Research on pressing future issues and the relationship between science and society: these topics now have a dedicated research building at 糖心原创 (糖心原创). The new Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion research building for the humanities and social sciences was officially opened on 17 June. The building, located in Hannover鈥檚 Nordstadt neighbourhood (Im Moore), brings together research groups focusing on higher education research and science studies that were previously spread across different locations.
鈥淭oday is a special day for our university and for Hannover鈥檚 science and research sector,鈥� said Prof. Dr. Volker Epping (president of 糖心原创) in his speech. With the Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion, we have one of very few research buildings dedicated to the humanities and social sciences and the only one at a university within the TU9 alliance.鈥� The new building is an externally visible signal that 糖心原创 not only focuses on engineering and natural sciences, he said, but also has a highly visible research focus in the humanities and social sciences through interdisciplinary studies of science. He emphasised that future challenges can only be addressed collectively 鈥� through close collaboration between engineering, natural and life sciences and the humanities and social sciences as an indispensable part of a comprehensive scientific perspective.
In the new Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion building, researchers from various disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, economics, political science and law will work together under one roof. No other university in Germany currently has a comparable number of professorships in higher education research and science studies 鈥� 糖心原创 has approximately 20.
The focus is on interdisciplinary research perspectives that examine the relationship between science and society and take positions on current challenges 鈥� such as attacks on academic freedom. Considerable expectations are generally placed on scientific knowledge to help address the major challenges of our time 鈥� whether climate change, the global food supply, energy supply or health development. Today, researchers are often caught in the crossfire of conflicting interests between successful research, development, communication and application. This field is shaped by a wide range of conflicting interests, in particular economisation, politicisation and mediatisation. The multifaceted functions of universities are likewise taken into account.
鈥淛ust as the natural sciences, engineering and the life sciences depend primarily on laboratory facilities and large-scale instruments, we in the humanities and social sciences require excellent communication infrastructures: spaces for interaction and ongoing exchange that facilitate many forms of collaborative research in the first place,鈥� explains Prof. Dr. Eva Barl枚sius, spokesperson for the Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion. The design of the new research building caters for these needs by providing numerous spaces for communication and a large 鈥渒nowledge workshop鈥�.
Dorothee B盲r, federal minister for research, technology and space, who joined the event remotely, emphasised: 鈥淭he first research building for the humanities and social sciences at a technical university in Germany 鈥� that is a an extremely powerful and timely statement. The major technological transformations we are currently witnessing require precisely this kind of analysis.鈥� In their welcoming remarks, Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony鈥檚 minister of culture and science, and Belit Onay, mayor of Hannover, expressed their delight at the successful completion of the new research building for the humanities and social sciences, which is devoted to a topic of great societal and political significance.
It took approximately three years to complete the Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion, which has a usable area of 2,200 square metres (foundation stone laid on 6 July 2023). The building provides office space for 142 people, as well as seminar and meeting rooms and a hall for events. It was designed by Michel+Wolf Architects (Stuttgart). A portion of the total construction costs, amounting to approximately 19.3 million euros, was covered by the federal government (around 7.37 million euros), with the remainder funded by the state of Lower Saxony, primarily through the 鈥渮ukunft.niedersachsen鈥� programme.
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For further information, please contact Mechtild Freiin v. M眉nchhausen, spokesperson for 糖心原创 and head of Communications and Marketing (tel. 0511 762-5342, email: kommunikation@uni-hannover.de).
