• Mon–Fri: 9 am – 8 pm (service hours 10 am – 4 pm)
• Sat: 10 am – 4 pm
• Sun: closed

From 28 September 2026, the regular opening and service hours will apply again.

The Erfurt University Library will be closed on the following days:

• 7–13 September (closed for a week due to building and maintenance work)
• 3–4 October

You can also find the University Library’s opening hours on its website.

Department 1: Registrar's Office

• The department’s office hours are Mondays to Thursdays from 12 noon to 3 pm and by appointment.
• Telephone consultation hours are Monday to Friday from 9 am to 11.15 am.

University Computer and Media Center (URMZ)

• You can visit the service desk in person from Monday to Thursday from 9 to 11 am and 1 to 3 pm, and on Fridays from 9 to 11 am.

• The service hotline on 0361/737-5454 is available Monday to Thursday from 8 am to 12 noon and from 1 to 4 pm, and on Fridays from 9 am to 12.15 pm.

• You can contact the Thoska service office at by prior telephone arrangement, or send your enquiries by email to student identity card (thoska).

• You can contact the media technology team exclusively by telephone or email. With the exception of specialist equipment, all equipment hire is handled entirely by the service office.

During the Student Welcome Week in October, the regular opening hours will apply again. Outside these times, you can send your enquiries by email to rz@uni-erfurt.de.

eduroom – Media Education Workshop
The Media Education Workshop is open on Wednesdays from 2 to 5 pm.

University Learning Centre (Hochschullernwerkstatt)
The “Hochschullernwerkstatt” will be closed during the lecture-free period.

Language Centre // Service Desk

• From 20 to 24 July, the Language Centre will be open from 10 am to 2 pm on Tuesdays to Thursdays.
• From 27 July to 25 September the Language Centre will be closed.
• From 28 September, the Language Centre will be open from 10 am to 12 noon on Tuesdays to Thursdays.

And from 5 October, the regular opening hours will apply again: Mon/Tue 8 am – 5 pm, Wed/Thu 8 am – 4 pm, Fri 8 am – 12 noon.

Gotha Research Library ( unchanged)
The Gotha Research Library is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.
The Perthes Forum is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 3 pm.

Student Services facilities

• The cafeteria is open from 11 July to 11 October, Monday to Friday  from 9 am to 3 pm.
• The Glasbox is closed from 20 July to 11 September. From 14 September until the start of lectures, it is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 2 pm.
• The “Hörsaal 7” café will remain open as usual during the lecture-free period.

All other Student Services facilities are open as follows:

• The information point in the cafeteria building will remain closed on 14 July.
• The General Social Counselling Service will be closed on 14 July.
• For psychosocial counselling, please book an appointment in advance by phone on 0049 3641 5546-820 or -821, or by email at psb-erfurt@stw-thueringen.de.
• The Campus-Kinderland daycare centre will be closed from 23 to 25 September.
• The Räuberhöhle (flexible childcare) will remain open as usual.

You can view the platform’s current course offerings here. For more information and to sign up for membership, please visit the programme page.

1. Attracting the right people to the teaching profession
Just like teachers, pilots must be able to meet certain physical and psychological demands of their profession on a long-term basis. The selection of trainee teachers should therefore take into account their suitability for the profession.

2. Demonstrating competence before progressing to the next stage of training
A pilot does not fly a passenger aircraft simply because they have completed a sufficient number of training hours. The next stage of training only follows once competence has been demonstrated. This principle could also strengthen teacher training.

3. Build up practical experience systematically
Nobody learns to fly with passengers on board right from the start. Routine tasks, as well as difficult and rare situations, are simulated repeatedly beforehand and practised in a progressive manner. Teachers, too, should practise complex teaching situations step by step – supported by structured simulations and guided practical experience.

4. Training to deal with uncertainty
Pilots are not only prepared for standard procedures, but also repeatedly practise rare and critical situations in the simulator. Trainee teachers, too, should be systematically prepared to act quickly in complex and unpredictable situations, to mobilise available resources and to draw on the expertise of others in a targeted manner.

5. Feedback more frequently than examinations
For pilots, examinations and feedback fulfil different functions: examinations serve to demonstrate competence and determine the next stage of training. Feedback serves the purpose of continuous competence development. This principle could also play a greater role in teacher training.

The two authors’ argument is not to replicate pilot training, which differs fundamentally from teacher training in many respects. Rather, their aim is to learn from tried-and-tested principles and thereby open up new avenues for teacher training.

The full study is available as open access at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2026.1847671/full.

If you have any queries or require assistance, the University Computer and Media Centre team will be happy to help.

The three-year project brings together research from the fields of mosquito and virus biology, environmental and climate research, and behavioural science. In addition to the BNITM, the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (Berlin), the University of Erfurt, the University of Heidelberg and the University of Bamberg are involved. The total funding amounts to around 1.2 million euros.

“Artificial light at night is an environmental factor that has so far been scarcely taken into account systematically in infection research,” says Professor Esther Schnettler, head of the Mosquito Virus Interactions research group at the BNITM and coordinator of the network. “We assume that light pollution, together with rising temperatures, alters the behaviour of mosquitoes – for example, their activity, biting behaviour or overwintering patterns. This may have implications for the risk of virus transmission.”

The network is divided into four closely interlinked subprojects:

• At the BNITM, researchers are investigating how artificial light and temperature influence the biology of Culex pipiens, the main vector of the West Nile virus in Germany – from gene regulation to transmission potential.
• Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin are analysing how light, temperature, water quality and microorganisms in urbanised habitats influence the development and fitness of mosquitoes.
• The Health Communication Research Group (BNITM / University of Erfurt) is investigating how people perceive risks posed by mosquitoes and how they adjust their protective measures and exposure behaviour in everyday life.
• At the University of Heidelberg, the data collected is integrated into mathematical models to create spatially and temporally resolved risk maps and scenarios for future developments.
• The University of Bamberg is contributing its expertise in digital health research and providing the technical infrastructure for an app designed to record protective behaviour and mosquito exposure in everyday life.

The aim is to bring together biological, ecological and social data in order to assess transmission risks more realistically. The One Health Platform is supporting the project as an inter- and transdisciplinary network. The research findings are intended to lay the foundations for improved infection prevention, for example through surveillance systems, evidence-based communication strategies or the use of lighting in urban areas. Plans include open datasets, digital tools and contributions from citizen science initiatives.

Majorities are underestimated, minorities overestimated

In five studies with a total of more than 5,000 participants from Germany and the USA, the research team investigated how people assess the attitudes and behaviour of others with regard to climate protection. This initially confirmed a familiar pattern: the vast majority of respondents supported climate protection measures in principle, and this majority was underestimated by others. However, when the researchers examined actual, comparatively rare climate protection behaviour for the first time, the opposite pattern emerged: the participants significantly overestimated how many others actually donated money for climate protection or were politically active.

The researchers explain this simultaneous underestimation and overestimation through a general psychological mechanism: people tend to mentally shift extreme values "towards the centre". As a result, large majorities are underestimated and small minorities overestimated.

"Part of what has so far been labelled pluralistic ignorance – the assumption that other people are less willing to protect the climate than they actually are – could be due to very general thought processes when estimating proportions," explains Tiede. "This changes the perspective on a field of research that has grown considerably in recent years – and also the conclusions we can draw from it."

Greater focus on communicating solutions and political framework conditions

The results are particularly relevant for the public debate on climate communication. In recent years, it has often been suggested that informing people about the broad support for climate protection could trigger more social commitment. However, in the studies, correcting such misperceptions did not increase the willingness to donate money for climate protection. "Our results suggest that correcting misperceptions alone is not enough to promote actual climate protection behaviour," says Tiede.

Rather, it is necessary to tackle practical hurdles, a lack of knowledge about effective measures or political framework conditions that facilitate climate-friendly behaviour. Tiede continues: "Support for climate protection already exists in many areas and this finding is very robust. However, the key challenge may be less about convincing people and more about facilitating climate-friendly behaviour and making effective solutions visible."

Publication
Tiede, K. E., Maur, K. & Betsch, C. (2026). People systematically under- and overestimate public engagement in climate action. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-026-02668-z

Susanne Rau is Professor of History and Spatial Cultures in the Modern Era at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Erfurt. She is also a Fellow and speaker for a research group at the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies. Her research focuses in particular on the history of European and Indian cities and spaces, the cultural history of the early modern period, and issues relating to historical spatial research and digital history.

The "Akademie gemeinnütziger Wissenschaften zu Erfurt" is one of the oldest surviving scientific academies in Germany. It promotes interdisciplinary exchange between scholars from various disciplines and is dedicated to issues of social relevance and the common good.

With the admission of Prof Susanne Rau, the University of Erfurt will be even more strongly represented in the long-established Erfurt Academy. Her membership also highlights the national and international visibility of her academic work, as well as the university’s close ties to the academic landscape of the state capital.

The Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour investigates how people act in ways that benefit both health and the climate, and how behaviour can be changed through communication, policy and interventions. The jury considered the combination of a clear mission, interdisciplinary research (8 professorships, 41 members) and targeted knowledge transfer to be worthy of recognition. Interdisciplinary teams, dialogue formats and international networks promote cooperation, practical relevance and the early involvement of early-stage researchers. The Advisory Board particularly commends the combination of research and practice-oriented knowledge transfer.

