A training event for PhD and Early Career Researchers
This event is aimed at PhD students and early career researchers and will take place in person this autumn (Monday 30 November to Wednesday 2 December) at Ghent University and KU Leuven.
The training event will cover topics such as text encoding, epigraphic datasets and databases, AI tools, Linked Open Data for epigraphy, and planning the digital side of an epigraphy project, with extensive hands-on components. The event will be of interest to those working with inscribed materials from the ancient world broadly conceived, with some sessions focusing more specifically on the Greco-Roman epigraphy. When applying to take part in the event, participants commit to some advance reading/activities set by the instructors as well as the activities carried out during the training event. A detailed program is attached at the end of this Call for Participants.
The instructors are researchers with experience in Digital Epigraphy based in Belgium and abroad; the event will also feature members of the Centre for Digital Humanities in Ghent and the LECTIO Institute at KU Leuven.
Participation in the training event is free of charge and open to participants from any country. However, the number of participants will be capped. If interest exceeds capacity, participants will be selected by the organising committee on the basis of information provided in the application form.
No hybrid option will be available for the event. However, the workshop training materials (slides and handouts) will be made freely available to everyone, not only the participants, at a later point.
Thanks to generous funding from DARIAH (Digital Research Infrastructure for Arts and Humanities), we are able to offer 5 bursaries for travel and accommodation to participants coming from outside Belgium who will take part in the full training: accommodation will be booked in a hotel in Gent for 3 nights (29 Nov – 2nd Dec), covered in advance by the training event, and travel expenses will be reimbursed after the event up to a capped amount of 145 EUR, i.e. the travel expenses will have to be paid in advance by the participants (we apologise for this, but it is due to unavoidable administrative constraints). For the bursaries, priority will be given to applicants who do not have institutional funding available for this. If a participant applies for a bursary, they will be later asked to send proof by their home institution that no funding is available to them to cover this expense (e.g. a statement from research supervisor or head of department). Independent researchers with no institutional affiliation who cannot provide this evidence are welcome to get in touch with the organisers.
We might also be able to cover some travel expenses for participants based in Belgium. You will be asked if this applies to you in the Application form.
We invite prospective participants to submit their application through this Google Form no later than Thursday 15th October: https://forms.gle/SgAsdGxwiMLeH6m38.
If a selection needs to be made, selected participants will be notified during the week commencing 19th October 2026.
Please note, for the purposes of eligibility, “PhD candidate” also includes researchers who have submitted and not yet defended their dissertations, and “Early Career Researcher” is defined as someone having defended their PhD in the past 10 years and without a permanent academic position. However, we are happy to take into account individual circumstances (e.g. career breaks, parental leave): please feel free to get in touch with us to discuss any of this as we aim to be as accommodating as possible in this respect.
For any questions, prospective participants can email the organising committee (ideally all three so we can ensure a quicker response):
Davide Massimo (davide.massimo@ugent.be)
Daria Kohler (daria.kohler@kuleuven.be)
Tom Gheldof (tom.gheldof@kuleuven.be)
The event is supported by UGent, the Ghent Centre for Digital Humanities, KU Leuven, DARIAH-EU, CLARIAH-VL+, the Lectio institute.
Organising committee: Davide Massimo (UGent), Tom Gheldof (KU Leuven/CLARIAH-VL+), Daria Kohler (KU Leuven/Lectio).
Instructors: Davide Massimo, Tom Gheldof, Daria Kohler, Anna Clara Maniero Azzolini (SAS UoL), Marta Fogagnolo (Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna), Lise Foket (Ugent), Alek Keersmaekers (KU Leuven), Evelien de Graaf (KU Leuven).
This call for Participants is also available below as text file, but this event page should referred to for any updates.
A detailed program can be found in below.
Image: fragment Attic inscription with list of expenses, 4th cent. BC (MET).