International Days
October 19 to 20, 2023
With its 2023 International Days, the University of Bonn will once again be celebrating international partnerships, outstanding fledgling talent and world-class research. The Vice Rectorate for International Affairs would like to invite students, doctoral candidates, postdocs, researchers and anyone else who might be interested to come and join in the celebrations.
On October 19 and 20, 2023, a long list of international projects and initiatives launched by the University of Bonn will be showcased, current challenges and future opportunities in international cooperation—especially with partners from the Global South—will be discussed, and students and researchers will be given the chance to obtain comprehensive information. Meanwhile, cultural highlights and an illustrious roster of international guests promise to shed new light on existing issues.
WE are international: Global projects and initiatives in Bonn
A selection of the University's diverse international projects and initiatives introduce themselseves!
During the International Days, we highlight some of our many international collaborations, such as those in Ghana or Brazil. Browse around and learn more about projects that interest you.
Program details
Bonn University Ambassadors workshop
October 19
All day
As former visiting researchers of the University, our 20 Bonn University Ambassadors are united not only by their personal relationship with Bonn, but also by the desire to represent our institution well abroad. Ambassadors from universities in Jordan, Ghana, India, Brazil, Australia, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom, among others, will once again be traveling to Bonn for a joint workshop during the International Days. This annual get-together is designed to reinforce the participants’ already strong ties to Bonn through joint activities and intensive dialogue and enable the program to be developed further.
Besuch der Bonn University Ambassadors
Presentation of the state awards and the DAAD Prize
October 19
Awarding ceremony: 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Reception: 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Venue: Festsaal and Senatsaal
Event languages: German and English (simultaneous interpretation available)
Following straight on from the opening of the 2023/24 academic year, the International Days will kick off on October 19 with the presentation of the state awards and DAAD Prize to exceptional early-career researchers. The state awards are sponsored by the French, Spanish, UK and US governments and include the US Ambassador’s Award, which is making its return in 2023 following a several-year hiatus. The presentation of the Ambassador’s Award is linked to a keynote speech by Pauline Kao, the US Consul General in Düsseldorf, on the value of international academic exchange („The Role of Academic Excellence in the Transatlantic Partnership“). The state awards are traditionally conferred at the same time as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Prize for noteworthy accomplishments benefiting society and/or university life. The Vice Rectorate for International Affairs is inviting all the guests at the event to a reception afterward in the Senate Hall.
The reception will be musically accompanied by Simon Below (piano) and Yannic Hürholz (saxophone).
Panel discussion entitled “African-European Perspectives on Migration: Advancing the Field through Transdisciplinarity”
October 20
10:30 am to 11:45 am
Venue: Festsaal
Event language: English
Organized by the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Mary Setrana (Director of the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana), Asst. Prof. Dr. Maximilian Mayer (CASSIS) and Dr. Maria Ulrich (FIW)
Focusing on perspectives from Africa and Europe, the panelists will discuss the potential for inter- and transdisciplinary research partnerships to unlock a more comprehensive understanding of migration dynamics and thus take account of the need for diverse regional and methodological perspectives in the next generation of migration studies. The invited experts will share their experience of transnational cooperation and present their ideas for how knowledge exchange and joint research can advance the field of migration studies.
Panelists:
- Prof. Dr. Mary Setrana, Director of the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana
- Prof. Dr. Conrad Schetter, Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies
- Ayesha Hussain, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
- Dr. Raoul Cyril Humpert, Goethe-Institut
Moderator: Dr. des. Maria Ulrich, Forum Internationales Wissenschaft (FIW), University of Bonn
Global Fair: Celebrating cooperation with partners from Ghana and Brazil
October 20
1:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Venue: Festsaal and Senatsaal
Event languages: German and English
No registration required!
Cooperation arrangements for research and teaching with partners from Global South countries form an integral part of the University of Bonn’s internationalization strategy. As part of its Excellence Strategy, therefore, it has established a number of its own grant programs in the corresponding regions to support the (continued) development of relevant partnerships for researchers at all stages of their careers.
The Vice Rectorate for International Affairs is inviting anyone who is interested to come to an international fair on October 20 to find out about a wide range of partnerships with links to the Global South as well as funding opportunities for researchers and students. Besides this year’s strategic focus country of Ghana, where, amongst other things, the University of Bonn has forged a strategic partnership with the University of Ghana, the spotlight will also be on Brazil, where the University likewise enjoys successful cooperation arrangements with several universities.
