Category Archives: Open Humboldt Freiräume

Universities have a civic duty

In this first networking event for knowledge exchange with society, experts and academics from Oxford and Berlin came together at Humboldt University’s Center for Cultural Technique to discuss the topic of public engagement.

The historic lecture hall and the object laboratory of the Center for Cultural Techniques provided the perfect space – the international speakers contributed the specific professional expertise for this November event: the topic of “Researching with Society – International Perspectives” brought together 50 scientists and science-related stakeholders to exchange ideas on how researching with society can succeed. The importance, possibilities and techniques of participatory research and the role of universities were discussed in lectures and workshops.

A highlight of the day was the keynote speech by Dr. Victoria McGuinness, Head of Public Engagement and Head of the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) at the University of Oxford. She emphasized the changing role of universities – from a static educational institution to an institution with social responsibility and an open space for discourse – and at the same time highlighted the importance of every scientist as a “doorway to the university” for non-academic communities.

Talks and workshops

On invitation by the office for Knowledge Exchange with Society at Humboldt University’s Center for Cultural Technique and the TD-Lab – Laboratory for Transdisciplinary Research of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA), participants were able to explore the methods and impact of participatory research in practical workshops and network with other public engagement experts.

For example, the workshop “What is Public Engagement with Research in the Humanities?” with Dr. Victoria McGuinness offered the opportunity to talk about motivation and support systems needed to bring researchers into exchange with non-academic publics.

In the workshop “Developing Compelling Impact Stories” with Pavel Ovseiko, DPhil MSc PGDip, Senior Research Fellow in Health Policy and Management at John Radcliffe Hospital (University of Oxford) the participants looked at ways in which social impact can be defined, collected, communicated and established in a meaningful way.

Ausblick auf 2025

The exchange on public engagement will be continued next year and opportunities for further training – such as the recently launched cooperation with the Berlin School of Public Engagement and Open Science – will be expanded. The aim is to support scientists who are conducting or planning to conduct research projects in participatory ways.

Questions, suggestions and/or specific ideas can be sent to wissensaustausch.hzk@hu-berlin.de 

Photos by Stefan Klenke, Humboldt University

Researching together, finding solutions together

The INTERSECT project brings together researchers, civil society organisations and refugee women from Ukraine. A panel discussion on 4 December 2024 marks the provisional conclusion of the project, which is supported by the Open Humboldt Freiräume funding line.

How do refugee mothers from Ukraine manage to gain a foothold in Germany? What particular challenges stand in their way? And what can politics, civil society and academia do to better support them? Gökce Yurdakul, Professor of Social Conflict at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, is investigating these questions in her ‘INTERSECT’ project.

The researcher works closely with the „Welcome Alliance“, an alliance of civil society organisations, foundations and state institutions that campaigns for the humane integration of refugees.
On 4 December 2024, she is organising a public discussion event together with her project partners. Here, women refugees, experts from politics, civil society and academia will have their say in order to jointly develop solutions that enable long-term and sustainable integration.

Gökce Yurdakul is receiving support for her project from the Open Humboldt Freiräume funding programme. In order to be able to concentrate fully on this research project, she has been granted a semester of teaching leave. The initiative is sponsored by the Berlin University Alliance and specifically encourages researchers to promote dialogue between the university and society and to develop innovative solutions to social challenges.

In a detailed article about the project, Gökce Yurdakul, Lilija Oleksiienko as an affected woman from Ukraine and other project partners report on their work and goals.

Read now

Register for the panel discussion

Open Humboldt Freiräume – Time for dialogue and exchange

Time to implement projects with organisations from civil society organisations and thus promote the exchange of knowledge between university and society – this is what the Open Humboldt Freiräume funding line stands for. It literally creates ‘free spaces’ for researchers, who can be released from their teaching duties for one semester, to realise their ideas. The Humboldt University thus supports the exchange between science and society in the long term, as the projects often result in long-term collaborations and strong networks with civil society partners.

