Future networks?
Although with four cohorts the alumni community of ZUKOnnect and Herz Fellows is still relatively small, this year we have selected our first ZUKOnnect and Herz Alumni Ambassadors.
Since 2019, the Zukunftskolleg has welcomed a total of four cohorts of ZUKOnnect and Herz Fellows. From our last call of 2023, we welcomed eight new ZUKOnnect and Herz Fellows from countries such as Chile, Sri Lanka, Colombia and Nigeria – first online in July and from September/October 2023 in person at the Zukunftskolleg.
The ZUKOnnect Fellowships support early career researchers from Africa, Asia and Latin America, who conduct research that fits with one of the thirteen departments at the University of Konstanz.
Herz Fellowships – funded since 2020 by the Henriette Herz Award launched by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation – are part of the ZUKOnnect Fellowships, the only difference being that Herz Fellowships are awarded upon nomination by professors of the University of Konstanz. Candidates cannot apply directly to this fellowship programme.
ZUKOnnect and Herz Fellows can use their time as fellows to extend their research networks and familiarize themselves with the research environment at the University of Konstanz while keeping their position at home. The fellowships strengthen cultural diversity at the Zukunftskolleg and stimulate the intellectual and integrative discourse among its fellows. By broadening its academic horizons, the Zukunftskolleg aims to promote greater intercontinental dialogue in research.
Our ZUKOnnect and Herz Fellows join the Zukunftskolleg online for one year and are on campus for 3 to 4 months in the autumn.
To ensure that our Herz and ZUKOnnect fellows remain a part of our academic family and create lasting ties, we particularly focus on building a community of alumni fellows. That is why we chose our first ZUKOnnect and Herz Alumni Ambassadors this year!
The Zukunftskolleg builds on earlier achievements of the university and ties in with the ambassador model by appointing alumni fellows as ambassadors. Appointed as “Herz/ZUKOnnect Ambassadors”, selected alumni (about 2 per cohort) carry out related activities on their return to their home institutions or in their next career steps at another institution, such as:
(1) Providing advice for colleagues or doctoral researchers interested in a research stay in Konstanz
(2) Taking an active part in recruitment by disseminating the upcoming calls within their networks and encouraging peers and junior researchers to apply to the ZUKOnnect programme
(3) Returning to the University of Konstanz to create lasting ties and further strengthen research collaborations
Creating alumni networks with Germany, but also between less-represented world regions, by actively promoting and filling them with life is essential to the Zukunftskolleg’s objective of establishing truly global networks and research partnerships on equal terms.
Thus, our ambassadors will share their knowledge about the fellowship gained during their own time as fellows, as well as take our active recruitment initiative home and contribute to the outreach of the pilot programme and sensitization towards the specific situation of researchers coming from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
As a ZUKOnnect and Herz Alumni Ambassador, our fellow alumni have the following benefits and obligations:
Benefits
- University email address for the duration of their position (1 year, renewable) and access to digital services, communication and information linked to the university email account. Ambassadors will be equipped with brochures and merchandise for this task.
- One return research visit (travel costs only and limited to €1,000) to the University of Konstanz (supported by VEUK, the Alumni Association of the University of Konstanz)
- Invitation to Scientific Retreats of the Zukunftskolleg
Obligations
- Distribute and advertise upcoming calls via their networks/social media channels
- Participate in ZUKOnnect and Herz information sessions prior to annual call deadlines
- Organize virtual meetings with selected fellows at the beginning of their online fellowship and before coming to Konstanz to offer advice to newly selected fellows
- Give talks at their home university on the University of Konstanz/Zukunftskolleg and the fellowship programmes
Our first ZUKOnnect and Herz Alumni Ambassadors are Mahsa Mozafary, Priyanshu Goel and Josiah Taru.
Mahsa Mozafary
Mahsa was a Herz Fellow from September 2021 onwards and affiliated with the Department of Computer and Information Science. Her project was entitled: “Various Colourings of Fractional Powers of Graph”. For Mahsa, the fellowship was her first experience both of living abroad alone and of working at another university with a different language and subject culture.
“It was a great experience because I got to know other professors and other topics in different areas they were working on,” says Mahsa. “Besides, I was introduced to other cultures by making friends with other visiting scholars from other countries. Now, I have decided to be an honorary ambassador in order to help other students and researchers to experience such opportunities and help them to pursue their careers. By being in another country and engaging with other professors, they can foster their independence and self-confidence, and I am sure many paths will then be open to them.”
Priyanshu Goel
Priyanshu is also from the Herz Cohort 2021 and affiliated with the Department of Physics. His project is called: “Synthesis of highly efficient MOF and perovskite composite for development of stable and efficient optoelectronic device”.
“One of the best parts of my fellowship was truly the Zukunftskolleg, which has a top-class research atmosphere with international as well as interdisciplinary collaboration,” Priyanshu explains. “People and ideas in the Zukunftskolleg make this fellowship truly outstanding in that it provides worldwide opportunities for its members to realize new ideas with their cutting-edge research and help them in future collaborations.”
Josiah Taru
Josiah is from the ZUKOnnect Cohort of 2020 and working on the project “Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity, cityscapes and urban form in Harare” with the Department of History and Sociology.
