Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin

Wissenschaftskolleg in Wallotstrasse in Berlin-Grunewald , 2010

The Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin ( English : Institute for Advanced Study ) is an interdisciplinary research institute . It was founded in 1981 as an association based in the Berlin district of Grunewald and appoints 40 " Fellows " of high academic rank from the natural , human and social sciences to research freely chosen by them - always one or two composers, performing musicians (e.g. pianists) or writers. The Berlin Wissenschaftskolleg has been headed by historian Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger as rector since September 2018 .

characterization

The Wissenschaftskolleg wants to offer scientists the opportunity to concentrate on a self-chosen work project for an academic year, free of obligations. The researchers are selected with the help of an international advisory board, whereby emphasis is placed on interdisciplinarity and heterogeneity in the origin of the invited.

Fellows only have a residence requirement and should meet once a day for lunch and once a week for a colloquium , at which a fellow presents his work to the others and puts it up for discussion. In addition, individual outstanding artists and intellectuals are invited each year.

The fellows receive material support up to a certain upper limit so that they do not have any significant financial disadvantages due to their stay in Berlin. So that this is possible with limited funds, all fellows are asked to encourage their home institution to help finance their stay. If the salary continues to be paid, the Wissenschaftskolleg can assume replacement costs.

history

In 1980 the institutional prerequisites for the establishment of the Wissenschaftskolleg were created and the Medievalist and professor of literary studies Peter Wapnewski was appointed the first rector of the Wissenschaftskolleg. It is one of the academic institutions that see their role model in an institution whose name has become a generic term: the Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, founded in 1930 . Scientific work with the first fellows began in the academic year 1981/1982. The founding rector until 1986 was the medievalist Peter Wapnewski. He was followed by the sociologist Wolf Lepenies and the constitutional lawyer Dieter Grimm until 2001 . In 2007 the archaeologist Luca Giuliani was elected Rector. He handed over the office to the historian Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger in September 2018 .

Purpose of the association

The purpose is to give scientists the chance to concentrate on their own research work and to take up suggestions from other disciplines and different national scientific traditions.

• It serves science by enabling recognized scholars to carry out research work of their own choosing in Berlin. It promotes collaboration between researchers, especially between those from different countries and disciplines, as well as between them and other personalities in intellectual life. It pays special attention to promoting younger researchers.
• The college cultivates relationships with previous fellows and supports projects for a limited period if they are related to former fellows or serve to attract future fellows.

Ordinary members

Ordinary members are the presidents or chairmen

• the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn-Bad Godesberg,
• of the German Academic Exchange Service e. V. in Bonn-Bad Godesberg,
• of the German Research Foundation e. V. in Bonn-Bad Godesberg,
• of the Free University of Berlin ,
• the Humboldt University of Berlin ,
• the University Rectors' Conference ,
• the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science e. V. in Berlin and Munich,
• the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin,
• of the Technical University of Berlin ,
• of the Science Council .

Further full members can be admitted by resolution of the general assembly.

Legal form / registered office / publications

The Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin is legally a non-profit registered association . The association's headquarters are at Wallotstrasse 19 in Berlin-Grunewald. The Wissenschaftskolleg publishes a yearbook with texts from all fellows, which was initially published by Nicolai-Verlag in Berlin.

Ernst Reuter Science Foundation

Just like the Wissenschaftskolleg itself, the Ernst Reuter Science Foundation was established in 1980 , whose task it is to raise the funds required to run the Wissenschaftskolleg.

Anna Kruger Prize

The Anna Krüger Foundation is located at the college and awards the Anna Krüger Prize of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin to a scientist who has written an excellent work in good, understandable scientific language. The award is named after Anna Krüger , who taught didactics of German literature at the Pedagogical Institute in Weilburg and at the University of Gießen . Anna Krüger transferred her assets to the Anna Krüger Foundation and named the Wissenschaftskolleg as the heir and seat of the foundation. The prize money for the prize is 20,000 euros (as of 2017).

The winners are:

• 1993: Jens Reich
• 1996: Ulrich Raulff
• 1999: Karl Schlögel
• 2001: Jürgen Osterhammel
• 2005: Wolfgang Wieser
• 2009: Martin von Koppenfels
• 2011: Albrecht Wellmer
• 2014: Martin Mulsow

Fellows

The Fellows of the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin include Svetlana Alpers , Philippe Ariès , Peter Burke , Lorraine Daston , Jon Elster , Ute Frevert , Clifford Geertz , Carlo Ginzburg , Anthony Grafton , Hans Werner Henze , Albert O. Hirschman , Ivan Illich , Stanislaw Lem , Hilary Putnam , Quentin Skinner and Bernard Williams .

literature

• Dieter Grimm (Ed.): 25 years of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin 1981–2006. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-05-004053-X .
• Nicolaus Sombart : Journal intime 1982/83. Return to Berlin. Ivory, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-932245-60-1 .
• Peter Wapnewski : With the other eye, memories 1959–2000. Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-8270-0657-0 .
• Uwe Pörksen : Camelot in the Grunewald. Scenes from the intellectual life of the eighties. C. H. Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-66958-3 .

Web links

• Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
• An experiment in understanding - The Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
• The learned republic. 25 years of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: boarding school for great minds. In: Der Tagesspiegel , September 29, 2006
• Harp solo from the silence. In: Der Tagesspiegel , September 9, 2009 - Portrait of the college librarian Gesine Bottomley

Individual evidence

1. ^ Statutes of the Wissenschaftskolleg
2. ↑ Living and working at the Wissenschaftskolleg
3. ^ The Fellows of the First Class , accessed on January 22, 2015.
4. ↑ See holdings of the yearbooks in the German National Library: here and here  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ See statutes of the foundation
6. ↑ See Board of Trustees of the Foundation
7. ↑ Anna Kruger Foundation at wiko-berlin.de; accessed on October 22, 2017.
8. ↑ Richard Schroetter: Lord of Names. Nicolaus Sombart keeps a diary . In: Deutschlandfunk , February 2, 2004, review of Journal intime 1982/83

Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 29.5 ″  N , 13 ° 16 ′ 35.4 ″  E