Research cooperations
Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS)
Prof. Dr. Eva Spies and Prof. Dr. em. Ulrich Berner are Principal Investigators (PIs) at BIGSAS, the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies. The graduate school for African Studies is part of the Excellence Cluster “Africa Multiple: Reconfiguring African Studies” and it offers a supportive and rich programme for doctoral candidates within the field of African Studies.
Institute for African Studies (IAS)
Prof. Dr. Eva Spies, Prof. Dr. em Ulrich Berner, and Dr. Magnus Echtler work in close cooperation with the Institute for African Studies (IAS) both in terms of research and teaching.
The IAS supports and coordinates African Studies within 12 departments of the University of Bayreuth spread across four of the university’s six faculties. Such a broad involvement in African Studies is unique in Germany. The IAS coordinates research, teaching, and training of junior scholars, and supports exchange of information between people and institutions that are engaged in researching and teaching in and about Africa.
Junior Research Group Contemporary Islamic Cultures
Prof. Dr. Christoph Bochinger, Prof. Dr. Paula Schrode, and Dr. Benjamin Weineck are involved in the junior research group “Islamic Cultures” in Bayreuth that is in close cooperation with the Department for Islamic-religious Studies (DIRS) of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, two junior research groups were established at the DIRS: “Norm, Normativity, and Norm Changes” is based in Erlangen and “Contemporary Islamic Cultures” at the University of Bayreuth. The groups enhance each other through fruitful cooperation and exchange.
More information about the junior research group can be found here (in German).
Research Program “Religions, the State and Society” of the Swiss National Science Foundation
From 2006 to 2012, Prof. Dr. Christoph Bochinger was the chair of the steering committee of the National Research Program 58 “Religions, the State and Society” of the Swiss National Science Foundation for the support of academic research.
The Research Program scrutinized the changing religious landscape of Switzerland in the past decades. The research findings were published in 2012.
This collaborative project initiated in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Jörg Stolz, University of Lausanne, represents a follow up to the initial project also supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Project description: The Role of Religions for the Constitution of Values (in German)