Collaboration FoF-bridging projects
One of the main goals of the University of Excellence is to create synergies between different scientific disciplines. In addition to key players at Heidelberg University such as the Marsiliuskolleg and the Heidelberg Center for the Environment, several measures have been implemented to connect people and projects from all scientific disciplines. The Research Councils of the Fields of Focus have also joined forces to promote projects that connect different scientific disciplines.
The measures that have received funding from at least two of the Fields of Focus are described below.
TRN/Flagship Initiative “Families in Transition” (FoF 2, FoF 3 and FoF 4)
Mother, father, child—to this day, the traditional image of the family is still considered by many to be the benchmark and ideal norm, even though current developments in reproductive medicine, rainbow families, and non-European influences are challenging traditional models of family life. These developments oblige society to consider who and what family should be in the future. In the course of this transformation process, a redefinition of the concept of family and its parameters is necessary. Based on interdisciplinary findings, the scholars involved in TRN FAMILY – from the humanities, social sciences, and life sciences – are searching for answers to the question of how family as a social structure can be shaped in the future.
Project lead: Prof. Dr. Katja Patzel-Mattern (katja.patzel-mattern@uni-heidelberg.de), Prof. Dr. Annette Haußmann (annette.haussmann@ts.uni-heidelberg.de)
Pilot project “Carbon footprint of research” (FoF 1, FoF 2, FoF 3 and FoF 4)
Together with the Research Councils of the other three Fields of Focus and in cooperation with the HCE, a position was created to develop a concept for determining the carbon footprint of current and future research projects. In addition to the calculation, the concept will also include guidelines for reducing CO2 emissions as early as the planning phase of research projects. Dr Florian Freundt, together with the four Research Councils, has included four major projects from all scientific fields in the first project phase. The Research Council is supporting the measure through two memberships in the University's Sustainability Think Tank (Thorsten Moos, Nele Schneidereit).
Project lead: HCE
Contact: Dr. Florian Freundt florian.freundt@hce.uni-heidelberg.de
TRN Knowledge in context. Language and thought in the natural and life sciences (FoF 1, FoF 2 and FoF 3)
Die gegenwärtige Gesellschaft wird von Wissensdiskursen dominiert. Dabei werden Wissensbereiche sehr unterschiedlich wahrgenommen. Contemporary society is dominated by discourses on knowledge. However, different areas of knowledge are perceived very differently. Knowledge in the natural and life sciences is often considered hermetic, yet at the same time, we assume a mature zoon politikon in socio-political terms, which requires solid knowledge in these areas for responsible action. At the individual level, too, adequate linguistic and cognitive access to knowledge in the natural and life sciences is often of central importance (e.g., in the context of medical treatment). The tension between the amount of knowledge and actual knowledge is given a further dimension by the democratization of knowledge transfer on the internet, because experts are no longer accepted without reservation. A systematic analysis of knowledge transfer and knowledge processing in society is needed. The group combines linguistic research in specialized communication, corpus linguistics, computational linguistics, and computer science with language-related natural and life sciences that are interested in communication. The interdisciplinary project team intends to create a knowledge transfer platform that facilitates the transmission of knowledge. The group cooperates with the HCDH and the European Center for Language Sciences (EZS).
Project lead:
- in FoF 3: Prof. Dr. Ekkehard Felder Prof. Dr. Vahram Atayan
- in FoF 1: PD Dr. Meike Weis Prof. Dr. Stefan Schönberg
- in FoF 2: Prof. Dr. Michael Gertz
MRA Cognitive Science (CogSci) (FoF 2, FoF 3 and FoF 4)
The aim of the CogSci group is to bring together findings from the various disciplines involved in human, animal, and artificial cognition, thereby generating new cognitive science insights through synergy. Researchers from all four Fields of Focus at Heidelberg University are involved in the group; methodological pluralism is explicitly promoted in this interdisciplinary collaboration. The focus is on the quantitative recording and modeling of cognitive processes with the help of behavioral observations and (neuro)physiological measurements, but qualitative and theoretical approaches are also used. The vision of this initiative is to establish a focus on cognitive science in research and teaching at Heidelberg University, combining transdisciplinary breadth with academic excellence.
Project lead: Prof. Dr. Jan Rummel jan.rummel@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de
Contact: PD Dr. Johannes Gerwien gerwien@idf.uni-heidelberg.de