Academic

The international platform SIMM schedules an exceptional collaboration with universities and university colleges in and outside Belgium.

SIMM is rapidly becoming an inter-faculty and inter-university research platform.

The inter-faculty and inter-university establishment of SIMM is in this specific research area considered internationally as a unique initiative. We are designing a multi-faceted approach and accompaniment of doctoral and post-doctoral research projects that have been welcomed in research seminars proposed by the SIMM-platform since 2018.

There are some studies on the social impact of art on people (in vulnerable situations). The added value of SIMM is the ‘association’ of the various disciplines and the fact that research can thus be bundled and can be approached from different perspectives. This we expect can strengthen the validity of the results.

Inter-faculty
Since the beginning of its operation in 2015 SIMM maintained regular contacts with four different departments of the Ghent University Association: Conflict Research Group (Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University), the Centre for Children in Vulnerable Situations (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University), the Department of Health and Social Work (University College) and the School of Arts / Music Conservatory (University College Ghent).  SIMM can now further develop these contacts in the future thanks to its partnership with the Chair Jonet and Centre for Social Action and Music-Making (CESAMM) of the University and University College of Ghent, which was inaugurated in 2022.  SIMM regularly works together with members of the team of the Chair Jonet (all research seminars in 2023-2025, and 10th SIMM-posium in 2025). In Antwerp a close collaboration started in 2019 with the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA), itself an interfaculty research centre, organising the 2nd research seminar with SIMM in November 2019.
Inter-university

SIMM has been in contact with the following universities and university colleges which are actively involved in the project through the organization of the annual international SIMM-posia or SIMM-seminars: Guildhall School of Music and Drama & Royal Holloway University London (RHUL); CIPEM Centro de Investigação em Psicologia da Música e Educação Musical, Porto; Fundación Universitaria Juan N Corpas (Bogota, Colombia); University of Antwerp & Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA); Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre (Brisbane, Australia)…

Guild Hall School
Guildhall School

A special partnership is being developed with the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama.  The Guildhall School organised and welcomed the 2nd international SIMM-posium in London in July 2017, as well as the 7th SIMM-posium in 2022. Guildhall is also special for SIMM because of its investment in organising a 4-year PhD-programme on SIMM-research, which allowed Imogen Flower and Natalia Puerta to develop their PhD-research. The Guildhall School organised several SIMM research seminars in London, on the music being developed with SIMM-practice (2022), on the role of the composer within social and community music projects (2024), on the practice of participatory opera and music theatre (2024), and in September 2025 Guildhall and SIMM bring together scholars developing research on the role of different arts (music, theatre, dance, visual arts, circus) in social and community projects. And there is of course also SIMM’s strong connection to John Sloboda, who is the founding president of SIMM (2017-2020), and who is also research professor at Guildhall.

Sponsors

Private

The start-up of SIMM in 2017 is made possible thanks to an important financial input by the Fonds Baillet Latour.

The Belgian Fondation Future 21 decided to sponsor SIMM from 2018 on, in particular in support of our international comparative research projects.

The precious partnership of the British fund SEMPRE is since 2017 giving support to scholars needing help to be able to participate in research seminars and symposia organised by SIMM.

Governmental
In December 2018, Sven Gatz, then Minister of Culture in the Flemish Government of Belgium, decided to support SIMM. It was SIMM’s first subsidy from a government agency.
In September 2020, Hilde Crevits, Minister of Social Economy and Innovation in the Flemish Government of Belgium, decided to support SIMM’s projects in Flanders in 2020-2022.
In September 2020, Sven Gatz, now Minister of Finances and Budget in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, decided to support the organisation of the 5th SIMM-posium organised in collaboration with Bozar.