Event series Jellinek Dialogues: Power Conflicts in Research
Press Release No. 44/2026
13 May 2026
Public event deals with the complex power relations in academia
How do unequal power relations in a hierarchical academic system impact on the daily work and careers of researchers? Physicist Prof. Dr Belina von Krosigk and organizational sociologist Prof. Dr Kathia Serrano Velarde will explore this question in the next edition of the Jellinek Dialogues, hosted by the Camilla and Georg Jellinek Center for Ethics at Heidelberg University. In this series of public events, two representatives of differing disciplines give short presentations on a common topic and then enter into conversation with each other and the audience. The event, in English, entitled “Conflicts of Power in Research” is taking place on 19 May 2026 in the “Goldbox” of the Institute for Physics, Im Neuenheimer Feld 226. It starts at 6.15 p.m.
The unequal power relations between professors, postdocs and doctoral students influence the daily behavior and well-being of those involved. As research projects and research consortia grow in size, these power relations become more complex. International networks entail political conflicts which can considerably hamper the taking of legal action following misconduct. What role do ethical codes of conduct play in this context? Does academia need stronger regulation that can also be enforced internationally? And what can researchers themselves do in order to get on better with one another? The speakers answer these questions from their respective standpoints and discuss their significance for scientific professionalism.
Belina von Krosigk is Professor for Experimental Physics at the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics of Heidelberg University. With her team she investigates dark matter and, also as part of large-scale cooperation arrangements, examines particles with low mass which could make up dark matter. Kathia Serrano Velarde is Professor of Political Sociology at the Max Weber Institute for Sociology. With focal points inter alia in organizational sociology and the sociology of knowledge and science, she is researching the organization of scientific work, the dynamics of precarious careers, and the narratives by which institutions create and legitimize their order.
The Camilla and Georg Jellinek Center for Ethics at Heidelberg University, founded in 2025, seeks with the Jellinek Dialogues to enable an interdisciplinary discourse on research practice and professional responsibility. The center, directed by oncologist Prof. Dr Dr Eva Winkler and theologian Prof. Dr Thorsten Moos, pursues the goal of fostering and coordinating exchange on ethical topics beyond disciplinary borders. It understands itself as a platform for scientists and scholars in different disciplines wanting to conduct joint research on topics with an ethical foundation or orientation. The intention is to strengthen engagement with ethical challenges as an integral part of scientific practice and professionalism.