Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht to give lecture and workshops at FRIAS

Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Albert Guérard Professor in General and Comparative Literature at Stanford University is one of the most internationally renowned literary scholars, cultural theorists and public intellectuals. From 7th to 9th December 2009, he will make a second guest appearance at FRIAS. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht’s public lecture on Monday, 7th December (8:15 pm, Kollegiengebäude I, HS 1010), is dedicated to the question: “Is there no way around Martin Heidegger at present?” In addition, Professor Gumbrecht will host two workshops as part of the academic colloquium at the FRIAS School of Language & Literature: on Tuesday, 8th December (10:00 am – 12:00 pm, FRIAS seminar room), the workshop will focus on the keyword “Creativity”; while the session on Wednesday, 9th December (10:00 am – 12:00 pm, FRIAS seminar room), is devoted to the topic “Saddle period: the possibilities and problems of a concept”.

Second competition for interdisciplinary research groups announced

The academic year 2010/2011 will see the return of a competition for interdisciplinary research groups at FRIAS. The competition is open to scholars from all faculties of the University of Freiburg, but in particular to those from academic fields which are not yet represented in the four FRIAS schools. The FRIAS directorate sees this initiative as a major contribution to strengthening our research college as a whole, and as a welcome means of intensifying productive interactions with the university.

"Hermann Staudinger Lecture" with Nobel prize laureate Rolf Zinkernagel

The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, School of Life Sciences – LIFENET looks forward to the next “Hermann Staudinger Lecture” with Nobel prize laureate Rolf Zinkernagel on Thursday, December 10, 4.15 pm. Zinkernagel will talk about “Experiments with Surprise” at the Aula, KG I, Platz der Universität 3.

LiLi Fellow Christian Mair appointed President-elect of ISLE

Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Christian Mair, Chair of English Linguistics at the University of Freiburg and currently Internal Senior Fellow of the FRIAS School of Language & Literature, was elected President-elect of the International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE) in an electronic ballot of all society members which ended on 15th October 2009. From 2011 onwards, he will be in a position to influence the fortunes of this prestigious society from the top. Professor Mair will become the first president of this international English language society who comes from neither Great Britain nor the USA.

“Linguistics and Literary Studies” Ideas Competition

The further development of Freiburg’s research profile with regard to the intersection of linguistics and literary studies is the driving force behind a “linguistics and literary studies” ideas competition launched by the School of Language and Literature at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies. The competition is open to all types of projects (e.g. workshops, conferences, cooperation projects with renowned national or international researchers etc.) whose innovative research question illustrates the value of a research approach combining linguistics and literary studies and thus contributes to developing relevant research methods. Under certain conditions, such as for the purposes of start-up funding, funds may also be made available for the preparation of research projects financed using third-party funds which address relevant topics.

Eugen-Graetz Prize awarded to two Junior Fellows of the School of Soft Matter Research

The opening ceremony for the current academic year at Freiburg’s Albert-Ludwig University saw the conferment of the Eugen-Graetz Prize on not just one but two junior fellows of the FRIAS School of Soft Matter Research, namely Dr Sabine Ludwigs and Dr Aurelio Mateo-Alonso. Dr Sabine Ludwigs, director of an Emmy Noether junior research group, received the award for her work on the synthesis and characterisation of new functional nanohybrid materials suitable for optoelectronic applications, such as solar cells or electrochromic windows. Dr Aurelio Mateo-Alonso was awarded the prize for his work on the development, synthesis and characterisation of fullerene-driven molecular machines.

School of Language & Literature announces the 2010 Young Researchers Contests and invites researchers to apply for Internal Senior Research Fellowships

Following the enormous success of their junior researchers conferences in 2008 and 2009, the FRIAS School of Language & Literature has announced two more competitions for junior research groups in the fields of literary studies and linguistics for the year 2010. In addition, the School of Language & Literature at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) will award another series of research grants (Internal Senior Research Fellowships) for the period between 1st October 2010 and 30th September 2012.