Professor Cornelia Betsch, Director of the IPB: “I am proud of this award – but above all that it was initiated by our early-career researchers. It shows that the IPB’s vision – research and impact as part of a vibrant society – is coming to fruition and is valued. And everyone contributes to this, every day.”

In the team race, consisting of 25 laps around the campus lawn, two students from the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences, as part of the “Wolfsmänner I” team, emerged victorious after a hard-fought battle, ahead of the university’s team of former students “Lehrplanlos” and the “Gut gebaut” team from the subject area of Civil Engineering at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. In the women’s category, victory went to the swimmers from USV Erfurt – ahead of the rugby team ‘Erfurt Oaks’ (also USV) and the team ‘Schmidt Happens’.

In the individual race and the Thuringian University Championships, which started at 6 pm, Adrian Panse (EAH Jena) from the USV crossed the finish line first in 35:03 minutes, followed by Eric Putz with a time of 36:57 and Andreas Richter (39:14) – both from Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. In the women’s race, Jana Millat was the first to cross the finish line in 39:30 minutes, securing the university championship title for the University of Erfurt. Second place went to Linda Hellmuth from Erfurt University of Applied Sciences with a time of 47:46 minutes, and third place went to Lina Atte from the University of Jena (51:22).

The 10th Erfurt Campus Run was once again supported by the Studierendenwerk and AOK PLUS, the University of Erfurt’s health partner. “Of course, despite all the competition for victory, the focus should be above all on health and the joy of sport,” says Jens Panse. He is delighted that interest has been so high again this year. “The fact that registration numbers are growing steadily is not only great to see, but also a sign that our running events have now become well established. And what pleases me most is that, unlike at traditional fun runs, we have so many young, student participants – both amongst the runners and in the crowd lining the route. That, and the really great atmosphere, is what sets our Erfurt Campus Run apart.”

Doors open at 6 pm. Please register at www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/ringvorlesung.

Read the article about it on our campus blog “Ich mag meine Uni…”!(in German only)

What is the overarching mission of the German South Asia Day – and to what extent has this objective evolved since the first event?
The mission is to network, raise the profile of and further develop, on an interdisciplinary basis, academic engagement with modern South Asia within the German-speaking world. South Asia is so diverse historically, socially, religiously, politically and culturally that the region cannot be adequately understood from the perspective of a single discipline. The South Asia Day therefore creates a forum where different disciplinary perspectives come together. Since the first events, this objective has expanded further: It is no longer just about exchange within the discipline, but also about raising the profile of academic research in policy circles, providing graduate service and bringing South Asia-related expertise into socially relevant debates – such as those on democracy, migration, religion, digitalisation, climate, gender or global interdependencies.

The event brings together academics from across Germany. What specific kind of networking or collaboration do you hope to gain from the conference in Erfurt?
We hope that the South Asia Day will forge new connections between researchers working on related topics but who are often based in different disciplines, institutes and networks. Many South Asia-related research approaches exist side by side without always being systematically linked. A particular focus is on supporting early-career scholars. It is particularly important for PhD students and postdocs to be able to present their projects within a specialised yet interdisciplinary framework, to receive feedback and to gain access to specialist networks. Such encounters can lead very directly to further collaborations – such as joint panels, publications, research proposals or teaching formats.

The programme does indeed cover a broad spectrum of panels – ranging from political theory to bodily knowledge and dance, right through to literature and urbanity…
Yes,the thematic spectrum was deliberately kept broad because it reflects the diversity of contemporary South Asian studies. South Asia cannot be understood from a single disciplinary perspective. Political, cultural, religious, literary, aesthetic and urban issues are deeply intertwined and require new lines of inquiry that bring these perspectives to life. The programme therefore follows the principle of showcasing the full breadth of current research approaches. The panels highlight the topics currently being explored in the field – ranging from political systems and social change, through gender discourses, performance and digital worlds, to literature, religion and ecology.

Alongside the academic panels, there will also be a concert featuring traditional raga music on Friday evening. What significance do such cultural events hold for an academic conference?
Cultural events such as the raga concert are more than just a supporting programme. They open up different avenues of engagement with South Asia than academic lectures do: through sound, practice, the body, aesthetics and experience. This is particularly important for an interdisciplinary conference, as it demonstrates that knowledge is conveyed not only through text or analysis, but also through musical practice and performative formats. At the same time, the concert creates an open space for interaction and makes the conference accessible to a wider audience from the university and the city. Another avenue is opened up by Sara Keller’s exhibition at the Brunnenkirche in Erfurt on “Holy and Healing Water”, which devotes a separate section to India and is based on the project “INDIA. Life by the Water”. This brings together academic questions, artistic engagement and public accessibility.

Ursula Rao’s keynote address is entitled “Time as Infrastructure: Reflections on Service Culture in Digital India”. Why was this particular topic chosen for the opening – what does it say about the spirit of the times in South Asian studies?
The keynote was chosen because it uses a very concrete example to illustrate just how deeply digitalisation has penetrated everyday life, public administration and the service economy in India today. Ursula Rao asks not only why digital infrastructures exist, but also how they actually function: through constant temporal coordination between platforms, public authorities, companies and users. The concept of “temporal infrastructure” highlights the fact that digital systems do not automatically run smoothly. In order for insurance payouts to be made, food deliveries to be carried out or welfare benefits to be granted, people must bridge deadlines, delays, waiting times and differing institutional rhythms. It is precisely here that power relations emerge: who has to wait, who can speed things up, who can submit data retrospectively or bypass processes – these are distributed unequally across society. The keynote thus exemplifies an important trend in contemporary South Asian studies: it examines major transformative processes such as digitalisation not in the abstract, but on the basis of everyday practice, infrastructure and social inequality.

Saturday’s roundtable is entitled “Niche or Necessity? Gender Perspectives and Academic Careers in South Asian Studies”. How important is it to you that structural and career policy issues are explicitly placed on the agenda?
This is very important to us because an academic conference does not merely address specialist content, but also the conditions under which scholarship is produced. The roundtable is funded by the University of Erfurt’s Equal Opportunity Office and is intended to appeal particularly to female academics and researchers in the early stages of their careers. On the one hand, it addresses very specific questions regarding academic careers: which topics are funded, which are considered “niche”, and which are regarded as central? On the other hand, we want to highlight that gender perspectives are assessed very differently in various academic contexts – for example, in Germany, South Asia or the USA. Such questions concern not only individual career paths, but also the structure of the field and the question of what knowledge is considered relevant in South Asian studies.

South Asia – that is, the Indian subcontinent comprising countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – is one of the most populous and culturally diverse regions in the world. Why, then, is this region often underestimated by the German public?
Yes, South Asia is often underestimated in Germany, even though India in particular is now a key economic and innovation player. India is not only a major market but also an important hub for IT, digitalisation, services, industry, research and, increasingly, global supply chains. Nevertheless, the German public still frequently perceives India through outdated stereotypes – such as poverty, spirituality, crises or exoticism. These perceptions obscure just how rapidly the region is changing and the significance it holds for global issues relating to technology, energy, trade, skilled labour, climate policy and geopolitical realignment. This is precisely why nuanced research into South Asia is important. It can demonstrate that India and the region as a whole are not only culturally and historically significant, but also of direct economic and political relevance to us, as illustrated by bilateral agreements between India and Germany. At present, a great many students are also coming to Germany from India to pursue their education, which will further strengthen our mutual relations.

Many panels address highly topical issues: Hindutva nationalism, migration, the erosion of democracy, and digital infrastructure. How political can or should South Asian studies be?
South Asian studies must take political and social developments seriously. This is also in line with the self-image of the ‘Modern South Asia’ working group of the German Society for Asian Studies: it sees itself not only as an academic network, but also as a forum for pooling and disseminating expertise on South Asia. When panels address topics such as Hindutva nationalism, migration, the erosion of democracy or digital infrastructure, this is precisely the aim: to provide academically sound knowledge on current developments and to situate them within broader social, political and cultural contexts. In this sense, South Asian studies can and should be politically relevant – as a historically informed, source-based and critical analysis. It can thus contribute to public debates and demonstrate why a nuanced understanding of South Asia is necessary today.

Several colleagues from the University of Erfurt are also represented at the South Asia Day – for example, from the Department of Religious Studies. What, then, are the university’s particular strengths in South Asian studies?
The particular strength of the University of Erfurt lies in the fact that South Asia is represented here in many fields, even though there is no dedicated South Asian Institute. Colleagues work on South Asian topics within the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of History, the Department of Catholic Theology, at the Max-Weber-Kolleg, in the “Religion and Urbanity” research group and within the ICAS network, which is working on “Metamorphoses of the Political in the Long Twentieth Century”, addressing topics relating to South Asia. The Annemarie Schimmel Research Centre at the University of Erfurt is also significant in this context. It is dedicated to the estate of the internationally renowned scholar of Islam and religious studies, Annemarie Schimmel, and thus embodies a research tradition in which South Asia, Islam, the history of religion and the history of transcultural knowledge are closely intertwined. Furthermore, numerous PhD students and postdocs in the aforementioned disciplines hail from the region and bring their own perspectives to Erfurt’s research landscape.

