University of Kassel becomes center for global raw materials research

The research group is headed by Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Burchardt (Faculty of Social Sciences) and Prof. Dr. Liliana Gómez (Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies and documenta Institute) and is dedicated to the central future question of the 21st century: How can the transition to post-fossil living environments succeed? The question focuses on how societies and their cultures are changing in the face of the energy transition, technological change and new raw material requirements. The international research initiative examines how people around the world produce, use and interpret raw materials - and how this shapes social and cultural orders.

Every year, the research training group brings international fellows from the humanities, cultural and social sciences to Kassel to research and teach together with the research training group team. The first funding phase is dedicated to the topic of energy.

The President of the University of Kassel, Prof. Dr. Ute Clement, emphasizes the strategic importance of the research training group: "It will add a very important element to our profile focus on sustainable transformations." At the same time, it will strengthen relations with many international research institutions, from which the university is expecting numerous top-class guest researchers in the coming years.

With "Raw Material Worlds: Cultures in Transition", a scientific hub for raw materials research in its social and cultural dimensions is being created in Kassel, a place where global transformation processes can be comparatively examined and new horizons for a socio-ecological future can be designed. The spatial embedding in the unique Kassel environment of the documenta Institute, Kassel Institute for Sustainability and Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos (CELA) creates ideal conditions for top international research and strengthens the global visibility of Kassel as a science location.

What does that mean in summary?

• The Federal Government has funded the Käte Hamburger Center for Advanced Study in the Humanities "Raw Material Worlds: Cultures in Transition" at the University of Kassel

• Kassel will thus become a center for international research on energy, raw materials and sustainability in their cultural and social significance and from a global perspective

• The research group will bring international fellows from the humanities, cultural and social sciences to Kassel

Press contact:

Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Communication and Marketing
Phone: +49 561 804-1961
Email :presse@uni-kassel.de
http://www.uni-kassel.de www.uni-kassel.de