New 'Change!' Projects Use Research to Shape Change
How can our society become sustainable? The Volkswagen Foundation is funding eight new research projects with a total of €14.4 million. They are approaching this question from different angles – together with partners from the field. Topics include among others smart technologies in urban areas and the use of AI in urban development.
Coasts Under Pressure – New Strategies for Coastal Protection
Storm surges, rising sea levels, endangered coasts: as part of her Change! Fellowship, Dr Claudia Wolff from the University of Kiel is working with local stakeholders to find new ways of ensuring sustainable coastal protection on the Baltic Sea.
Research Meets Administration: Finding Practical Solutions Together
Administration without queues – this could be the outcome of Prof. Dr. Anna Maria Oberländer's 'Change!' project. Her goal: people-centred digital administration.
Research for democracy: funding programme for cooperation projects
How do democracies change in the face of global challenges? And what can science contribute to their resilience? Researchers and stakeholders outside of academia are to develop answers in cooperation projects funded by the Volkswagen Foundation for up to five years. Nora Kottmann and Cora Schaffert-Ziegenbalg present the programme.
So that everyone can have their say: Citizens' assembly on AI research
Rhetoric expert Anika Kaiser researches how people can make themselves heard on the major issues of our time – artificial intelligence (AI) being a case in point. She is the right person to take care that this grassroots democratic process does not remain too detached from reality: in her first life, she trained as a painter.
Coastal cities around the world are at risk of sinking as a result of rising sea levels in the wake of global warming. Urban researcher Hilke Marit Berger asks herself how this can be dealt with, not just technically, but above all socially and emotionally – and searches the past for answers for the future.
Manganese Nodules and Microorganisms: Life Fuelled by Radioactivity?
Radioactivity is generally considered harmful to life. Yet in manganese nodules in the deep sea, microorganisms might benefit from it. Or even live off it? This is the intriguing hypothesis that geoscientist Walter Geibert hopes to prove.
Climate Research Using Old Ship’s Logs: the Wind Leaves no Trace on the Sea
Did a volcanic eruption in 1783 shift the tropical rain belt? Old ship’s logs could provide the answer – and also shed light on the future climate for millions of people living around the equator.