The conference is being organised by the Department of Religious Studies and the Max-Weber-Kolleg. How does the South Asia Day fit into the broader research foci of these institutions?
Very well indeed, because topics such as religion, urbanity, globalisation, migration, knowledge production, cultural interconnections and social change are central to research in Erfurt – and, at the same time, to South Asian studies. This is also evident in the graduate centre “Glocal Religiosities”. This programme explores how religious practices and negotiations of belonging emerge at the intersection of local traditions and global dynamics. It is precisely these global-local interconnections that can be examined particularly well using South Asia as a case study. One aim of the conference is therefore to bring together the existing research approaches in Erfurt more effectively, to facilitate dialogue amongst colleagues, and to raise the University of Erfurt’s profile both nationally and internationally as a centre for South Asian studies.

Will the papers and discussions from South Asia Day be documented or published – and if so, in what form?
A traditional conference proceedings volume is not planned at this stage. However, we would like to expressly encourage the development of joint publication projects arising from individual panels – such as articles, special issues or other collaborative formats. We would also like to draw attention to the opportunities offered by academic information services. They provide vital infrastructure for research, visibility, open access and the long-term documentation of academic work. The South Asia Day is therefore intended not merely to be a one-off event, but also to provide impetus for sustainable academic communication.

How can the insights gained from the event subsequently feed back into teaching or public discourse?
The insights from the conference are intended to have a lasting impact on several levels. For teaching, the South Asia Day offers many points of connection: current debates on India and South Asia – for example, on religion, politics, urbanisation, gender, migration, digitalisation or ecology – can be directly incorporated into seminars, final-year dissertations and early-career research projects. At the same time, we would like to open up South Asia-related research more widely to the university and the city. Formats such as the Raga concert or the exhibition on “Sacred and Healing Water” contribute to this by linking academic questions with cultural practice and public engagement.

“In view of the growing global and local challenges facing universities, I regard this decision by the University of Erfurt as an important signal with regard to its own regional context,” explains Professor Beate Hampe, Vice President for International Affairs.

The University of Erfurt’s second internationalisation strategy has now also been published, following its accession to the Magna Charta, as set out in its preamble. It was presented to the University Council at its meeting on 19 June. Building on a comprehensive review of developments over the past decade, the strategy for the coming years combines direct continuity in the University of Erfurt’s commitment to openness to the world, internationality and interculturalism in teaching, research and campus life with new priorities, which relate in particular to the University’s international profile in the thematic focus of research and teaching, the strategic further development of its cooperation portfolio, and the embedding of internationalisation processes as a cross-cutting task and an element of quality assurance in research and teaching at the University of Erfurt.

Further information and the option to register can be found on our events page.

With this further development, the University of Erfurt is strengthening its practice-orientated teacher training and creating a permanent place of learning to prepare for future teaching practice.

The namesake of the scholarship, Duchess Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg (1710–1767), was regarded by her contemporaries as one of the most educated princesses of her time, who was particularly committed to promoting the French Enlightenment and maintained an extensive network of correspondence, including with Rousseau and Voltaire and the Saxon Count Ernst Christoph von Manteuffel, the "patron of the Enlightenment" and supporter of Christian Wolff. It is therefore exemplary of modern research into early modern court culture with the explicit inclusion of cultural studies and gender history research approaches.

The Gotha location, with the universally orientated collections of the Friedenstein Foundation Gotha, the Gotha Research Library and the holdings of the Thuringian State Archives – Gotha State Archives, is one of the outstanding collection and research locations for the cultural history of the early modern period and the modern era. During their stay on site, the scholarship holders are linked to the Gotha Research Centre. In recent years, the FZG has provided impetus for research into Gotha's court culture, including with the conferences on the "Palace as Lecture Hall" in 2017 and on the 300th birthday of the Franco-German cultural mediator Friedrich Melchior Grimm in September 2023, as well as with two summer schools on "Africans at European courts in the early modern period" (2022) and "Gotha's Africa. Courtly perceptions of the continent in the early modern period' (2025). The Luise Dorothea Scholarship from the Fritz Wiedemann Foundation and accompanying project proposals are intended to continue and intensify this research over the next few years.

The scholarship amounts to 2,000 euros per month. This may be supplemented by a family allowance of 400 euros per month and a one-off travel allowance of 500 euros. Residency is compulsory for the entire scholarship period.

Application:
Applications for the scholarship can be submitted in German and English by email to forschungszentrum.gotha@uni-erfurt.de by 31 July 2026, quoting the keyword “Luise-Dorothea-Stipendium für Hofkulturforschung der Fritz-Wiedemann-Stiftung”. Notification of the award of the scholarship will be made by 17 August 2026.

Further information, including the documents required for the application, can be found on the Gotha Research Centre website.
 

The 1st prize, endowed with 1,500 euros, went to Michelle Piorek, a graduate of the University of Erfurt, for her master's thesis "Spiritual TikTok videos and their appropriation by adolescents". In it, she analyses a media phenomenon that has hardly been researched to date: the presentation of spiritual content on the social media platform TikTok and its appropriation by adolescents. The starting point is the increasing media attention for so-called "modern" or "popular" spirituality, which is particularly present on TikTok, but at the same time has only been marginally considered in media pedagogy and empirical research. Against this background, Michelle Piorek is pursuing the goal of analysing both the topics and the design of spiritual content on TikTok as well as the use, perception and processing of this content by adolescents.

The third prize, endowed with 500 euros, also went to a graduate of the University of Erfurt: In her master's thesis "Between nostalgic everyday culture, political self-positioning and social commitment - negotiating an East German identity among adolescents and young people on TikTok and Instagram", Sophie Lindner investigated the extent to which adolescents and young people construct and negotiate an East German identity on TikTok and Instagram and how they appropriate an "East German identity" in the context of follow-up communication. The starting point was the observation that young people born after German reunification explicitly refer to East Germany on social media and position themselves as East German.

Dr Friederike von Gross, Co-Managing Director of the GMK, explained at the award ceremony: "The work addresses current social, media and political developments and impressively demonstrates how scientific research can contribute to a differentiated understanding of young people's digital worlds and develop practical impulses for media education, social work and democracy education."

Congratulations to our award winners!

Whether S50, Enduro or “Schwalbe” – the legendary Simson mopeds have survived the GDR era and are known today as a cult brand even in the most remote "backwater". What hardly anyone knows is that the company was founded by a pair of Jewish brothers from Suhl, has its origins in the 19th century and was essentially focussed on weapons production, particularly during the world wars. "Kaff" and "Tacheles" are, like "Zocken", "Mischpoke" and "Schlamassel", words that are not used here by chance: They are part of our language usage and at the same time come from Hebrew or Yiddish – the language of the Jews. The educational project "Tacheles mit Simson" approaches Jewish culture in Thuringia and Germany in an unusual way: with surprises from our everyday language, with live music. And lo and behold, what seems so foreign is so close, so past, so alive. Simson becomes a methodical bridge.

• 07.08. – 09.08. from 1 to 8pm
• 14.08. - 16.08. from 1 to 8 pm
• 21.08. - 23.08. from 1 to 8 pm

"The idea for the HeatFuture Lab came from the ongoing project HEATCOM project and now offers the opportunity to further deepen scientific findings and disseminate them to the population – in the spirit of participatory research and population-oriented research communication," explains Dr Dominik Daube. He works as a postdoctoral researcher on the HEATCOM project at the University of Erfurt, which focuses on the question of how people in Germany behave in heat situations, which factors influence their protective behaviour and how interventions can contribute to health-promoting adaptation. Together with his colleague Sarah Pelull and student assistants, he has planned the HeatFuture Lab Thuringia.

"We offer an interactive dialogue and experience space in which visitors can think together with young researchers about what a hot summer of the future could look like – and what options there are for dealing better with heat. Using AI-generated images of the future from real city photos and vivid representations of heat stress as well as individual audiovisual elements, visitors will be able to understand how heat can affect well-being, everyday life and health risks. At the centre of all this is the question of how we as a society can better prepare ourselves for hot summers: e.g. through cities that deal better with heat, through comprehensible information and everyday protection options – and through a medicine of the future that supports people in the heat in a preventive, advisory and low-threshold manner. This could include digital warning and counselling services, telemedical consultation hours on hot days or heat-sensitive care structures in GP surgeries and care settings.

The HeatFuture Lab Thuringia is funded by “Wissenschaft im Dialog”.

In the StarTH network, Thuringia's universities are working together to anchor entrepreneurial teaching, transfer and start-up support in the university landscape in the long term. The aim is to support students, researchers and graduates at an early stage in developing ideas and turning innovative projects into social or commercial applications.

"Today more than ever, universities are combining research and teaching with transfer, innovation and social responsibility. Supporting start-ups is not an add-on, but part of a modern understanding of universities that actively transfers scientific knowledge to society and the economy," Professor Marx continued. University incubators and start-up centres in particular have developed into practical learning and experimentation spaces in which innovative ideas can be tested, prototypes developed and interdisciplinary collaborations established.

