GSD professor awarded €2.3 million grant for groundbreaking research on conflict and gender in Asian borderlands

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an Advanced Grant of Euros 2.3 million to GSD Professor Mandy Sadan to lead a major five-year research project beginning in October 2025.

Titled Histories of Asia’s Gendered Armed Frontiers, 1780–2021 (HAGAF), the project will deliver a pioneering new historical study of the Indo-Burma borderlands—encompassing present-day northern Myanmar, northeast India, and eastern Bangladesh.

Using a gendered and transnational lens, the research will investigate the deep-rooted causes and enduring dynamics of conflict and resistance in these mountainous frontier regions from the era of British colonialism to the present. At its core are the lived experiences of communities that have navigated cycles of violence across multiple generations.

The project places particular emphasis on the roles of women, shifting kinship structures and patterns, and the evolving nature of gendered social roles—as families and communities not only adapt to violence and displacement but also actively shape their outcomes. These themes remain underexplored in both historical and contemporary studies of war and conflict in the region.

Drawing on extensive archival research and community-based fieldwork conducted in multiple local languages, HAGAF aims to reshape regional historiography and understandings of the longevity of conflict in marginalised and often-overlooked regions of Asia. Professor Sadan will work closely with local research institutions to conduct multi-sited fieldwork across the region, including the Kachinland Research Centre (KRC) and Chin State Academic Research Network (CSARN) in Myanmar, and the Highland Institute in Kohima, Nagaland, India. GSD Commonwealth PhD scholar Manila Khisa will lead field research in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, working with Chakma women as well as women in other indigenous communities.

An international Academic Advisory Board will provide expert guidance throughout the project. Members include Professor Willem van Schendel (University of Amsterdam), Professor Joy Pachuau (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi), Dr Michael Heneise (UiT – The Arctic University of Norway), and Dr Jenny Hedström (Swedish Defence University).

The ERC Advanced Grants support senior scholars with a proven track record of groundbreaking work. This year’s round saw a 38% rise in applications, with 2,534 researchers competing for 281 grants across 27 academic panels, a success rate of 11.4%.

Reflecting on the award, Professor Sadan said:

“I am delighted to receive this grant and am thankful for the exceptional support I have received from my colleagues in RIS, my department, and the wider university - many of whom helped with reviews and interview preparation - throughout the process of applying for this grant."

"Securing funding for research in this region has always been difficult, with current global and regional political challenges making it even more so. Yet this work will transform historical understandings of this part of Asia, particularly by bringing to light the profound -yet mostly overlooked - contributions of women as vital actors in the region’s history. Laying the groundwork for such a complex and ambitious project has taken many years of preparation, and we’re excited to begin.”

A dedicated project website will be launched in due course, providing updates and insights as the research progresses.