Deadline: 4 March 2024
The Humboldt Residency Programme offers participants the opportunity to cooperate intensively on this year’s topic, “Power and Knowledge”, and work together to generate tangible new ideas and communicate them to a broad audience.
It brings together a transdisciplinary, international group of twelve participants consisting of Humboldtians and junior researchers with a diverse range of disciplinary backgrounds with writers, artists, civil society actors and social entrepreneurs.
During the six-week residency in Brandenburg/Berlin, participants will meet daily in shared working spaces. They will have the unique opportunity to enjoy the time and freedom to gain an in-depth understanding of each other’s work and thinking, build transdisciplinary bridges, explore synergies, pose bold questions, and connect with relevant stakeholders in Berlin and internationally.
While the participants themselves will benefit by learning from each other, they will also select and implement innovative formats to communicate their key messages to target audiences outside of academia. These could include debates with stakeholders, media appearances, bar talks, interactive workshops, blog and social media posts or publications. In 2024, one goal of the programme is to formulate and advertise a policy paper with the participants’ key messages.
Power and Knowledge: Confronting Global Imbalances in our Knowledge Systems
Knowledge and power are inherently linked. The decision as to what constitutes (true) knowledge emerges from a global, but asymmetrical network of power structures. In 2024, the Humboldt Residency Programme addresses this topic by asking the question as to how the exchange of knowledge between the Global North and the Global South can be structured in the science system and beyond. The aim is to create synergies out of existing knowledge and integrate the voices of more local actors in global strategies.
The key questions are:
- How can they counter inequalities in access to knowledge and in the visibility of different forms of knowledge?
- What resources are required to diversify access to the existing system?
- What possible ways are there of re-establishing traditional knowledge systems that have been destroyed by colonialism?
- How can researchers and political actors from the Global North be sensitised to persisting colonial structures as well as to the value of existing local and indigenous knowledge?
Funding Specifications
Funding for participation in the Humboldt Residency Programme includes
- a monthly allowance during the six-week residency period in Berlin/Brandenburg
- a travel allowance for the trip to and from Germany
- accommodation at Schloss Wiepersdorf (2 weeks) and at an aparthotel in Berlin (4 weeks)
- a budget for arranging public event formats or end-of-year output
- For participants travelling with dependent family members, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation will provide suitable family accommodation and support participants in arranging childcare.
Selection Criteria
- The participants will comprise
- a creative lead, an alumnus/a of the Humboldt Foundation who is an experienced researcher and science communicator and will facilitate the group’s work (this role is not open for applications)
- three alumni/ae of the Humboldt Foundation who have received any form of fellowship or award in the past but are not involved in one of the Foundation’s programmes at the start of the Residency Programme (June 2024); they will not currently be based in Germany
- three junior researchers who are either working on their PhDs or completed their PhDs in the last four years; they will not currently be based in Germany
- five individuals from civil society, journalism, the arts or social entrepreneurship who are not currently working for an academic institution; previous experience with science communication or in academic contexts is an asset. Previous experience with science communication or in academic contexts is an asset.
- They welcome applications from individuals from all (academic) disciplines who can demonstrate a relevant connection to the annual theme either in their work or other engagement. They explicitly invite applications from those with innovative or creative approaches to the key questions.
For more information, visit Humboldt Foundation.