With a view to securing skilled labour, demographic change and international competition for talent, the promotion of academic spin-offs is becoming increasingly strategically important. University start-ups create qualified jobs, strengthen regional value creation and increase the loyalty of young skilled workers to Thuringia.

Thuringia's universities therefore see the long-term safeguarding of existing start-up and transfer structures as a crucial task for the future. Over the past few years, university-related support services have been established that now provide many people interested in starting a business with access to advice, networks and funding programmes.

Programmes such as EXIST-Women or formats in the field of creative entrepreneurship also show that start-up support can also make an important contribution to equal opportunities, diversity and social participation.

Various aspects will be considered as part of the lecture series: AI and Holocaust education, the potential of machine learning in analysing emotions in self-testimonies about the Holocaust, the use of AI in structuring historical research data and AI-generated images in the context of Jewish history and the Holocaust on social media.

The guiding questions are: What new possibilities arise for knowledge production? How is our understanding of sources changing? What challenges and dangers arise? How are images of history changing and how is our understanding of the past changing?

Programme
Thursday, 25 June 2026, 1–2 p.m.
The Witness in the Machine: Artificial Intelligence and Holocaust Education
Esther Rachow (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, MEMORISE project)

Thursday, 2 July 2026,  1–2 p.m.
AI and emotions: Potentials and challenges of digital methods for analysing emotions and sentiments in self-testimonies about the Holocaust
Nina Brolich (University of Erfurt / University of Applied Sciences Erfurt) / Helena Geibel (Institute for the History of German Jews, Hamburg)

Thursday, 10 September 2026, 1–2 p.m.
From archive box to data set: The AI-supported structuring of the Erna Magnus Collection
Daniel Burckhardt (Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum Potsdam)

Thursday, 8 October 2026, 1–2 p.m.
Images that never were - Generative AI as a challenge for historical-political education
Clara Mansfeld (Stiftung Hamburger Gedenkstätten und Lernorte)

The dial-in details for the events will be sent out after registration at kontakt@igdj-hh.de.

Applications can be submitted from 29 June to 9 August 2026 via the DSTIP online portal.

You can find more information on our website.

At the end of the evening, the Friends of the Gotha Research Library Association invites you to a small reception.

The speaker
Charlotte Prauß is currently researching the emergence of colonial knowledge at the University of Göttingen as a doctoral student at Justus Liebig University Giessen.

The event can also be attended digitally for the first time. Simply click on the following link.

Project outlines are submitted using an application form via the respective Deanery. Applications are possible until 15 June 2026. The start of the funding period can take place flexibly on 1 October 2026 or 1 April 2027.

The “Lehrförderfonds“ is part of the University's strategic teaching development programme. The decision on funding is made by an awards committee appointed by the Presidium; funded lecturers will be informed in August 2026. University Didactics supports lecturers in the further development of teaching concepts, the application process and the implementation of projects.

"The University of Erfurt's new teaching support fund provides targeted impetus for the further development of teaching: it opens up space to implement innovative ideas and further expand proven concepts. By supporting teaching staff in trialling new methods and continuously improving their courses, we are sustainably strengthening the quality of our teaching. At the same time, promoting innovative teaching concepts helps to raise the status of teaching as a whole and further promote the exchange of ideas about good teaching," says Professor Julia Knop, Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The prize is awarded every two years and is endowed with 1,500 euros, which can be used for research purposes, in particular to cover printing costs and/or to finance a one-month research stay at the Max-Weber-Kolleg. Theses completed between 2024 and 2025 and written in German or English can be submitted.

The award ceremony will take place in Erfurt in 2027. Applications can be submitted until 15 July 2026 to: Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt, Directorate, Nordhäuser Str. 63 99089 Erfurt and electronically to: dekanat.mwk@uni-erfurt.de.

call for applications

call for applications

The offer is aimed at both individual prospective students and school classes. In order to adapt the visit of the Discovery Days in the best possible way to the ideas and interests of the guests, registration via the Discovery Days website is requested. There you will also find further information and the exact programme.

Here's how to register: visit the website and register or activate your account -→select join team -→select Gotha municipality -→enter team name Gotha Research Library and Gotha Research Centre. For questions please contact team captain Anja Winkler will be happy to answer any questions.

The "City Cycling" in Erfurt takes place from 24 August to 13 September. Registration for the "Uni Erfurt" team is already possible at https://www.stadtradeln.de/erfurt.

In the "Salon TrickSTAR", hosted by the Cluster of Excellence "Imaginamics" and the Professorship for the History of Science at the University of Erfurt in cooperation with local actors from the performing arts, various trickster figures will appear and historians and artists will discuss the subversive potential of Arts in times of a carnivalesque present together with the audience. How do political spaces and their analysis and critique change when actors in positions of power adopt subversive strategies? And how can Arts react to a situation where reality often seems like satire?

The "Salon TrickSTAR" is intended to be an experimental free space in which scientific analysis of the present and artistic positions meet.

Dates in the summer semester:

• 04 June 2026, 10 a.m.: DFG for doctoral candidates in early career phases
• 11 June 2026, 10 a.m.: Alternatives to the DFG for doctoral candidates in early career phases
• 25 June 2026, 10 a.m.: International mobility

Read the article here!(in German only)

Please find the programme in our event flyer (in German only). Participation in the conference is free of charge, registration is not required. All interested citizens are cordially invited to join in the discussions on site.

Two years after the University of Erfurt began offering degree programmes, the Erfurt-Mühlhausen University of Education was incorporated into the university in 2001, establishing the Faculty of Education as the university's third faculty. Since then, it has produced more than 10,000 graduates. Today, they work as teachers in schools, in research as well as in the private sector or in counselling institutions. A lot has also happened in terms of research. The Dean states: "Education is and remains a central task of our society and the education system is one of its key institutions. Our faculty contributes to sustainable education with its research and concrete solutions – both in basic and applied research. If you just take a look at the variety of topics covered by externally funded projects, you will find internationally visible basic research in the areas of learning, cognition, diagnostics, potential development and didactics, as well as fundamental problems in Mathematics, statistics and research methods. On the other hand, we deal with topics of direct social relevance – including research on sustainable vocational training, cultural education in rural areas, music education in multimedia contexts, the communication of scientific findings to society, the development and promotion of decision-making skills and social participation, approaches to improving the inclusion of people with disabilities, training in the acquisition of written language and the promotion of dialogue skills among prospective doctors."

All of this will now be celebrated in June. The detailed programme for the faculty anniversary can be found on the anniversary website (in German only).

The new scholarship track invites applications that embrace the Fulbright core values of knowledge, reason and compassion and are committed to making use of them in the service of transatlantic relations for a peaceful, more cooperative world. It also reflects the principles of interpersonal diplomacy and fosters lasting individual and academic relationships that deepen mutual understanding and reach across regions. Fulbright Germany ensures a broad geographical spread between home and host institutions in both countries so that all TAD participants and partners benefit from different regional, political and social contexts and can gain truly multi-regional perspectives.

For the TAD, Fulbright Germany works with selected universities and schools in Germany and the USA that have a strong academic profile in the fields of public policy, international relations and diplomacy and are committed to promoting transatlantic academic exchange and institutional cooperation.

Participation in the TAD– both as a sending and host institution – is limited to these partner universities and programmes. This exclusive scheme ensures close coordination of study plans, institutional commitment and aligned academic standards on both sides of the Atlantic. The US partners include the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public & International Affairs (SPIA), the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs at the University of Denver, , the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University and the University of Washington, Seattle’s Henry M. Hackson School of International Studies as well as their Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.

"The initiative is a fantastic opportunity for our students and a signal of excellency for our institution. It shows that the University of Erfurt takes internationalisation seriously, and that the Brandt School has made a name for itself worldwide as a graduate institution in public policy," explains Professor Achim Kemmerling, Vice Director of the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy and Vice Dean for Internationalization. "It is also a great opportunity to give new impetus to transatlantic exchange," says Professor Beate Hampe, Vice President for International Affairs at the University of Erfurt.

German students admitted to the MPP intake starting their degree in October 2026 may apply for the TAD directly through Fulbright’s platform by August 31, 2026 and are to start their studies in the U.S. in the fall of 2027.  We still accept applications to the MPP until July 15, 2026 from German candidates and all those who do not need a visa to study in Germany. 

As the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) recently made clear in its regulations, these include in particular the freedom of science, research and teaching, the freedom of Arts, the principle of equal treatment and the principles of social diversity and cooperation within the framework of a European and international peace order. As a place of research and teaching, the University of Erfurt is expressly committed to respecting human dignity, the rule of law and non-violence and is clearly opposed to all forms of marginalisation and discrimination and all forms of group-based misanthropy.

I share the concerns of many with regard to local, national and global developments that threaten democracy in broad areas of society and politics and, in this context, welcome the democratic commitment of our teaching staff, students and employees of all status groups to an open and solidary society. Accordingly, the Senate of the University of Erfurt expressly committed itself to these goals at its recent May meeting. Similarly, as a university, we see it as our task to penetrate social and political developments with scientific methodology within the framework of our specialist expertise and we see ourselves as an open space for discourse, with the aim of incorporating scientific findings into political and social decision-making processes. It is about exploring, enabling and shaping a good future worth living. Overall, the University of Erfurt's new banner advertising affirms that it stands for an open, pluralistic and forward-looking society."

