environment).

"The ERC Advanced Grant is probably the greatest recognition a researcher can get for her work. To me personally, this is primarily an opportunity to delve into research without distractions, which I'm looking forward to tremendously, and, at the same time, this is also a commitment and responsibility to do my best. I'm especially looking forward to working with a team of young doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, as well as already established researchers from Slovenia and abroad. This grant is a great recognition for our Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology because it's basically the first ERC grant received in our discipline. It is also an important recognition for the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts and, ultimately, also for the Slovenian humanities in general," said prof. Mirjam Mencej, PhD, commenting on the prestigious grant received.

Prof. Mirjam Mencej, PhD, is a full professor of folklore studies at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts. Her research focuses on narrative folklore, vernacular religion and traditional beliefs. She is a Humboldt Fellow and recipient of other scholarships, which allowed her to receive further training at various universities and institutes outside Slovenia. Mencej is a member of several executive committees of international expert associations and journal editorial boards, as well as the author of five scholarly volumes and the co-author of one. For more information on her work, go to this link.

"The University of Ljubljana is exceptionally proud of Prof. Mirjam Mencej, who has won the ERC Advanced Grant for established researchers. This is now already the tenth ERC project led by researchers at the University of Ljubljana, which ranks us among other excellent European universities. It's also very important that this is already the second grant obtained for a project in the social sciences and/or humanities because we sometimes hear from researchers in these areas that it's more difficult for them to win such prominent grants than for their colleagues in the natural sciences. This second prestigious ERC grant for the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts proves they are wrong and that Slovenia also has outstanding and internationally renowned researchers in the social sciences and humanities. I'd like to congratulate my colleague for winning the grant and wish her lots of research success," said the Rector of the University of Ljubljana, prof. Gregor Majdič, PhD, commenting on this watershed achievement.

The ERC Advanced Grant is one of the most prestigious and competitive EU research funding schemes. It gives researchers the opportunity to pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs. It is awarded to established, leading researchers with a proven track record of significant research achievements over the past decade. This call for proposals attracted nearly 1,650 applications, which were reviewed by panels of renowned researchers. The ERC has awarded 218 Advanced Grants to outstanding researchers across Europe as part of the Horizon Europe programme. The grants, totalling EUR 544 million, support cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, from medicine and physics to social sciences and humanities. Prof. Mencej's project is the second project that has received an ERC Advanced Grant at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts. The first grant was obtained in 2017 by Prof. Marta Verginella, Phd, from the Department of History for her project "Eirene – Post-war transitions in gendered perspective: The case of the North-Eastern Adriatic region".

About ERC

The ERC Advanced Grant is one of the most prestigious and competitive EU research funding schemes. It gives researchers the opportunity to pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs. It is awarded to established, leading researchers with a proven track record of significant research achievements over the past decade. This call for proposals attracted nearly 1,650 applications, which were reviewed by panels of renowned researchers. The ERC has awarded 218 Advanced Grants to outstanding researchers across Europe as part of the Horizon Europe programme. The grants, totalling EUR 544 million, support cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, from medicine and physics to social sciences and humanities. Prof. Mencej's project is the second project that has received an ERC Advanced Grant at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts. The first grant was obtained in 2017 by Prof. Marta Verginella, Phd, from the Department of History for her project "Eirene – Post-war transitions in gendered perspective: The case of the North-Eastern Adriatic region".

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