Bayreuth Humboldt Centre becomes a member of the network of Institutes for Advanced Studies

Founded in 2022, the network aims to give the IAS in Germany a voice and to better present their contribution to the local academic landscape to the public. Specifically, this contribution consists of the IAS offering a place within a university where researchers can reflect on fundamental, theoretical and methodological as well as current issues of social relevance - free from bureaucratic hurdles. Through their funding formats, the IAS also offer academics from different disciplines the opportunity for personal encounters and intellectual discourse. The result is innovative research ideas, which in turn provide important impetus for the economy and society.

Although the IAS measurably strengthen the research potential of universities through their special character, this is largely unknown to the public. For this reason, the current 21 members of the network are committed to improving the visibility of IAS in the public, political and academic spheres. They are also striving for more programmatic and financial autonomy in order to develop funding concepts in a self-determined manner, pursue them over a longer period of time and continuously adapt them.

The BHC offers three funding programs for scientists from abroad. Within the framework of a Fellowship, a Short Term Grant or a Strategic Scientific Workshop, the BHC opens up free and experimental spaces for grantees in which innovations can emerge as the result of a creative process. Against the backdrop of digitalization, globalization, climate change and current social challenges, the promotion of scientific innovation is essential in order to shape a sustainable society.

"The international researchers who come to Bayreuth as Fellows for six months, for example, benefit enormously from their stay with us - not only on a scientific level, but also on a personal level. And the University of Bayreuth gains international visibility through the academically outstanding fellows and can establish and expand its global network. The campus of the University of Bayreuth offers an ideal setting to quickly come into contact with scientists from a wide range of disciplines and to work on an innovative cooperation project without the pressure of daily academic tasks," says Prof. Dr. Anna Köhler, Director of the BHC. Thanks to its interdisciplinary character and the diverse connections between scientists from all over the world, the BHC thus acts as a powerful catalyst for the sustainable internationalization of the entire University of Bayreuth and makes an important contribution to scientific creativity on campus and throughout Germany.

The inclusion of the BHC in the network of German IAS is an important step towards sharpening its own profile in exchange with other IAS and gaining new impetus for the further development of the funding programs and the public relations strategy. In return, the BHC will share experience and best practices from the three funding lines with the other IAS, in particular with a focus on the Bayreuth priorities of internationalization and interdisciplinarity. The exchange within the network is essential for the German IAS in order to be able to act as drivers of innovation for science and society in line with their mission, namely to enable outstanding researchers to work together.