>> Registration and further information

"However, this stability seems deceptive," explains Professor Cornelia Betsch, Director of the Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour at the University of Erfurt. "The population wants more climate protection in principle, but has less and less confidence in the political system." At around 16 per cent, trust in government climate action is at its lowest level since measurements began. "If government programmes, such as the German government's new climate protection programme, are perceived as inadequate, the perceived responsibility shifts further into the private sphere: Existing asymmetries ('my actions have more impact than the government's') are slightly reinforced. Overall, we observe that responsibility tends to be individualised, e.g. also in that discourses move away from regulation and towards individual incentives, and thus in the broader perception climate protection seems to be a private rather than a state task."

Details of the results can be found on the PACE website.(in German only)

• regular exercise programmes and active breaks on campus;
• marked campus exercise routes;
• freely accessible sports and exercise equipment;
• exercise and health programmes on nutrition, sleep and stress management;
• the training of student exercise instructors for low-threshold exercise programmes.

The project is being implemented by the Erfurt University Sports Club (USV) in close cooperation with the University Health Management and students from the subject areas of Sports Science and Health Communication.

Those involved in the project invite you to the kick-off on 1 June from 3 to 7 pm on the terrace in front of the administration building of the University of Erfurt. Activities planned include a table football tournament, teqball, table tennis, cornhole, spikeball and basketball. At the table football tournament, a mini World Cup will be held from 4 pm with teams of two at eight table football tables. Registration is possible as an individual or team entry by e-mail to gesundheit@uni-erfurt.de is possible. All other activities can be tried out without registration. Table tennis starts at 5 p.m., Zumba fitness starts at 5.15 p.m., and at 6.15 p.m. there is the opportunity to go for a "taster run" together on the campus running tracks.

Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider and Professor Dr Cornelia Betsch will address these questions at a public discussion event in the Haus der Weimarer Republik – Forum für Demokratie, a project of Weimarer Republik e.V. Together they will discuss how democracy and climate protection are compatible, which communication strategies can create trust and which political paths appear suitable for winning social majorities for necessary changes.

The event is in German and will be moderated by freelance journalist Sebastian Haak.

Monday, 18 May 2026, 7:30 pm
Haus der Weimarer Republik – Forum für Demokratie, Theaterplatz 4, 99423 Weimar

The event is open to the public, admission is free. Admission begins 30 minutes before the start of the event (from 7 pm) via Zeughofgasse. Registration is mandatory and possible by e-mail to veranstaltungen@hdwr.de.
 

(text: Thüringer Allgemeine)

The programme is now offered in two new programme lines:

• Careers in academia: Academics offer themselves as mentors and support doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and tenure as well as career-track professors
• Careers outside the university: External mentors (from business, culture or foundations, i. e.) support doctoral candidates and postdocs with appointments outside the academic system.

In addition, entry into the programme is made more flexible: Applications for the careerMe mentoring programme are now possible at any time.

Further information on the restructured programme can be found at:
www.uni-erfurt.de/go/careerme

For those who want to look beyond the boundaries of their own subject, the "Studium Fundamentale" programme offers new perspectives: This component of the Bachelor's programme enables students to acquire a wide range of methodological knowledge and key skills in interdisciplinary courses and to gain career-oriented practical experience. In addition, a mentoring system guarantees personal support for students from the first semester onwards by a professor. Another exciting aspect of the Bachelor's programme in Erfurt is the “two-subject Bachelor's degree”. This means that the programme consists of two subjects, namely a major and a minor. This gives graduates a broad foundation for their subsequent career path.

For all those who are still looking for guidance in the “study jungle”, the university has developed the online tool STUDIMAT for choosing a Bachelor's programme (in German only). Not only can you use it to find suitable combinations for your major and minor subjects, STUDIMAT also provides all the important information about your chosen programme as well as testimonials from current students and former students, alumni.

And if you'd rather see for yourself, just come to our Open Day on 9 May or the Discovery Days from 22 to 26 June.

The Bachelor's degree programme is designed to take three years and starts in the winter semester. The university degree is awarded at the University of Erfurt, but the courses are offered in cooperation with Erfurt University of Applied Sciences.

“With this new degree programme, we are making a further contribution to countering the shortage of teachers in Thuringia,” explains Prof. Dr Julia Knop, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the University of Erfurt. “The collaboration with our colleagues at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt combines the profiles and respective specialist expertise of the two institutions and is a successful example of coordinated cooperation between the various higher education institutions in Thuringia.”

“The new degree programme is an excellent example of how cooperative collaboration can contribute to teacher training. As part of this new degree programme, the university’s students will be integrated into the civil engineering department at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences for the structural engineering modules, where they will study alongside our prospective civil engineers,” emphasises Prof. Dr.-Ing. Steffen Riedl, Vice-President for Studies and Teaching at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences.

Further information on the degree programme can be found on the University of Erfurt website.

Students who would like to get to know Erfurt in all its diversity can also take part in a free guided tour of the city on this day. The meeting point is at 3 p.m. at the Till Eulenspiegel monument behind the Tourist Information Centre (Benediktsplatz 1) in the heart of the old town. A registration is possible until 8 May.

The University of Erfurt is adding another offer to its Open Day this year: During the Discovery Days from 22 to 26 June, prospective students can attend selected lectures and seminars on campus. The main aim is not to understand the subject matter, but rather to gain an impression of what it means to "study".

Further information and the Open Day programme can be found at www.hit-erfurt.de. Information on the Discovery Days can be found at our website. 

Read the blog post here! (in German only)

Women's health and gender bias 

At the centre of her stay at the IPB is a historical pharmaceutical case with high social relevance. The drug is still suspected of having caused malformations in unborn babies. Many of those affected are still fighting for recognition.

For März, the case is more than just a medical history issue. It raises fundamental questions about gender bias in medicine, structural inequalities in healthcare and social power relations. Diseases that predominantly affect women are historically and currently often under-researched and stigmatised.

During her stay, she would like to examine the following questions in particular: Would a comparable case still be possible today? What psychological, social, political and economic factors influence women's health? And how do access to healthcare, reproductive rights or migration affect medical care and research?

Interdisciplinary exchange at the IPB

At the IPB, Sigrid März is planning a close dialogue with scientists from different disciplines. She would particularly like to build on the work in the field of women's health, stigmatisation and empowerment. The interdisciplinary orientation of the institute – with expertise from medicine, psychology, social sciences and public health – offers an important resonance space for her project.

With the "Journalist in Residence" programme, the IPB strengthens the dialogue between research and journalism – and creates space for a differentiated, evidence-based examination of socially highly relevant health topics.

The anniversary exhibition documents the upheaval in 125 objects - in the form of letters of homage in silk and paper and tells the story of the collections through exhibits in silver filigree, majolica, shells and minerals as well as on paper. It shows the breaks in the collections, but also and especially their continuity. Media stations complement the show.

The Gotha exhibition – a joint project of the Gotha Research Library of the University of Erfurt and the Friedenstein Foundation Gotha – will be officially opened on 11 April and will then be on display in the “Spiegelsaal” at Friedenstein Castle from 12 April to 5 July 2026.

To accompany the exhibition in the “Spiegelsaal”, from 12 April 2026 to 3 January 2027, the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation will focus on the background and protagonists of the events around 1826 with a series of exhibition steles in the ceremonial rooms of Friedenstein Castle. At the centre of the presentation, which is entitled " '... on behalf of the Duke ...' – Ernst I and the Thuringian Residential Landscape" centres on Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his first wife Luise.

New research findings and historical accounts are used to illustrate the rooms used by Duke Ernst I and their modernising redesign. In addition, the building projects of Ernest I, for example in Reinhardsbrunn and Coburg, as well as the effects of the Ernestine reorganisation on the Thuringian residency landscape will be discussed.

From 22 May to 20 September 2026, the exhibition at Veste Coburg paints a multifaceted picture of this unusual duchy, which was shaped not only by the duke but also by an increasingly self-confident bourgeoisie. Precious works of art, maps, weapons, archives and books tell of power, representation, the will to reform and resistance – and of an era in upheaval.

In autumn, the Coburg State Library will host a show that illuminates its history against the backdrop of the change of dynasty. It can be seen at Ehrenburg Castle from 7 September to 28 November 2026.

This will be followed by an exhibition on the change of dynasty in the Coburg State Archives from 20 October to 18 December 2026.

Admission to the exhibition in the Hall of Mirrors is free of charge. To see the presentation " '... on behalf of the Duke ...' – Ernst I and the Thuringian Residential Landscape" in the castle tour in the north wing, visitors need a ticket for the castle tour in the north wing (12 euros, reduced 6 euros, children and young people up to 12 years have free admission).

From 28 to 30 September 2026, a conference of the Gotha Research Centre and the Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel will be held in Gotha on the topic of "Divorced noblewomen between 1600 and 1850" – based on the fate of the Gotha princess and later Duchess Luise of Coburg (1800–1831).

Accompanying this and the other exhibitions under the umbrella of “Coburg | Gotha | 1826 – Ein Herzog. Zwei Residenzen.”, Imhof Verlag will publish an accompanying volume in May 2026 to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the double duchy. It will be published by the Coburg Regional Foundation.

