Newsroom

News 30 May 2018

Scientific Exchange in Almaty on Research "Between Europe and the Orient"

Junior and senior grantees of the Foundation’s initiative for research in/on Central Asia and the Caucasus met to present and discuss project results

News 25 May 2018

Looking at the brain while it works – Interview with Dr. Laura Ewell

Freigeist-Fellow Dr. Laura Ewell develops a new new technique to identify brain cells within an intact functioning network. We talked to her about her research project, what fuels her curiosity and drives her as a researcher and a Freigeist.

News 17 May 2018

On the contentious issue of ethnographic objects – 1.2 million euro for provenance research in northern Germany

The history surrounding the ethnographic collections in Hanover, Göttingen, Oldenburg, Hildesheim and Braunschweig will be the focus of a large collaborative project over the next three years.

News 04 May 2018

How to Become a Freigeist Fellow - Interview with the Program Directors of the Initiative (2/2)

Since 2014, the Foundation's Board of Trustees has been electing ten to fifteen Freigeist Fellows each year: These young research talents have an extraordinary research idea and are working at the borders of neighbouring fields or disciplines. In our second part of the interview, Dr. Johanna Brumberg and Dr. Oliver Grewe, program directors of the initiative, answer questions about the way to submitting an application and about the review process.

News 18 April 2018

Sensitive whiskers turn seals into master hunters

The Marine Science Center in Rostock has come up with new findings on the sensory perception of seals - Publication and animated short film

News 20 March 2018

"Freigeist-Fellows are not in the mainstream with their research projects" – Interview with the initiatives program directors (1/2)

Since 2014, the Foundation's Board of Trustees has been electing ten to fifteen Freigeist Fellows each year: Young research talents in all disciplines with an extraordinary research idea, who tread new territory and are working at the borders of neighbouring fields or disciplines. What makes a "Freigeist" in the eyes of the Foundation and how can you apply for the fellowship program? Dr. Johanna Brumberg and Dr. Oliver Grewe, program directors of the initiative, answer these questions in our interview.

Eine Frau, die aufmerksam zuhört
Story 06 March 2025

So that everyone can have their say: Citizens' assembly on AI research

Rhetoric expert Anika Kaiser researches how people can make themselves heard on the major issues of our time – artificial intelligence (AI) being a case in point. She is the right person to take care that this grassroots democratic process does not remain too detached from reality: in her first life, she trained as a painter.

Frauen mit Kopftüchern sitzen an Tischen und haben Steinblöcke mit Inschriften vor sich liegen, die sie betrachten.
Story 26 February 2025

Archaeology as reconstruction: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Mosul

He came to Mosul with the task of excavating ancient Nineveh. In the meantime, however, the mission of the ancient orientalist Stefan Maul goes far beyond this: he is rebuilding the study of antiquity in Iraq. And he is teaching the people what the Islamists robbed them of: pride in their cultural heritage.