UA Ruhr GC: Approval of funding for joint research project

The first Joint UA Ruhr GC research proposal receives a green light from funding institution.

The project entitled "Political authority in transnational governance arrangements: Regulation through public and private labour, social and environmental standards in the Asian textile and apparel industry" is the first research project under the umbrella of the UA Ruhr Graduate Centre to receive third-party funding. At the end of November, the Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR) at the Mercator Foundation officially approved funding of this interdisciplinary research project which is directed by Dr. Cornelia Ulbert, Executive Director of the Institute of Development and Peace (INEF) at the University of Duisburg-Essen, and by IEE Director Markus Kaltenborn. The project combines a political science view with a legal perspective in order to explore the patterns of interaction between private and public norms developed in and pertaining to the textile and apparel industries of Cambodia and Bangladesh. The team of researchers comprises Cornelia Ulbert (INEF), Christian Scheper (INEF), Markus Kaltenborn (IEE), Johannes Norpoth (IEE) and Nina Reit (Faculty of Law of the Ruhr-University Bochum). The pilot study of the research project aims at supporting the formation of an even more comprehensive group of researchers from further disciplines. Furthermore, it sets out to widen the perspective for other economic sectors and geographical regions. The funding total is € 225,000 and the amount has been accorded for a period of two years. The promotion of this project marks a promising start for future research cooperation projects at the UA Ruhr Graduate Centre.

Johannes Norpoth, LL.M.
Research Fellow
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