The exhibition "Coburg | Gotha | 1826" – Ein Herzog. Zwei Residenzen" there will be an extensive supporting programme with lectures, guided tours and workshops. Further information and the detailed programme can be found on the event website www.coburg-gotha-1826.de or in our event flyer.

The change of address was made as part of the reorganisation of the entrance to the sports hall and the harmonisation of the house number sequence in Saalestraße, in consultation with the City of Erfurt administration. We ask for your attention.

The "Café International Erfurt" event series will then take place again in "Hörsaal 7" at the start of the semester – for the first time on 14 April at 8 pm.

The programme continues on Thursday, 28 May with a lecture by Barbara Schlomann from the Federal Government's Expert Council for Climate Issues. The final lecture will be given by Eckart von Hirschhausen on Monday, 6 July.

All interested parties are cordially invited to attend these lectures. Admission is free, but registration is requested at www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/ringvorlesung is requested.

• systematically strengthens the coherence of the dual cstudy programme,
• sustainably improves the link between theory and practice,
• institutionalise joint work processes,
• promotes exchange, professionalisation and knowledge transfer between all those involved,
• jointly developing training practices,
• visualises and integrates the needs of all stakeholders and thus
• has a lasting effect at the interfaces of the dual study programme.

The project involves Dr Ina Semper, Professor Petra Knorr and Hannes Seifert (University of Erfurt), Juliane Voigt (State Education Authority of Southern Thuringia) and Maria-Magdalena Lessat and Sylvia Luck as heads of training schools. The aim of "CoPrax" is to more closely interlink the cooperation between the university, state education authorities and training schools in the dual study programme and to strengthen the model's theoretical-practical coherence in the long term.

The project team will now develop and test specific joint working methods that will enable the university, school boards and training schools to better coordinate their cooperation in the dual study programme – such as binding communication channels, reflection and feedback formats as well as materials for practical support. In addition to financial support totalling 5,000 euros, the team will also receive extensive process support.

"The impetus for 'CoPrax' came from our experience with the newly introduced dual study programme for secondary school teaching," explains course coordinator Dr Ina Semper. “This study model creates the possibility of a particularly close interlinking of studies and school practice, but requires intensive and continuous coordination between all participating institutions. Up to now, cooperation has taken place under very different framework conditions in some cases, which has led to an increased need for coordination, uncertainties in roles and responsibilities, communication challenges and, at the same time, great potential for joint professionalisation. The project idea therefore arose from the desire to shape cooperation not only formally and organisationally, but also as a joint professional development process – in the form of a community of practice that works structurally and permanently at the interfaces of dual study programmes.”

The journal has been published by the faculty since 2005. Four themed issues are published each year, alternating between the theological disciplines. In addition to the thematically focussed articles, further articles are published on various theological issues. A special concern of the journals is to support young theologians with their first publications. Articles on the history and current situation of the church and society in the East German federal states are also regularly included. In addition, the authors comment on numerous current theological and church-social topics.

The ThG is now available on the journals@UrMEL portal of the Thuringian University and State Library Jena (ThULB): https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/receive/jportal_jpjournal_00002815. All 20 volumes since 2005 are freely accessible in the archive. These are currently undergoing technical processing so that individual articles can be searched for and read in future.

The first issue to be published in full in open access was published in March. It was conceived by ethicist Professor Dr Katharina Klöcker. The thematic focus is on public Christian ethics.

The editorial team spent over a year preparing the switch to open access. The publisher Butzon & Bercker, which previously published the journal, has thankfully released the ThG without any complications, Benedikt Kranemann is pleased to report. In recent months, the editorial team has therefore been able to concentrate fully on the technical realisation of the project. He would also like to thank Martina Schlütter from the Electronic Text Center at Erfurt University Library and the journals@UrMEL portal team at Jena University Library, without whose expert advice the project could not have been realised.

"We will now spend a year gathering experience in open access," announces Benedikt Kranemann. "Then the editorial team and faculty will decide where we want to make changes and take new steps." The path to the future of ThG has thus been taken.

• Monday, 20 April, 19:30: "Less plunder, more...?" Philosopher and theologian Professor Dr Jean-Pierre Wils discusses the ecological and ethical limits of consumption.
• Wednesday, 29 April, 19:30: "Less contempt, more...?" Writer and essayist Anne Rabe talks about social cohesion beyond devaluation.
• Wednesday, 6 May, 7:30 pm: "Less outrage, more...?" Communication scientist Professor Dr Hanna Klimpe analyses the current culture of debate.

The events take place in the cloister of Erfurt Cathedral (Domstr. 10). After the lectures and discussions, all visitors are cordially invited to deepen the conversations over drinks and pastries. Admission is free, but a donation is requested.

Read the article here! (in German only)

Unlike most map collections, the Gotha Perthes Collection also documents the production, distribution and, in some cases, the reception of maps. As a result, the records in Gotha allow rare insights into the business of colonial cartography, for example into the economic success and failure of publishing products or the scope of distribution. In the "Perthes kolonial" project, questions about such aspects of economic and business history are related to the overarching context of the development of a colonial knowledge culture in Europe.

Taking part on this day are:

• Professor Cornelia Betsch: member of the German Ethics Council
• Dr Andreas Braune: Weimar Rendezvous with History
• Professor Sophia Hoffmann: experience with non-university partners and foundations
• Professor Sandra Neumann: KOMPASS Language Teaching and Research Lab
• Professor Michael Riegner: Global Justice Clinic
• Professor Myriam Wijlens: work as an advisor to the Vatican and on reform processes within the Church

The event will be moderated by Professor André Brodocz, Vice President for Research and Academic Careers at the University of Erfurt. Afterwards, all participants are invited to a small get-together with snacks and drinks. Please register by 12 April.

Registration 

Jens Panse, organiser and president of the USV: "We are looking forward to exciting and fair competitions and hope that not only many runners will take to the course, but also many spectators will be there to support their teams."

The 10th Erfurt Campus Run is organised by the University of Erfurt in cooperation with the USV Erfurt. It is supported by the Thuringian Student Services Organisation (Sudierendenwerk) and the “AOK PLUS”, among others, and is also intended to make a contribution to university health promotion.

Registration 

Registration for the 10th Erfurt Campus Run at the University of Erfurt is possible until 21 June 2026 at: www.erfurter-campuslauf.de or at USV Erfurt e.V. |Abt. Leichtathletik | Jens Panse | Nordhäuser Straße 63 |99089 Erfurt | phone: 0361/737-1826 | Fax: 0361/737-1829 | info@usv-erfurt.de.

Please note: Registration only becomes effective after payment of the registration fee!

As AI has already been used for several years to facilitate interviews with eyewitnesses, the question of the influence and impact of AI is increasingly arising with regard to the analysis of written personal testimonies. AI-supported transcription methods for the automated processing of audio or video source material are already partially established and make it possible to prepare thousands of hours of interviews, which lie dormant in archives and memorial sites, for research and analysis. Computer-assisted, and above all computational linguistic, methods of natural language processing (NLP) promise opportunities for in-depth research into individual and collective experiences, interpretations and memories. Generative AI, moreover, presents new challenges in terms of the low-threshold yet opaque nature of text analysis and production. Against this backdrop, a critical reflection on machine-based analytical methods with regard to the evaluation and interpretation of personal accounts is imperative.

The aim of this project, funded by NFDI4Memory as part of the Incubator Funds 2026, is to contribute to a critical reflection on the functioning and application scenarios of AI-supported analytical methods, particularly in relation to the evaluation and interpretation of personal accounts of the Holocaust and its aftermath, against the backdrop of the growing significance of such methods. The project examines the potential of existing tools and machine-based methods using the example of sentiment analysis, as well as emotion-based and emotion-historical approaches that are discussed in both educational outreach and research. Using the diaries of Theresienstadt survivor Martha Glass, lexicon-based approaches as well as machine learning methods are tested and evaluated to open up new avenues for historical research. In doing so, the project provides important impetus for digital source criticism and the reflective use of methods and tools when working with personal accounts. The project’s methodologies and findings are also being adapted for educational purposes in teaching and outreach.

As the only surviving map publishing archive on the European continent, the Gotha Perthes Collection contains unique source material on the development of cartography and geography in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the unity and interconnectedness of its holdings, it documents the last phase of the Age of Discovery, during which the interior of the non-European continents and the polar regions were explored.

The maps, atlases and journals published by Justus Perthes and later by “VEB Hermann Haack”, above all "Stielers Handatlas" and "Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen", shaped the scientific image of the earth well into the 20th century and popularised it for a broad public.

During their visit, the four students, together with team leader Dr Florian Ringel, will not only gain an insight into map production since the early 19th century at the Gotha Perthes Collection, but will also go on a themed excursion through the royal seat and the urban geography of Gotha. An overnight stay in the new youth hostel in Gotha is planned for the second training camp. And, of course, the team will have the opportunity to ask questions about the content and geography of the city and to go through the collections in order to be prepared for Istanbul.

