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The Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) – a transdisciplinary research center at Heidelberg University – is continuing its successful work in a second round of funding. How do people imagine the end of the world? And what about worlds that have already ended? Ideas and realities of the end of the world are the subject of research at CAPAS. The federal ministry of research has approved approximately 7.6 million euros in funding for another four years, until spring 2029.
Press Release
Heidelberg, 6 June 2025
Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies: CAPAS starts its Second Funding Round
Research center receives approximately 7.6 million euros in funding for four years
The Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) – a transdisciplinary research center at Heidelberg University – is continuing its successful work in a second round of funding. How do people imagine the end of the world? And what about worlds that have already ended? Ideas and realities of the end of the world are the subject of research at CAPAS. “Our approach of systematically addressing this cross-cultural phenomenon from different perspectives proved convincing during the evaluation for the extension. The positive review confirms the excellence and impact of our research program,” emphasizes CAPAS Director and Romance Studies scholar Prof. Dr Robert Folger. The federal ministry of research has approved approximately 7.6 million euros in funding for another four years, until spring 2029.
The research center investigates how disasters and apocalyptic scenarios affect not only societies as a whole but also individuals and their immediate environments. At the same time, CAPAS also examines responses to apocalyptic events and strategies for shaping the future in their aftermath, critically analyzing these within their specific historical and cultural contexts. To achieve this, CAPAS adopts a transdisciplinary approach, annually inviting around ten internationally renowned researchers – often including artists and activists – to Heidelberg University for research stays.
The second funding phase started with a workshop on the research focus “biopolitics”. At the heart of this CAPAS annual theme for 2025/2026 is the question of how political and societal power structures or state control mechanisms influence life and survival in a world increasingly shaped by crises. To address this, the research center combines approaches from political science, cultural studies and the humanities with perspectives from the natural, life and social sciences, to which the visiting researchers are also expected to contribute. The application phase for the next fellowships, which involve spending up to twelve months in Heidelberg, starts at the beginning of July 2025. The 2026/2027 fellows will deal with the topic “subjectivity”.
Käte Hamburger Centres were established at universities by the former Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the initiative “Free space for the humanities” and supplemented by transdisciplinary research projects like CAPAS. They give researchers the opportunity – free from many obligations of everyday academic life − to investigate topics of their own choice in collaboration with outstanding national and international colleagues.
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http://www.capas.uni-heidelberg.de/en – CAPAS website
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