In the so-called “inaugural call” of the Berlin Center for Global Engagement (BCGE) 17 alliance projects were selected for funding. They focus on diverse, scientifically current, and socially relevant topics, from CO2 compensation in a global context to the handling of colonial university collections. Several projects build bridges to the topics social cohesion and global health, which have been defined as “Grand Challenges” by the four partner institutions of the Berlin University Alliance. The Berlin University Alliance is providing a total of 450,000 euros to the selected projects through the BCGE until the end of June 2021.

The call for proposals marked the start of the newly founded center of the Berlin University Alliance. The BCGE has been created as a platform for the four institutions for projects in the fields of cooperative research initiative with countries of the Global South, science diplomacy, and academic freedom. With a total of 45 submitted projects, the call for proposals met with lively interest among researchers.

The projects selected for funding combine expertise in the various disciplines with the unique regional and country expertise available in Berlin. They cooperate with universities and civil society partner institutions in countries such as Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Peru. Due to the current pandemic situation, many projects have developed online formats to enable cross-border partnerships despite travel restrictions. For example, an interdisciplinary project at the interface of architecture and anthropology will develop a digital map of the city of Havana in Cuba, in which local, environmentally friendly urban construction solutions can be recorded and researched.

"The projects show that the BCGE can build on an outstanding scientific environment," says Ulrike Hillemann-Delaney (Technische Universität Berlin), spokesperson for the Berlin University Alliance's Internationalization Steering Committee. "We are very pleased to develop the center together with our colleagues here and with our partners around the world. This will enable us to deepen the cooperation of our four institutions with countries in the Global South and position the alliance as a hub for academic freedom and science diplomacy".

A list of funded projects is available on the Berlin University Alliance website.

Questions regarding the call for proposals will be answered by Dr. Romain Faure (romain.faure@berlin-university-alliance.de; +49 30 838 50813), coordinator of the Berlin Center for Global Engagement.

The Berlin University Alliance

The Berlin University Alliance is a consortium consisting of three major Berlin universities – Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin – and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, established to shape research and education in Berlin. The four partners joined forces to further develop Berlin as a research hub with international drawing power. Together the partners explore major societal challenges, increase public outreach, promote the training of junior researchers, address issues of quality and standards in research, and share resources in the areas of research infrastructure, teaching, diversity, equal opportunities, and internationalisation. The Berlin University Alliance is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the state of Berlin under the Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the Länder.

Joint press release from Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technischen Universität Berlin along with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

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