Associate Research Professor Shun-Ling Chen and Assistant Research Professor Ya-Wen Yang at Institutum Iurisprudentiae (IIAS), as part of an international consortium (HRJust), have been awarded a €3 million Horizon Europe grant. Led by Professor Maria Grahn-Farley from Göteborgs Universitet in Sweden, the consortium consists of 29 researchers from 15 institutions and is expected to complete the project in Spring 2026.

The project, titled HRJust (States’ Practices of Human Rights Justifications: A study in civil society engagement and human rights through the lens of gender and intersectionality), explores how states employ the language and discourse of human rights to justify their decisions and actions. Such endeavors renegotiate the function of existing human right instruments and institutions, shifting from mechanisms protecting individuals from state intrusion to instruments that legitimize state actions.

Despite Taiwan not having a formal partnership with Horizon Europe, IIAS is able to participate in the HRJust consortium as a partner and direct beneficiary due to its role in implementing the proposed actions. HRJust also marks the first time Academia Sinica participates in a Horizon Europe project in the field of social sciences and humanities. Associate Research Professor Shun-Ling Chen, as one of the co-leads of a work package, will join the Steering Group to partake in the coordination and governance of the consortium.