Radboud University Reveals the Recipients of the Radboud Team Science Award
The Radboud Team Science Award goes to Patristic Sermons in the Middle Ages (PASSIM). This team excelled on account of a special and effective team spirit and will therefore receive 10,000 euros to further boost this team spirit. During the Opening of the Academic Year on 4 September, the Team Science Award will be presented for the second time.
Patristic Sermons in the Middle Ages (PASSIM)
The winning team excelled on account of a special and effective team spirit; their unique way of working together and empowering each other within this diverse, interdisciplinary team impressed the jury.
Interdisciplinary group
The jury was charmed by the broad make-up of the team. Researchers are joined on the team by ICT staff, student assistants and even three volunteers. It is an interdisciplinary group that brings together a variety of specialists: historians, linguists, classicists and humanists.
The team sets great store by team science, creating a supportive culture where everyone helps each other. For example, the team travelled to Italy together to study libraries and archives there. This research was challenging to organise from a logistical viewpoint. By making this a real group effort, the team managed to arrange access to the documents in the archives.
Focus on development
There is also a special focus within the team on the junior team members and their development. For instance, two postdocs were given the opportunity and the financial resources to organise and learn from an international workshop. In addition, an internal newsletter keeps everyone informed of relevant developments.
More about the research
The team studies early Christian sermons. These texts stem from Late Antiquity but were intensely copied and reused in the Middle Ages and are thus an ideal case to study the shaping of Christianity in the West. The project focuses on sermons collections in medieval manuscripts, using cutting-edge digital techniques to chart and analyze patterns of copying and altering of the sermons. They also develop the PASSIM web application. This is an Open Access virtual research environment to study ancient and medieval texts in their manuscript context. The team was brought together by Shari Boodts in the context of her ERC Starting Grant (2018-2024).
Collaborations between colleagues with different talents are of great importance for the development of science. Scientific achievements are often realised through a team effort. With the Team Science Award, the Executive Board wishes to recognise these team achievements. Teams could nominate themselves or be nominated by others. The criteria were cooperation, diversity and performance.