The programme is currently in its fifth round and has already supported 14 projects since 2021. In a video, researchers and their partners talk about the wishes and goals they have for their projects, what they learn and what successful projects look like.

Open Humboldt Freiräume is supported with excellence funding from the Berlin University Alliance.

Presented – Open Humboldt Freiräume in the video (YouTube)

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Prof. Gökce Yurdakul (right) in conversation with practice partners. Photo: Isabelle Duchêne

Call for Proposals: Open Humboldt Freiräume for Public Engagement

The funding program “Open Humboldt Freiräume” at HZK focuses on the need of researchers to have more time in order to engage in a dialogue with society and to develop projects for knowledge exchange between science and society.

The selected scientists will receive a teaching reduction to 0 SWS and funds for a replacement position for one semester (summer 2025 or winter 2025/26) to implement a knowledge exchange project with non-academic partners. Professors, postdocs and doctoral students at HU Berlin are eligible to apply. The applicants’ positions must have a teaching load and be fully financed by HU funds.

Info sessions online:
Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 10:00 a.m., Registration (HU-Zoom)
Friday, 19. September 2024, 12:00 noon, Registration (HU-Zoom)

Application deadline: October 11, 2024

For any questions  about the funding program, please contact Xenia Muth in the HZK area “Knowledge Exchange with Society” at wissensaustausch.hzk@hu-berlin.de or join a Freiräume info session.

Call for proposals Open Humboldt Freiräume 2025/26

Time is What you Make of it – Photo © Matthias Heyde

Time for knowledge exchange with society: Open Humboldt Freiräume funds 2 professors and 1 postdoc

The Open Humboldt Freiräume funding line is based at the HZK since summer 2023. The funded projects and researchers of the current call for proposals of the Open Humboldt Freiräume funding line have now been selected. The Open Humboldt Circle of Experts has made a funding recommendation for three applications. The university management has followed this recommendation and will fund the following projects in the summer semester 2024 and winter semester 2024/2025:

  • Prof. Dr Gökce Yurdakul, Faculty of Cultural, Social and Educational Sciences, Institute of Social Sciences, Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM);
    Project: Intersectional Politics: Civil Society Organisations of Immigrants and their Commitment to Refugee Women and Children from Ukraine (INTERSECT) (summer semester 2024)
  • Prof. Dr iur. Gregor Bachmann, LL.M., Faculty of Law;
    Project: Dresscode: Legal dress for civil society (WS 2024/25)
  • Dr Mats Küssner, Faculty of Cultural, Social and Educational Sciences, Institute of Musicology and Media Studies;
    Project: Live Music meets Augmented Reality: Enriching the aesthetic processes of the concert experience with digital technologies (WS 2024/25)

For more information on the funded projects, please visit the Open Humboldt Freiräume website: https://open-humboldt.de/de/projects/open-humboldt-freiraeume/die-freiraeume-preistraeger-innen-2024-2025

The next call for applications will be launched in the summer 2024. The funded researchers will each receive a teaching reduction to 0 SWS for the summer semester 2025 or winter semester 2025/26. The funding line is financed by the Berlin University Alliance.

Time is What you Make of it – Foto © Matthias Heyde

Open Humboldt Freiräume

The funding line Open Humboldt Freiräume is now hosted by the HZK. The focus of this funding line is on the idea that researchers need enough time to engage in dialogue with society and to develop projects in the field of knowledge exchange, transfer and science communication.

The funded scientists will each receive a teaching reduction to 0 SWS for the 2024 summer semester or the 2024/25 winter semester. The Berlin University Alliance provides the institute at which the scientists are employed with personnel funds to finance the replacement position.

Professors, postdocs and doctoral students at HU Berlin are eligible to apply. The applicants’ positions must have a teaching load and be fully financed by HU funds.

Application deadline is 27th October 2023, 12 a.m.

For questions please contact Kathrin Klementz (HZK).

Call for applications for the SoSe 2024 or the WS 2024/25

To the website of the Open Humboldt Freiräume funding line

Time is What you Make of it – Photo © Matthias Heyde