The Intercontinental Academia has announced a joint program with the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo (IEA-USP), Brazil, and the Institute for Advanced Research (IAR) of Nagoya University, Japan that will bring together a group of 15 young researchers from different countries and areas of knowledge in an unusual collaborative project beginning in November 2014.

Time has been chosen as theme for the project due to being usually conceptualized differently in each area of knowledge, whether in the humanities or the natural sciences. For a comprehensive overview of the impacts of these notions in science and culture in general there must be an academic dialogue between people working and experiencing the different concepts of time.

The selection process to determine the young researchers for the program commences in June 2014. After the selection of participants in November, the preparation for the completion of the first immersion meeting in March 2015 at the University of São Paulo will get started. The second meeting will be held at Nagoya University in January 2016. Between April and December 2015, the interval between both immersion periods, the participants will continue their studies by contacting each other and the Scientific Committee of the Intercontinental Academia through the internet.

Throughout the project, participants will have the guidance of three senior scientists from regional and international recognition. The goal is to develop interdisciplinary studies at the Intercontinental Academia, an initiative by University-Based Institutes for Advanced Study (Ubias), an international network of scientific cooperation that brings together 34 institutes of advanced studies from 19 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Oceania.

Those interested in running for one of the 15 slots for researchers should be aged up to 40, hold a PhD or post-doctorate (completed or in progress) in any field of knowledge and be fluent in English. A letter of interest in English should be sent to one of the Ubias members from June 16, 2014. More information on the program can be found at their website or contacting the hosts directly at ica_iea@usp.br.