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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) is establishing a new platform for highly qualified postdocs with the Young Academy for Cultures and Societies Research (YAC). Over the next three years, ten researchers from Freiburg and around the world will devote themselves to the topic of “The Good Life – What Makes a Good Society”.
What constitutes a good society is one of the oldest questions facing humanity – and today it is being asked with renewed urgency. In times of global crises, social tensions and profound changes, new answers are urgently needed. Starting in October 2025, ten postdoctoral researchers from various disciplines and countries will explore this question as part of the newly founded Young Academy for Cultures and Societies Research (YAC) https://uni-freiburg.de/frias/research/freiburg-postdoctoral-academy/young-acade.... From 8 to 10 October 2025, academy members met for the first time at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), which is in charge of running the academy.
“The academy enables a unique dialogue across disciplines and national borders, opening up new perspectives on the question of the good life beyond the usual disciplines, with a particularly broad spectrum of approaches,” says Prof. Dr Ralf von den Hoff, Director of FRIAS.
The YAC brings together researchers from the University of Freiburg with colleagues from other national and international universities and research institutions. The participating researchers are from the areas of philosophy, psychology, sociology, law and literary studies, communication and political science, as well as European ethnology and American studies.
The YAC is modelled on the Young Academy for Sustainability Research (YAS), which was founded in 2021, is funded by the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, and has established itself as a successful model as the world's first young academy in the field of sustainability research. With the YAC, FRIAS is building on this model and transferring it to the cultural and social sciences. Both academies – YAS and YAC – are located under the umbrella of the Freiburg Postdoctoral Academy (FPA) https://uni-freiburg.de/frias/research/freiburg-postdoctoral-academy/, which reflects the research profiles of the University of Freiburg https://uni-freiburg.de/en/research/research-profile/pathways-to-sustainability/ at the postdoctoral level.
“Together with the YAC, we are strengthening the University's research focus on languages of knowledge. While the YAS successfully identifies paths to a sustainable society, the YAC will open up new perspectives on cultural and social challenges. Both academies represent two core concerns of FRIAS and the University of Freiburg: international networking and the targeted promotion of excellent researchers in the early stages of their careers,” emphasises Prof. Dr Stefan Rensing, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation at the University of Freiburg.
The ten members of the YAC pursue their individual research at their respective home institutions and meet several times a year at FRIAS in Freiburg. There they plan projects and organise events together. They have personal and collective budgets at their disposal for this work and receive organisational support from the FRIAS team. In addition to promoting the careers of the researchers, the aim is to enable them to conduct research independently, to try out new forms of collaboration and to provide impetus at the interfaces between science and society.
“The academy creates space for creative ideas that often find no place in established structures. By allowing academy members to determine their own research topics and develop their own formats, an exceptionally dynamic research environment is created,” says Prof. Dr Ralf von den Hoff.
The members of the YAC 2025–2028
Dr Ozan Altan Altinok, Leibniz University Hannover (Philosophy/Philosophy of Life Sciences)
Dr Cornelia Baciu, University of Copenhagen (Politics and International Relations)
Dr Julius Fenn, University of Freiburg (Psychology)
Dr Elisabetta Ferrari, Aarhus University (Communication)
Dr Alena Heinritz, University of Innsbruck (Comparative Literature)
Dr Ina Kuhn, University of Freiburg (European Ethnology)
Dr Anna-Lena Oldehus, University of Freiburg (American Studies)
Dr Cornelia Pierstorff, University of Zurich (Modern German Literary Studies)
Dr Marija Radoman, University of Belgrade (Sociology)
Dr Katharina Stein, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law Freiburg (Law)
About FRIAS
The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) is the international research college at the University of Freiburg. Since 2008, it has been supporting outstanding scholars from all disciplines around the world, as well as from Freiburg and Germany, in fellowship programmes. FRIAS offers them space, time and freedom for their research for periods ranging from a few months to up to two years along with stimulating debates across disciplinary boundaries.
In addition, FRIAS supports interdisciplinary research groups and opens up science to social debate. With the Freiburg Postdoctoral Academy (FPA), it offers special opportunities to researchers in the early stages of their careers and at the same time strengthens the profile areas of the University of Freiburg, including the focus on languages of knowledge.
Contact
University and Science Communications
University of Freiburg
Tel.: +49 761 203 4302
E-Mail: kommunikation@zv.uni-freiburg.de
https://uni-freiburg.de/en/ten-postdocs-explore-questions-about-the-good-life-at...
The postdocs of the new Young Academy for Cultures and Societies Research (YAC).
Copyright: Markus Schwerer / University of Freiburg
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The postdocs of the new Young Academy for Cultures and Societies Research (YAC).
Copyright: Markus Schwerer / University of Freiburg
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