Call for Participants

Illumina Training 2026

Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Creative Research Methods in Practice

Organiser: WIRE FilmEU | hosted by FTF VŠMU (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Dates: 28 – 30 April 2026

Location: Film and Television Faculty (FTF), Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU), Bratislava, Slovakia

Format: On-site (in person)

Register HERE

Deadline for registration: 23 February 2026
Results announced: 27 February 2026

About Illumina

Illumina is a three-day training focused on artistic research methods and on how creative research can be developed through interdisciplinary collaboration. The programme combines lectures and discussions (open to a wider academic audience) with an intensive workshop for a selected group of participants. Illumina is organised under the FilmEU+ European University Alliance.

The theme of spring edition of Illumina is Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Creative Research Methods in Practice. The training explores how artistic research can emerge from unexpected connections between fields, methods, and media.

We will focus on questions such as: How do interdisciplinary teams form — and what makes collaboration work? How can artistic research methods be designed, tested, and communicated across disciplines? What kinds of skills, mindsets, and working structures support meaningful collaboration? How can research-driven artistic practice engage with complex social, political, and technological realities?

The workshop will be built around team-based work and collaborative project development. Selected participants will work in experimental interdisciplinary teams and develop a project idea or research concept shaped by assigned or negotiated methods/media. The goal is to practice collaboration as a research method: defining a shared question, negotiating roles, building a feasible process, and presenting outcomes.

Meet the Speakers & Topics.

Who is it for

This call is open to early-career researchers and practitioner-researchers (MA / PhD / post-doc level) from VŠMU, FilmEU+ partner institutions and other HEIs as well. We especially encourage applications from researchers connected to Ukrainian institutions and institutions in the Western Balkans, as Illumina aims to strengthen collaboration across these regions.

Participation in Illumina is free of charge.

Please note that travel and accommodation costs are not covered by the organisers and must be arranged individually by participants. We encourage applicants to explore mobility and research support schemes available at their home institutions to cover these expenses.

How to apply

By completing the online registration form.

In the form, you will be asked to provide a brief bio including your affiliation, level of study or research, and field or discipline, as well as a short statement of interest describing your research or artistic practice and explaining why Illumina is relevant to you. Optionally, you may also include a short outline of a topic, question, or method that you would like to bring into an interdisciplinary team.