Sven Ballenthin, an employee at the Gotha Perthes Collection, is looking forward to the visit in March: "Just as chief cartographer August Petermann once provided explorers with his knowledge and then sent them out into the world from Gotha to bring new geographical information back here, a new generation of geography enthusiasts from Germany will now set off for the Emerald Isle - with final preparations and encouragement from Gotha. A wonderful opportunity for us to reconnect Gotha with the world after a successful premiere two years ago!" After the last training camp and a very successful iGeo in Dublin 2024, the participants travelled back to Germany with three bronze and one silver medal.

The event at Haus Dacheröden is dedicated to these questions. It will begin with an input from Stefan Schmalz, who will categorise current developments from a sociological perspective, particularly with regard to global power shifts and the role of China. Melanie Vogelbach ("Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammer"), Melanie Müller ("Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik") and Liv Dizinger (DGB Hessen-Thüringen) will then take part in a panel discussion.

All interested parties are cordially invited. Admission is free.

Particularly in the area of late Enlightenment networks, institutions and ideas, it is possible to recognise a continued impact beyond the caesura of the French Revolution of 1789. Biographical developments show how Enlightenment actors reacted to new political realities - be it through withdrawal, reorientation or the continuation of Enlightenment practice in a different form. The transformation processes from secret societies to political associations, from informal salons to organised societies or from religious-philosophical circles to editorial and journalistic platforms also raise new questions.

The aim of the conference is to analyse these transitions from an interdisciplinary perspective. The researchers are interested in biographical trajectories as well as institutional reorganisations, ideational changes and network dynamics that determined the afterlife of the Enlightenment between the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The author
Sarah Lorenz was born in Eckernförde in 1984 and lives and writes in St Pauli (Hamburg). She is a trained bookseller and studied social work. She wrote the column PMS-Ultras for the "taz" newspaper. On the internet, she puts people to bed every night under the pseudonym Buchi Schnubbel (approx. 14,000 followers). "Mit dir, da möchte ich im Himmel Kaffee trinken" is her debut novel.

Read the blog post here!(in German only)

The idea for the "HeatFuture Lab" originated from the ongoing project HEATCOM project and now offers the opportunity to further deepen scientific findings and disseminate them to the general public – in the spirit of participatory research and research communication geared towards the population as a whole, explains Dr Dominik Daube. He works as a postdoctoral researcher on the HEATCOM project at the University of Erfurt, which focuses on the question of how people in Germany behave in heat situations, which factors influence their protective behaviour and how interventions can contribute to health-promoting adaptation. Together with his colleague Sarah Pelull and student assistants, he now wants to implement the "HeatFuture Lab Thuringia" at the Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour.

"We are planning an interactive exhibition space in which visitors can simulate a hot summer in 2050 together with young researchers. Using AI-generated future images from real city photos, short AI-based heat sounds – instrumental soundscapes that reflect the mood of the scenes – and vivid representations of heat stress, visitors will be able to experience how heat can affect well-being, everyday life and health risks." Extreme conditions are not simulated in real life, but are made immersively comprehensible through visual, acoustic and narrative means. In one place in the room, heat can be experienced briefly and in a controlled manner via radiant heaters, but without posing any health risks. Dr Dominik Daube: “At the heart of all this is the question of how preventive, advisory and digital medical services of the future can support people in heat, for example through comprehensible information, orientation and low-threshold formats, e.g. telemedical consultation hours on heat days, digital warning and advisory services or heat-sensitive care structures.”

The result:

• a 100% free, digital self-learning programme on the ICF
• practical, case-based modules with an authentic connection to the real world
• transdisciplinary basic modules and specific advanced modules
• diverse multimedia elements (videos, interviews, interactive scenarios)

The self-study course is available as Open Educational Resources (OER) under CC BY-SA 4.0 – freely usable, shareable and customisable. It comprises five basic modules, five advanced modules and twelve modules on case studies and thus enables flexible integration, e.g. in internal training courses, qualification measures, self-learning programmes, training and further education or to raise awareness among specialists in various fields of work.

The self-study course is now available online.

This dual perspective is intended to broaden the view of DEFA film's sphere of production and impact and embed it in a transnational context. In doing so, both new paths will be explored and considerations already begun will be continued.

Researchers from all disciplines who are interested in the topic are cordially invited to participate. Following the conference, the contributions will be published in a timely manner.

The detailed programme can be found on the website of the Department of Communication Studies.

Participation in the conference is free of charge. Please register by e-mail: DEFA-Erfurt-2026@gmx.de.

Education Minister Christian Tischner praises the established successful model: "The dual study programme is an important way of strengthening our mainstream and community schools, especially in the regions. We were able to successfully increase the number of places last year. By starting the application process earlier and further developing the selection process, we are now creating even better conditions – both for the students and for the training schools. In this way, we are ensuring that prospective teachers are prepared for their future appointment at an early stage, with a practical orientation and with the necessary professional prerequisites, and that they can be recruited for the teaching profession in Thuringia in the long term."

"With the launch of our dual teacher training programme in 2024, we as a university have taken an important step towards tackling the shortage of teachers at secondary schools in Thuringia," says Professor Julia Knop, Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Erfurt. "We are in close dialogue with our students and the training schools - not least to ensure that everyone feels well supported on this new path. We are delighted to be welcoming the third intake of dual students this year. This success shows once again that the University of Erfurt is a reliable partner in the training of prospective teachers in Thuringia."

On Saturday, 14 March 2026, a central information event on the dual course catalogue will take place at 10 a.m. in the Centre for Communication and Information (KIZ) at the University of Erfurt. In addition to information on the programme structure and application modalities, there will be the opportunity to ask individual questions. A digital information event at the end of the application period offers a further opportunity to clarify questions. This will take place on Wednesday, 25 March 2026, at 5 pm. If you would like to attend, please register informally by emailing info@lehrerinthueringen.de is requested. Once you have registered, you will receive an access link to the online event. The application deadline for the dual study programme is 31 March.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Martin Buber was one of the formative voices of the cultural Zionist movement. In his early deliberations on the establishment of a Jewish university, he contributed a vision that saw education and science as central vehicles of cultural renewal. The university appeared to him as an intellectual centre in which tradition and modernity, research and responsibility, knowledge and human encounters were linked. During this phase, Buber acted as an intellectual co-founder whose ideas had a lasting impact on the normative horizon of the project.

With the ceremonial opening of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925, the project entered a new historical phase. Martin Buber accompanied this step with great attention. Even without a direct institutional function, he remained closely associated with the university and was perceived as an internationally recognised thinker whose work and attitude reflected the intellectual aspirations of the young institution. This phase is characterised by mutual esteem and a bond that is expressed less in formal roles than in a shared intellectual orientation.

The political upheavals of the 1930s led Martin Buber to Jerusalem and to a more intensive relationship with the Hebrew University. With his entry into academic teaching, he introduced a philosophical perspective that focused on dialogue, human interaction and the responsibility of thought. These years marked a period of convergence in which personal experience, intellectual authority and institutional affiliation came together in a new way.

Martin Buber made his most lasting impact during his years of teaching at the Hebrew University. As a teacher, he influenced students far beyond the lecture hall. His lectures combine Philosophy, religious thought and social ethics and focus on dialogue and human education. Even after his retirement, his intellectual legacy remains part of the university's self-understanding. For Buber, the university becomes a place of activity where thinking takes on responsibility and science takes on a human form.

The speaker
Dr Francesco Ferrari, is an Associate Fellow at the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt and has long been engaged as a researcher in the socio-political thinking of the Jewishreligious philosopher Martin Buber.

Armin Hüttermann's enthusiasm made it possible to create a unique museum dedicated to cartography at Mayer's birthplace in Marbach. In his lecture, Hüttermann will present Mayer's work and at the same time give an insight into the organisation of a museum dedicated to the history of cartography.

At the end of the evening, the "Friends of the Gotha Research Library" invite you to a small reception.

Guests at the upcoming events are:

• 4 March: Professor Augustin Jomier (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales & École Normale Supérieure) "At the Crossroads of Empires: North African Libraries in the 19th Century"
• 18 March: Jakob Wigand (Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg) "Smuggling Papyri: Scholarship, Law, and the Case of Papyrus Hamburgensis bilinguis 1"
• 1 April: Dr Nadine Löhr (Goethe University Frankfurt) "Reflections on the Many Forms of Commentary in Astronomical and Astrological Manuscripts"
• 15 April: Dr Michael Erdman (British Library) "Spoke not Hub: Regional Ottoman Manuscripts in the British Library"

Each lecture will last 45 minutes and will be followed by a discussion. If you would like to attend, you can register at https://uni-erfurt.webex.com/meet/veranstaltungen.fb to dial into the respective event. Recordings of the events will then be available later in the media centre of the Gotha Research Library.

The trainer is Dr Alexander Egeling, a certified trainer and coach with more than ten years of experience in the key areas of management, career planning, and communication.

Further information and registration details can be found on our event page.

Another compact course in German will take place on 2 December 2026. In addition, the university offers a extensive defence training on 15 and 16 October 2026 in English (in presence).

"The valuable book was in a poor state of conservation," reports Dr Kathrin Paasch. "We are all the more grateful that it has now been expertly restored on the initiative of the Mayor of Gotha and with funds from the Paulaner brewery." In addition to printed recipes for brewing beer, the book contains a series of unnamed handwritten entries praising the drinking and brewing habits of all peoples of the world and numerous places in the German-speaking world for their beer brewing skills. Gotha is also mentioned twice.

