The objectives of PEEK (see ToRs) are to
- support high quality and innovative arts-based research in which artistic practice is integral to inquiry,
- increase research capacity, quality and international standing of arts-based researchers working in Austria
- increase both public awareness and awareness within the academic and the arts communities of arts-based research and its potential applications.
PEEK started in 2009 and has applied a consequent bottom-up principle from its inception.
The purpose of this evaluation is:
- to critically review FWF’s PEEK funding programme in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses and to quantify and qualify the produced output, the generated outcome and the induced impact;
- to provide recommendations based on the identified evaluation results and conclusions to the FWF and its supervisory bodies on if and how PEEK should be continued, improved or restructured;
- to provide evidence-based and insightful recommendations for the further development of FWF’s general funding strategy for arts-based research for 2022 and beyond.
The scope of the evaluation includes also scrutinising the following aspects (see ToRs):
- The contribution of arts-based research induced by PEEK to institutional changes within Austria’s art universities to a more pronounced research orientation
- A systematisation of different modes and meanings of arts-based practices of knowledge production
- Identification of (implicit) modes of arts-based research the projects refer and adhere to
- The personal identities and subject positions within the PEEK projects, the meaning of working in a PEEK project and the relation between motivations to work in a PEEK project, the personal identities and models of arts-based research
- Distinction and commonalities to work in PEEK in comparison to both artistic projects and FWF stand-alone projects in terms of substance and scope, knowledge generation, applied methods, personal identities and motivation
- Forms of collaboration in PEEK projects
- Relations to international and local contexts
- The rationale for applying for PEEK funding vis-à-vis alternative funding potentials (e.g. stand-alone projects)
- International examples of other research funding institutions comparable to the FWF in terms of their experience with funding instruments similar to PEEK.
The evaluation employs a multi-method evaluation design that comprises the following elements:
- Desk research (state-of-art literature review, analysis of funding statistics)
- Content analysis of PEEK final reports in comparison to stand-alone projects
- Narrative interviews with PEEK grantees
- Online Survey with PEEK grantees and applicants
- Interviews with representatives of the PEEK board, FWF personnel and art universities
- Analysis of three comparable international funding schemes