“Being a ZUKOnnect Fellow opened a lot of doors for me,” says Josiah. “The collegiality and cosmopolitan atmosphere at the University of Konstanz is captivating. I want to make the University of Konstanz and the Zukunftskolleg visible in Zimbabwe through my role as a ZUKOnnect Ambassador.”
We will be very pleased to welcome them back to Konstanz for their return research visits soon (supported by VEUK, the Alumni Association of the University of Konstanz).
Towards the end of the funding period of the Henriette Herz Award (2021-2024), the Zukunftskolleg asked the Staff Unit Quality Management of the University of Konstanz to evaluate the fellowship programme. The evaluation focused particularly on the support structures offered to the funded fellows, their online affiliation, the differences in the selection process between Herz and ZUKOnnect, the fellows’ integration into the German academic system and the evaluation by the respective Local Hosts.
At the time of the evaluation, only two selection rounds for the Herz Programme had been completed. Within the evaluation, it was seen that processes and services for the fellows are continuously reviewed and further developed in order to better meet the needs of the fellows and those involved in the selection process. It can be assumed that with increasing experience there will be further optimization and the programme could establish itself accordingly at the Zukunftskolleg. The recommendations of the evaluation report can contribute to this:
1. The University of Konstanz’s and the Zukunftskolleg’s commitment to stronger networking with the Global South is highly valued by those researchers involved in the Herz Programme. They contest a high interest in continuing programmes that encourage this.
2. Herz and ZUKOnnect Fellows are perceived as equals. Even researchers involved in the Herz Programme find it difficult to differentiate between Herz and ZUKOnnect Fellows.
3. Only a few professors at the University of Konstanz stated that they have connections to the Global South and even fewer work collaboratively with early career researchers from the Global South. The accessible pool of candidates for the Herz Fellowship is therefore very limited and there is little competition between nominees. Most respondents admit that they have only limited time to search for suitable candidates for the Herz Fellowship Programme. There is no indication that this situation will change in the short or medium term.
Recommendations
(i) The Zukunftskolleg could consider expanding the group of people allowed to nominate fellows. Including people at the advanced postdoctoral level is conceivable.
(ii) The Zukunftskolleg could consider informing professors about highly qualified applicants for the Herz Fellowship who could not prevail in the ZUKOnnect selection process. By opening a line of communication with them, they could possibly apply for a Herz Fellowship the following year.
(iii) The Zukunftskolleg could discuss with staff of the International Office and the representatives for internationalization in the departments about how to help professors to find excellent candidates (e.g. screening).
4. Herz and ZUKOnnect Fellows highly appreciate the support measures they participated in during their on-site visit. However, due to scheduling conflicts and unclear registration deadlines, it is not always possible for fellows to participate in such measures during the on-site visit.
Recommendation
(iv) The Zukunftskolleg could consider whether courses in the Career Kit Plus programme can also be offered online during the digital affiliation period (before and after the on-site visit). If possible, registration deadlines could be handled more flexibly or fellows could be informed earlier about registration deadlines.
5. Fellows appreciate the digital affiliation concept. Nevertheless, many practical issues limit collaboration with other researchers at the University of Konstanz (e.g. poor internet connection, different time zones, no virtual meetings in the departments). Access to library resources and the use of the university email address are particularly valued, with the latter having a highly positive effect on the fellows’ career opportunities in application processes and publication procedures.
Recommendations
(v) The Zukunftskolleg could make the departments/Local Hosts even more aware of the need to add virtual components to events.
(vi) The Zukunftskolleg should try to extend the duration of use of the UKN email address for fellows beyond the time of their digital affiliation.
6. In most cases, there seems to be no collaboration between the Local Host and the Herz Fellow in the run-up to the selection process. The chances of integrating the Herz Fellows into the university on a greater scale is also rather low due to the limited duration of the on-site visit. Since most of the fellows are in Europe for the first time, they need time to find their bearings in their new surroundings.
Recommendations
(vii) The Executive Committee could pay more attention in the selection process to applications where collaboration between Local Host and nominee already exists.
(viii) The Zukunftskolleg could consider making the Herz Programme more flexible with regard to the duration of the on-site visit. One option would be to extend the on-site visit up to a maximum of six months. Another option might be to offer fellows the possibility for a second stay at the end of their fellowship.
(ix) The Zukunftskolleg could think about mentors for the fellows on doctoral or postdoctoral level who come from a similar cultural background and can help them to settle in.
7. The potential of the Herz Fellowship Programme for the university has not yet been fully realized at the meso and macro level. The university’s primary goals for the programme do not yet seem clear. Is the intention of the Herz Fellowship to help the university strengthen its networks in the direction of the Global South and possibly also to attract interesting researchers to the university and to stimulate its own research? Or is it more a programme aimed at promoting democracy and supporting development in the Global South?
Recommendation
(x) The Zukunftskolleg should reflect on the goals of the Herz Fellowship Programme. If the goal is to strengthen research networks in the direction of the Global South, the Zukunftskolleg could implement measures to raise the potential of the Herz (and ZUKOnnect) Programme by creating stronger ties between the home universities of the fellows and the University of Konstanz. For example, events could be organized with the support of the fellows, where researchers of the University of Konstanz present their research at the fellows’ home universities. In certain cases, the Zukunftskolleg could try to promote closer university partnerships (e.g. student exchange, research talks) with the fellows’ home universities with the support of the International Office.