Current News

The Zukunftskolleg has issued new calls for applications for five funding programmes. The deadline for all programmes is January 31, 2019.

Chemists Thomas Böttcher and Michaela Prothiwa inhibit the biosynthesis of a bacterial signal and, as a result, block the infectious properties of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the most common germ found in health care facilities.

Alumnus Malte Drescher was elected Vice Rector for Academic Affairs.

In its current call for three 2- and two 5-year Fellowships (the closing date for applications was 15 October 2018), the Zukunftskolleg received 240 applications.

The plasmonic effect of gold nanoparticles has inspired the production of ceramics and plastics that include gold nanoparticles as colourants. Dennis Pingen (Alumnus/Dept. of Chemistry) and Desiree Wevers (artist) were also inspired to start a collaboration.

We congratulate Moritz von Brescius (Associated Fellow / Dept. of History and Sociology) who was awarded the Gisela Bonn Prize of the German-Indian Society.

Since climate change currently affects humans considerably, it is naturally also discussed across all fields of science. However, to avoid the negative thinking many people seem to have adopted, we applied a critical but also controversial approach to thinking about climate change.

After six years, the Marie Curie COFUND Zukunftskolleg Incoming Fellowship Programme (henceforth ZIF-MC), funded by the EU with € 6.24 million, has ended. At the launch of the programme in 2012, the aim of the Zukunftskolleg and its ZIF-MC Programme was to be established as a permanently leading centre for the training and promotion of top-level early career researchers in Europe. As the various indicators show, the Zukunftskolleg succeeded in its ambitious goal.

We congratulate Torsten Pietsch (Research Fellow/Dept. of Physics), who accepted a position at ZEISS in Oberkochen (Germany).

Philip Rathgeb (Postdoctoral Fellow/Dept. of Politics and Public Administration) leaves for a visiting scholarship at Harvard University's Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) on 1 September.

Thomas Böttcher (Research Fellow/Dept. of Chemistry) obtained a grant by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation and a grant by the Vector Foundation.

Senior Fellow Giora Hon (University of Haifa) will be at the Zukunftskolleg from 23 August until 23 September.

Jolle Jolles (Postdoctoral Fellow/Dept. of Biology) and Yonatan Gez (Martin Buber Society/Dept. of History and Sociology) are the first winners of a research visit at the Zukunftskolleg.

Today, we opened our 13th call for applications for Research Fellowships and Postdoctoral Fellowships. The application deadline is 15 October 2018.

Leila Whitley (Postdoctoral Fellow/Dept. of Literature) has accepted a position as Lecturer in Critical Gender Studies at the University of California, San Diego, starting in winter term 2018/19.

Today, the Assembly of Members elected Gisela Kopp (Hector Pioneer Fellow/Dept. of Biology) as a new member to the Executive Committe.

Denis Gebauer (Research Fellow / Dept. of Chemistry) is this year’s winner of the Environment Award funded by the LBS Landesbausparkasse Südwest (state home loans and savings bank). The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros.

In the course of the past eight months, the quality management team of the University of Konstanz has conducted an extensive evaluation of the Zukunftskolleg. The report shows that the Zukunftskolleg has been successful in all areas.

Professor Kirsten Mahlke, Alumna of the forerunner of the Zukunftskolleg, and her colleagues Junior Professor Nicolas Detering and Professor Albrecht Koschorke have been awarded with the Dr. Karl Helmut Eberle-Preis. The prize is endowed with 500,000 euros.

Congratulations to the winners of the Mentorship and the Independent Research Grant Programme! In its meeting on 13 June, the Executive Committee decided on the final applications within the two calls for support measures (application deadline was on 23 May, early applications were considered preferentially in the EC meeting on 2 May).

We congratulate Daniele Brida, who will be Professor of Physics at the University of Luxembourg from 1 July 2018. Daniele joined the Zukunftskolleg in April 2013 as a 5-year Research Fellow.

The Zukunftskolleg is now a member of NetIAS (Network of European Institutes for Advanced Study). The network brings together 23 Institutes for Advanced Study across Europe. Researchers affiliated with member institutions are eligible to apply for a Research Visit at the Zukunftskolleg.

We welcome the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi (UAIC) as a new cooperation partner of the Zukunftskolleg.

We welcome Mark Dykman to the Zukunftskolleg. He was invited as Senior Fellow by Gianluca Rastelli (Research Fellow / Dept.of Physics). Mark Dykman is a Professor in Condensed Matter Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University, USA. Gianluca decribes him as “one of the most outstanding theorists in the field of quantum condensed matter physics.”

In its meeting on 2 May, the Executive Committee decided on the applications within two calls for support measures: the Mentorship Programme and the Independent Research Grant.

Further the EC welcomed a new member: Carolin Antos-Kuby (Research Fellow/Dept. of Philosophy).

We sincerely regret the passing of Thomas Hengartner, our scientific advisory board member, close collaborator and friend. We have lost an outspoken, humorous and engaging personality.

The Zukunftskolleg extended its network of international cooperation partners by a partnership with the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS) based in Tokyo.

Jolene Tan is the last of our new fellows from the 12th call for applications to join the Zukunftskolleg. She will start her 2-year Postdoctoral Fellowship on June 1st and is affiliated with the department of psychology.

Leila Whitley (Postdoctoral Fellow/Dept. of Literature) is a visiting scholar in the Sociology department at the University of Cambridge (UK) from 25 April until 25 May.