At the Global Fair you will learn everything about the existing cooperations of the University of Bonn in Ghana, Brazil and in other countries of the so-called "Global South" as well as about the special opportunities and challenges of North-South cooperation. Meet guests from Ghana, Brazil and all over the world, gain insight into ongoing exciting research projects and connect with international foundations such as the DAAD, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and many others. Come by, even for lunch, we look forward to seeing you and networking together!
PD Dr. Eva Youkhana
1:45 pm, Festsaal
Shared Experiences - Pooling Resources: Teaching and Qualification Programs "South-South-North"
Dr. Javier Miranda
1:45 pm, Senatssaal
COINS: Enabling sustainable land management in West African smallholder farming systems
Fernanda Martinelli
2:00 pm, Senatssaal
CLEVER: Transformative change for biodiversity
Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology (IMMIP)
2:15 pm, Festsaal
Presentation of international projects at IMMIP
Dr. Renzo Giudice
2:15 pm, Senatssaal
Livelihood strategies along a forest cover gradient in Southwestern Amazonia
Prof. Dr. Achim Hoerauf
2:30 pm, Festsaal
The German-West-African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention (G-WAC)
Prof. Dr. Peter Dörmann
2:30 pm, Senatssaal
Improving nutritional quality and stability of palm oil produced by African smallholders to fulfil African consumers' needs
Ditebogo Modiegi Morare (IDOS)
3:00 pm, Festsaal
Shaping Futures: African-European Network on Development and Sustainability Academy (Shaping Futures Academy)
Sandra Papel, Hannah Scharf, Mira Zöller
3:00 pm, Senatssaal
Funding opportunities for students and researchers: Global mobility
Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann, Prof. Dr. Roberto Hofmeister Pich
3:15 pm, Festsaal
Slavery in Brazil – An example of a BCDSS Cooperation with the Global South
Dr. Maike Didero (AvH)
3:15 pm, Senatssaal
Funding opportunities for Post-Docs: Cooperation with Africa
Dr. Yvonne Walz (UNU)
15:30 Uhr, Festsaal
Research projects at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
Gudrun Chazotte (DAAD)
3:30 pm, Senatssaal
Funding opportunities for students and doctoral students: Mobility to and cooperation with Africa
Panel: Funding opportunities for cooperation with Brazil
3:45 pm, Festsaal
Prof. Dr. Roberto Hofmeister Pich, PUCRS
Prof. Dr. Draiton de Souza, PUCRS
Dr. Frauke Bode, AvH
Christine Arndt, DAAD
Prof. Dr. Felix Ankomah Asante
5:00 pm, Festsaal
The University of Ghana and its partnership with the University of Bonn
Dodzi Koku Hattoh, Modestha Mensah, Nelson Quame
5:30 pm, Festsaal
Round Table Argelander Scholars
Prof. Dr. Paul Basu,
William Nsuiban Gmayi
6:00 pm, Festsaal
Agyapadeɛ? R. S. Rattray, Asante heritage and the restitution of (colonial) knowledge - Developing a shared research agenda
Lectures by the Bonn Future Lab as part of the International Security Forum Bonn (CASSIS)
October 20
9 am to 10:15 am and 2:30 pm to 3:15 pm
Venue: Universitätsforum
Event language: English
Organized by CASSIS
The Bonn Future Lab on Strategic Foresight “Global Energy Transitions” will bring international experts together to discuss the links between energy supply and international conflicts such as the war in Ukraine as well as the importance of global power shifts for various aspects of energy security more broadly. This event is being held as part of the annual International Security Forum Bonn, which serves as a platform to gather distinguished international experts and practitioners of security and foreign policy to debate the future of transatlantic relations and key challenges in international politics. The Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) has opened two lectures up to the public: “Strategic Pathways to Sustainable Hydrogen Evolution” by Professor Dr. Detlef Stolten from Forschungszentrum Jülich (JFZ) and “Geopolitics of Hydrogen: Anticipating the Future Energy-Security Nexus” by Dr. Dawud Ansari from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). The Vice Rector of International Affairs, Birgit Ulrike Münch, will open this event with a welcoming address.
