Senior Researcher Mina Monier receives funds from the Research Council of Norway in the category of Researcher Project for Early Career. The funds are awarded to the project "Unconventional Gospels (UnGos): A Computer–Assisted Analysis of Complex Harmonic Traditions in Newly Discovered Manuscripts." The project is one of 23 projects that receive a total of 216 million NOK for groundbreaking research.

Monier, Mina

Senior Researcher
Mina.Monier@mf.no

The UnGos project aims to answer fundamental questions about why early Christian authors like Tatian, Ammonius, and later medieval harmonists undertook the challenging task of creating Gospel harmonies. The project investigates why these harmonies continued to be copied and adapted over the centuries and how they can be helpful on both textual and historical levels.

Monier was on vacation when the good news was conveyed by Rector Vidar L. Haanes:

– Thanks for the news, Vidar! I am literally with my children at the Giza Pyramids negotiating the price for a camel ride. Then I received tons of messages from Norwegian colleagues saying congratulations, and I didn't quite understand why. Now I realize the reason! This is excellent news!

He also expressed his gratitude for the support and help he received during the application process:

– Thanks for the support I received from all of you, and Anni and Gunstein and whoever helped in turning some faffing of a random nerd into a winnable project!

Rector at MF has only good things to say about Monier and his work:

– I am naturally proud and excited that Mina Monier succeeded on his first attempt. He is an exceptionally talented young researcher with many skills, and he is a key figure in MF's continued commitment to internationally outstanding research, also as the head of MF's lab for Manuscript studies and Digital research.

Monier leads the MF Lab for Manuscript Studies and Digital Research (MF L-MaSDR), where they develop digital and computational solutions for various aspects of manuscript studies. The lab aims to provide cutting-edge tools of digital humanities and training to support the study of ancient manuscripts.

Monier is an Egyptian-British scholar of the New Testament and Early Christianity. He earned his PhD in the New Testament at King's College London and completed his postdoc at the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics in Lausanne before joining MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society in 2023.