Humboldt Talent Travel Awards

International research alumni bring young talents to Humboldt-Universität - Return grants

You used to conduct research at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and are now working in science abroad? With a Humboldt Talent Travel Award you can come back to the HU for up to two weeks accompanied by a talented junior researcher. This travelling scholarship gives you and your junior researcher the opportunity to strengthen the network with your scientific cooperation partners at the HU.

Who can apply?

The awards are open to HU research alumni, who now work abroad, to travel with a junior scholar from their university. Applicants must have conducted research at HU at doctoral, post-doctoral or a more advanced level, and then continued their academic career abroad. The junior researchers who accompany the alumni should usually be PhD candidates.

The funding

Each Humboldt Talent Travel Award grants recipients a maximum of €5,500. The funding covers travel and accommodation costs, as well as materials for workshops and networking events. The research alumni and young researchers also receive a workspace for the duration of their stay. The travel and accommodation costs covered by the Humboldt Talent Travel Awards are based on current rates for business trips of the HU. The rate lies between €60 and €80 for accomadation plus a daily allowance of €24. 

Application procedure

The Humboldt Talent Travel Awards are awarded once a year through a competitive procedure. Applicants must submit a completed application form, accompanied by a letter of support from their cooperation partner at HU. The selection committee is made up of two HU researchers and a member of HU’s International Strategy Office.

Successful applicants must begin their return visit to HU within twelve months of receiving the award. They are also requested to submit  a final report (max. two pages) within four weeks after the completion of their visit.

Upcoming Research Visits to HU

Prof. Dr Xujun Gao with Ye Yu from Tongji University, China (2019)

Research project at the Faculty of Law:

Research on the harmonisation of the European rules on digital contracts and digital content, and their influence on Chinese Law; block lecture „Introduction to Chinese Law“ for students of the German-Chinese Master’s Programme, in preparation for their visit to China.

Prof. Dr Aderemi Raji-Oyelade with Charles Akinsete from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (2019)

Research project at the Institute for Asian and African Studies:

Collation and analysis of a number of new African speech acts, otherwise known as „proverbials“; organisation of a workshop entitled “Postmodernism and proverbials in postcolonial Africa“.

Dr Alessandro Spila with Flavia Benfante from Sapienza University, Italy (2019)

Research project in the Department of Art and Visual History:

Continuation of Dr Spila’s project MuMoSiSt („Multidisciplinary approach to multilayer monumental site studies: the case of the Quirinal Hill in Rome”) that he started in 2015; organisation of a two-day seminar on “Ancient Roman monuments and related post-ancient documentation. Case studies of applied research: restoration, enhancement, dissemination.”

Prof. Dr Seth Holmes with Levi Vonk from University of California, Berkeley, USA (2019)

Research project at the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research (BIM):

Development of a working group of social scientists who work on mobility and migration; co-organisation of the “Mobility, Migration, and Health“ workshop (in collaboration with BIM and Re:Work, among others).

Dr Leandro Macchi with Pedro Fernandez from the National University of Tucuman, Argentina (2019)

Research project in the Geography Department:

Incorporation of newly gathered field data into ongoing analyses of the optimisation of sustainable landscapes, and the identification of priority areas for conservation in the Chaco;

organisation of round table discussions about the question of how different livestock systems shape the Chacoan landscape.

 

Previous Humboldt Talent Travel Award Recipients

Dr Margit Feischmidt with Ildikó Zakariás, Hungary (2017)

Dr Margit Feischmidt and Ildikó Zakariás from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences visited the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research (BIM) in 2017. Their main research focus was on the attitudes and motivations of European migrants (Hungarians and Poles in Germany) towards new immigration waves from outside Europe. During their stay they gathered qualitative data on the attitudes of Hungarian and Polish migrants living in Germany, through interviews and surveys.

Prof. Dr Dieter Stern with Amber Ivanov, Belgium (2017)

In 2017, Prof. Dr Dieter Stern and Amber Ivanov from the University of Ghent returned to the Department of Slavic and Hungarian Studies. Their aim was to establish a broader and institutional basis for two database projects in the field of medieval Slavic studies. Both scholars also gave a presentation about their current research.

Dr Alexander White with James Moreland, USA (2017)

Dr Alexander White and James Moreland from the University of Washington developed a new experiment in 2017 to investigate cognitive influences on an eye movement reflex. They also attended the European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP),  which was organized by Prof. Dr Martin Rolfs from the Department of Psychology.

“It is a great opportunity to continue research programs that would otherwise have died out due to distance and separation between the team members. I am very grateful for this opportunity.”

Dr Ronaldo Rodrigues Pelá with Filipe Metusalem, Brazil (2017)

Junior professor Dr Ronaldo Rodrigues Pelá and Dr Filipe Matusalem from the Aeronautics Institute of Technology in São José dos Campos returned to the Department of Physics at HU in 2017. They continued their research within the framework of density functional theory (DFT). During Dr  Pelá’s previous visit (2014-2016) he implemented the LDA-1/2 method. Since it showed some limitations the main objective of the 2017 stay was to overcome these, thus further improving the method.

Prof. Jonathan Hyslop with Marcus Melck, South Africa (2017)

Professor Jonathan Hyslop and PhD candidate Marcus Melck from the University of Pretoria did research on the following topic during their stay at Humboldt University in 2017:

„German Communists in Africa: The Life Courses of the DDR’s Africa Experts“

They were particularly interested in finding out more about the personal interactions between the German officials and members of African post-independence governments and liberation movements.

Prof. Jorge O. Sofo with Mark J. DelloStritto, USA (2016)

In 2016 Professor Jorge O. Sofo and Mark J. DelloStritto from Pennsylvania State University (State College, Pennsylvania, USA) visited the Department of Physics and held a “Hands-on Workshop on Excitations in Solids”.

DelloStritto explained: “It is nice to discover the different projects students and researchers are working on, how they intersect with each other, and how having multiple approaches to a problem and levels of expertise can drive a research program forward.”

Prof.  Anel du Plessis with Dr Oliver Fuo, South Africa (2016)

Professor Anel du Plessis describes her stay at the Faculty of Law with Dr Oliver Fuo:

The travel award exceeded our expectations considering what we managed to get done in a fairly limited space of time”.

Du Plessis and Fuo from North-West University (Potchefstroom, South Africa) were able to strengthen an already existing joint research project with the topic of “Safe and sustainable cities in the South African and German contexts”.

Prof. Sule Emmanuel Egya with John Ngbede Oyishoma, Nigeria (2016)

Prof Sule Emmanuel Egya and John Ngbede Oyishoma from IBB University (Lapai, Nigeria) used their visit to the Institute for Asian and African Studies to organise a workshop on: “The Method of African Literary and Cultural Analysis”.

Egya sums up the seminar: “The workshop afforded me an opportunity to interact closely with the MA students, to know their projects, and to offer advice on the best methodology in undertaking their research projects.”

 

 

 

 

 

Contact

 

 

Jennifer Koch

International Scholar Services

Unter den Linden 6
10099 Berlin
Room 1069
 
Tel.: +49 30 2093-20097
Fax: +49 30 2093-20077

 

Humboldt Talent Travel Awards - Application Form

Here you can find the Application Form as PDF download.