Against the background of praxeological approaches from the field of network research and the history of knowledge, and taking into account methods of digital humanities, the event is dedicated to the interconnections of early modern institutions and media at and around the Gotha court. The focus is on the question of the entanglement structures of aristocratic and scholarly actors in the communication spaces "book collection", "société" and "letter correspondence" as well as the discursive formations that constituted these spaces. The object of investigation is not only the book collections of the central protagonists – Duchess Luise Dorothea and Duke Friedrich III – and other learned and princely private libraries preserved in the Gotha Research Library, but also associations such as Masonic lodges or the mixed-gender Ordre des Hermites de bonne humeur. Particular attention will also be paid to the literary correspondence of outstanding personalities associated with the Gotha court, such as Juliane Franziska von Buchwald, Gottfried Christian Freiesleben, Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter, Laurent Angliviel de La Beaumelle and Voltaire, which frames the field of research.

The main questions of the conference are aimed at reconstructing the constellation of actors around the ducal couple: To what extent can practices of cooperation between Frederick and Luise Dorothea in the area of cultural and scientific activities at court be proven? Can the central position attributed to the duchess in this area be verified? What implications did her role have for the female networks at the Gotha court, which have so far only been partially investigated? What was the relationship of learned men and women to the courtly centre of power? The aim is to further analyse the communication and knowledge spaces at the Gotha court in the middle of the 18th century in their praxeological dimension.

The changeover will take place gradually over the next few weeks – centrally managed Windows devices will be converted automatically. For users, this means that they must connect all their devices (including those rarely used) to the network by 28 February to ensure a smooth transition. During normal use, Windows updates will be installed and software distributions will run. For occasional use or when travelling, software distributions should be initiated (via eduVPN).

Please note: Software distribution is only possible in the university network or via an active eduVPN connection.

Further information and instructions can also be found on our website.

The championships are usually organised by adh member universities throughout Germany and allow students and university employees to participate as individual starters or in teams. As university sport is organised by the USV for the University and the University of Applied Sciences in Erfurt, the club will be hosting the DHM in 2026. "The USV athletics department has been organising the Thuringian University Championships in road running for nine years now. With the German University Championships, we have taken on responsibility for a national sporting event for the first time," says USV President Jens Panse, who is looking forward to exciting competitions in Erfurt.

Spectators are very welcome at the event in February. Admission is free!

Further information on the announcement and the provisional schedule can be found at https://www.adh.de/kalender/details/dhm-leichtathletik-halle-4/.

Read the article here! (in German only)

• On Thursday, 19 February, the topic will be "Sign language in the shadows: Lifelong consequences of oppression". The speakers will be Paula Mund (University of Erfurt) and Christian Ebmeyer (Hamburg Deaf Association).
• On Tuesday, 17 March, Dr Lisa-Maria Hofer (Lern- und Gedenkort Schloss Hartheim) and Clara Kutsch (University of Vienna) will speak on "The situation of the Deaf Community in the Nazi era in Austria: The GzVeN and the practice of euthanasia".
• And the third lecture on Wednesday, 8 April will deal with the question of how the history of the deaf and hard of hearing (since modern times) has been communicated and researched. The speakers will be Juliane Wenke (University of Erfurt) and Helmut Vogel (Deaf History Now education and history office, Frankfurt/Main).

All events will take place from 7 to 8.30 pm and will be translated by sign language interpreters (German and Austrian) and written interpreters.

If you would like to participate, you can dial into the respective online event at https://zoom.us/j/83944351451.

So if you are interested in the profession of primary school teacher and would like to know what to expect later in your studies and appointment, the University of Erfurt is the place to be on 23 April. Visitors can expect exciting lectures and impulses, creative workshops and interesting discussion rounds in the subject areas of Mathematics and Social Studies and Science with an educational garden. They can also experiment in the media education workshop and experience the campus live.

You can find more information about "Boys' Day 2026" on our website. If you would like to take part, you can register online by 15 April 2026 via the nationwide Boys' Day radar to register.

All members of the university are addressed – whether neurotypical or neurodivergent, with or without previous contact with neurodivergence. On the day (free of committees and teaching), there will be four to five (parallel) time slots, for example short lectures and expert panels, workshops and poster presentations on relevant research and teaching projects on campus, networking opportunities and information stands.

You will find more information abput the programme in good time on our “Dies academicus” website and in our calendar of events.

The proposal promises well‑grounded research results in two areas of fundamental importance within Leibniz’s broadly conceived political thought. As a further potential, projecting the same set of research questions onto two distinct cultural contexts, and the ensuing cultural and intellectual “frequency interferences,” may generate stimuli and synergies whose character and impact remain open at the present stage of inquiry.

Dan and Gángó explain: “We look forward to the opportunity that, through collaborative work in the inspiring intellectual atmosphere of the Forschungszentrum Gotha, drawing on the centre’s expertise in intellectual, cultural, and knowledge history, and by exploiting the rich source materials of the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha – one of the largest German libraries of the early modern period – and the Universitätsbibliothek Erfurt, these potentials may be actualised in the form of scholarly results that significantly advance the state of research and open vistas for novel approaches.”

Project manager PD Dr habil. Benjamin Dreer-Göthe explains: "Our aim is to develop a teaching concept for the further education sector that supports teachers in planning, implementing and reflecting on career guidance measures." The plan is to use the programme as part of the existing "Vocational Orientation" training series run by the Thuringian Institute for Teacher Training, Curriculum Development and Media (ThILLM). "The programme is primarily aimed at teachers who have little experience with careers guidance but are expected to take on this task at their school. We want to equip them with the necessary fundamental knowledge and important basic skills."

Dr Silvio Kaak, research employee on the project, adds: "It is important to us to make the findings of careers guidance research usable for school practice. With the new course on careers guidance in teacher training, we are expanding the existing qualification programme into a comprehensive teaching programme for all three phases of teacher training."

As part of the scientific monitoring, the researchers in "BO-LAB" are also investigating whether the participants' attitudes towards career guidance are changing and whether they are actually acquiring new skills as a result of the training.

The project started in January 2026 and will run for two years.

The house itself has a chequered history: it has borne the name "Haus zur großen Arche Noah und Engelsburg" since 1395. Even then, it served university purposes and was the residence and place of study of the second rector of the old university, Amplonius Rattingk de Bercka, from 1392 to 1395. 130 years later, the printer Melchior Sachse set up his workshop in this house. He produced 224 works here, including such important works as Luther's translation of the Bible and the reprints of the Strasbourg edition of Eulenspiegel. Having become wealthy through hard work, Sachse had the building remodelled, extended and partly rebuilt in 1565 to the external appearance it still has today. From 1495, the Sachse family also owned a multi-storey outbuilding extending as far as the Breitstrom: the "Kleine Arche Noah" house, situated at an angle to Furthmühlgasse, is considered to be the place of origin of the mocking verses Epistolae obscurorum virorum (Dark Men's Letters), published anonymously in 1515 and 1516.

The property's more recent history was less glorious: although it was mainly used for residential purposes, it survived the Second World War almost unscathed, but its structural condition deteriorated rapidly afterwards. Up to 16 tenants lived here in the meantime, sometimes under difficult hygienic conditions. There were many plans to professionally renovate and reuse the building, but for a long time there was a lack of both money and building materials to realise them.

In 1996, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation took over the property as an investor. Between 1998 and 2000, the listed building was extensively renovated and converted into the Erfurt International Meeting Centre. The official inauguration and handover to the University of Erfurt took place on 2 October 2000. This was the 13th International Meeting Centre of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to open its doors in the new federal states. The centre was set up to offer academics and their families not only suitable accommodation during their research stay, but also the opportunity to establish a wide range of contacts with specialist colleagues. More than 30 years ago, the foundation developed a programme to improve the integration of foreign guests - after all, in addition to their work, it is impressions and experiences of everyday life that shape the image of Germany that guests take home with them.

You can find out more about the history and architecture of the “IBZ” at the University of Erfurt on our campus tour website (in German only).

Further information on the individual offers and the respective target group can be found on our website.

Doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers can now subscribe to the mailing list “Akademisches Qualifizierungsprogramm – Aktuell” to stay informed about programme news. 

Click here to subscribe!

If you have any questions about the Academic Skills Training, please contact Franziska Frank.

• via online form for individual titles with an identifier such as DOI or ISBN;
• for publications without an identifier by e-mail to: bibliographie.ub@uni-erfurt.de;
• as lists in any format to: bibliographie.ub@uni-erfurt.de.

Reported publication data is checked editorially and processed in accordance with standards before it is visible online in the bibliography. Publications from the previous university bibliography (HSB) are added on an ongoing basis.

The new bibliography system offers the option of creating personalised publication lists in various output formats. It can also be linked to personal ORCID profiles. Details can be found on the web pages of the University Library website.

For general questions, it is worth taking a look at the FAQ page on the bibliography. The editorial team is also happy to receive questions and suggestions by e-mail at bibliographie.ub@uni-erfurt.de .