The development of the rule of law in Eastern Europe, the extraction and export of raw materials in Latin America or the digitalisation of film and music in Africa and Asia - cross-border questions can best be answered through cross-border cooperation. Regional studies in Germany show how this can be achieved.
Adobe Stock / Andrey Burmakin
The regions and societies of our world are intertwined, be it politically, economically, culturally, socially, religiously or even digitally. Researching, documenting and interpreting these interdependencies is a core task of regional studies. With their knowledge and interdisciplinary collaborations, which are regionally and thematically focussed, they contribute to a better understanding of current and historical developments.
With the funding guideline (Federal Gazette of 24 September 2019), the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) promotes the theoretical, conceptual, methodological and empirical further development of area studies. Area studies also play a role in the Käte Hamburger Kollegs and Merian Centres funding measures. In addition, they are represented in the Small Subjects programmes, which are also funded by the BMFTR.
An important aim of the funding programme is to disseminate scientific findings in the academic world and beyond. The funded universities and non-university institutions therefore organise various transfer formats: they create streams, open blogs and present impressions of their work on Instagram and other social media. They also use traditional publication formats that are freely accessible via open access.