Upcoming events
Grand Opening of Leah’s World Café
TBD
Venue: 1st floor, Rabinstraße 8, 53111 Bonn
Event language: German
Organized by the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs and the Studierendenwerk Bonn
The Vice Rectorates for Diversity, International Affairs and Sustainability will be setting up “World Cafés” in various locations in the coming years. As part of its ongoing “Bonn Global Campus” lighthouse project, the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs will be marking the start of this initiative with a new, international space for exchange and art at the new home of the Faculty of Arts in Rabinstraße. With Leah’s World Café, a space has been created in partnership with the Studierendenwerk that is designed to encourage international and intercultural dialogue and showcase University projects with an international element. Besides coffee and snacks, the venue will also offer its visitors an insight into the story of a particularly remarkable alumna of the University of Bonn: Leah Goldberg, who is still regarded as one of Israel’s most important writers to this day. Before she established herself as a poet, author and translator there, however, she began her academic career at the University of Bonn, receiving her doctorate from the Faculty of Arts in 1933. After emigrating to Palestine shortly thereafter, she became a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which is now one of the University of Bonn’s strategic partner universities. Leah’s World Café pays tribute to an exceptional researcher and writer. Why not pop by and learn more?
Leah’s World Café will also devote one of its walls to exhibitions with a particularly international background or focus in order to encourage the University’s international community to exhibit art that shares their unique projects and stories. Applications are open to all.
The team from the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs cordially invites you to celebrate the opening of this new space for diverse perspectives and exchange at our University together with us.
Photography exhibition: "Die Kamera des Geographen Dege"
Opening on November 6, 2023
6:00 pm
Venue: Universitätsmuseum, Regina-Pacis-Weg 1, 53113 Bonn
Event languages: German, Korean
Organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Deutsch-Koreanische Gesellschaft together with the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs
To celebrate 140 years of German-South Korean relations, the University of Bonn will be showing photographs by the geographer and University alumnus Prof. Dr. Eckart Dege in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Deutsch-Koreanische Gesellschaft. The exhibition, which opens on November and runs until the end of the year, features pictures that Professor Dege took in South Korea over a 50-year period and was also hosted by the University of Seoul in spring 2023. It will be on display in two parts at various locations around the University Main Building. Everyone is welcome at the opening event, which will be held in the Museum of the University of Bonn.
The programm at a glance
All day: Bonn University Ambassadors workshop
As former visiting researchers of the University, our 20 Bonn University Ambassadors are united not only by their personal relationship with Bonn, but also by the desire to represent our institution well abroad. Ambassadors from universities in Jordan, Ghana, India, Brazil, Australia, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom, among others, will once again be traveling to Bonn for a joint workshop during the International Days. This annual get-together is designed to reinforce the participants’ already strong ties to Bonn through joint activities and intensive dialogue and enable the program to be developed further.
4 pm to 8 pm: Presentation of the state awards and the DAAD Prize
Following straight on from the opening of the 2023/24 academic year, the International Days will kick off on October 19 with the presentation of the state awards and DAAD Prize to exceptional early-career researchers. The state awards are sponsored by the French, Spanish, UK and US governments and include the US Ambassador’s Award, which is making its return in 2023 following a several-year hiatus. The presentation of the Ambassador’s Award is linked to a keynote speech by Pauline Kao, the US Consul General in Düsseldorf, on the value of international academic exchange („The Role of Academic Excellence in the Transatlantic Partnership“). The state awards are traditionally conferred at the same time as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Prize for noteworthy accomplishments benefiting society and/or university life. The Vice Rectorate for International Affairs is inviting all the guests at the event to a reception afterward in the Senate Hall.
Venue: Grand Hall and Senate Hall
Event languages: German and English
Registration required: Yes
10:30 am to 11:45 am: Panel discussion entitled “African-European Perspectives on Migration: Advancing the Field through Transdisciplinarity”
Focusing on perspectives from Africa and Europe, the panelists will discuss the potential for inter- and transdisciplinary research partnerships to unlock a more comprehensive understanding of migration dynamics and thus take account of the need for diverse regional and methodological perspectives in the next generation of migration studies. The invited experts will share their experience of transnational cooperation and present their ideas for how knowledge exchange and joint research can advance the field of migration studies.
Venue: Grand Hall
Event language: English
1:30 pm to 7:30 pm: Global Fair: Celebrating cooperation with partners from Ghana and Brazil
Cooperation arrangements for research and teaching with partners from Global South countries form an integral part of the University of Bonn’s internationalization strategy. As part of its Excellence Strategy, therefore, it has established a number of its own grant programs in the corresponding regions to support the (continued) development of relevant partnerships for researchers at all stages of their careers.
The Vice Rectorate for International Affairs is inviting anyone who is interested to come to an international fair on October 20 to find out about a wide range of partnerships with links to the Global South as well as funding opportunities for researchers and students. Besides this year’s strategic focus country of Ghana, where, amongst other things, the University of Bonn has forged a strategic partnership with the University of Ghana, the spotlight will also be on Brazil, where the University likewise enjoys successful cooperation arrangements with several universities.
The global fair will tell you all you need to know about the University’s current partnerships in Ghana, Brazil and other countries of the Global South as well as the unique opportunities and challenges presented by North-South cooperation. Come and meet guests from Ghana, Brazil and all over the world, make new contacts and reconnect with old friends. We look forward to seeing you!
Venue: Grand Hall and Senate Hall
Event languages: German and English
9 am to 10:15 am and 2:30 pm to 3:15 pm: Lectures by the Bonn Future Lab as part of the International Security Forum Bonn (CASSIS)
The Bonn Future Lab on Strategic Foresight “Global Energy Transitions” will bring international experts together to discuss the links between energy supply and international conflicts such as the war in Ukraine as well as the importance of global power shifts for various aspects of energy security more broadly. This event is being held as part of the annual International Security Forum Bonn, which serves as a platform to gather distinguished international experts and practitioners of security and foreign policy to debate the future of transatlantic relations and key challenges in international politics. The Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) has opened two lectures up to the public: “Strategic Pathways to Sustainable Hydrogen Evolution” by Professor Dr. Detlef Stolten from Forschungszentrum Jülich (JFZ) and “Geopolitics of Hydrogen: Anticipating the Future Energy-Security Nexus” by Dr. Dawud Ansari from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). The Vice Rector of International Affairs, Birgit Ulrike Münch, will open this event with a welcoming address.
Venue: Universitätsforum
Event language: English
Grand Opening of Leah’s World Café
The Vice Rectorates for Diversity, International Affairs and Sustainability will be setting up “World Cafés” in various locations in the coming years. As part of its ongoing “Bonn Global Campus” lighthouse project, the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs will be marking the start of this initiative with a new, international space for exchange and art at the new home of the Faculty of Arts in Rabinstraße. With Leah’s World Café, a space has been created in partnership with the Studierendenwerk that is designed to encourage international and intercultural dialogue and showcase University projects with an international element. Besides coffee and snacks, the venue will also offer its visitors an insight into the story of a particularly remarkable alumna of the University of Bonn: Leah Goldberg, who is still regarded as one of Israel’s most important writers to this day. Before she established herself as a poet, author and translator there, however, she began her academic career at the University of Bonn, receiving her doctorate from the Faculty of Arts in 1933. After emigrating to Palestine shortly thereafter, she became a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which is now one of the University of Bonn’s strategic partner universities. Leah’s World Café pays tribute to an exceptional researcher and writer. Why not pop by and learn more?
Leah’s World Café will also devote one of its walls to exhibitions with a particularly international background or focus in order to encourage the University’s international community to exhibit art that shares their unique projects and stories. Applications are open to all.
The team from the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs cordially invites you to celebrate the opening of this new space for diverse perspectives and exchange at our University together with us.
TBD
Venue: 1st floor, Rabinstraße 8
Event language: German
Opening of photography exhibition marking 140 years of German-South Korean relations
To celebrate 140 years of German-South Korean relations, the University of Bonn will be showing photographs by the geographer and University alumnus Prof. Dr. Eckart Dege in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Deutsch-Koreanische Gesellschaft. The exhibition, which opens on November and runs until the end of the year, features pictures that Professor Dege took in South Korea over a 50-year period and was also hosted by the University of Seoul in spring 2023. It will be on display in two parts at various locations around the University Main Building. Everyone is welcome at the opening event, which will be held in the Museum of the University of Bonn.
TBA
Venue: TBA
Event languages: German, Korean
Review: International Days 2022
Following the Opening of the Academic Year 2022/23, the International Days 2022 took place over a period of two weeks between 19 and 31 October. As part of the event series, the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs invited students, doctoral candidates, postdocs, researchers and interested parties to participate in a diverse program.
Information on filming and photography
During the International Days, the University of Bonn arranges for photographs to be taken and filming to be done. This will be published online, in printed media and on social media channels for the purpose of promoting its activities. Please speak to our photographers and filming team on site if you and/or your children do not wish to be photographed or filmed.
Contact information and organization
Maximilian Patzek
Amanda Henson
Partner
