New faces,
new ideas
First ZENiT Fellows of the Zukunftskolleg
In 2023, the Zukunftskolleg launched a new group fellowship format, ZENiT = Zukunftskolleg Exchange Network: interdisciplinary Talent, which bridges short postdoctoral and tenure track positions. ZENiT offers postdoctoral researchers at the University of Konstanz the possibility to create a group of scientists and prominent individuals from the non-academic world and work on projects on the fringes of their research. It allows early career researchers to broaden their horizons, meet new people and create new networks. ZENiT follows the Zukunftskolleg’s 5i strategy and opens its doors to postdoctoral researchers at the university by offering them a fellowship for the duration of up to 3 years. The ZENiT Fellowship provides no salaries but financial support for researchers of up to €100,000 for research ideas and networking and an annual research allowance of €3,000. It gives the new fellows the opportunity to be part of the vibrant Zukunftskolleg community and to profit from the community’s internationality and interdisciplinary life. ZENiT is an important part of the University of Konstanz’s new application within the Excellence Strategy (ExStra).
The Zukunftskolleg received 12 applications in the first call for applications for the new ZENiT Fellowship Programme (application deadline: 15 December 2023). In its meeting on 25-26 January 2024, the Recruitment Committee decided to fund six applications.
These are the first 6 ZENiT Fellows that started their projects at the Zukunftskolleg in 2024
New Postdoctoral Fellows at the Zukunftskolleg
In 2023, the Zukunftskolleg launched its 18th call for applications for Postdoctoral Fellowships. We received 211 applications in total, of which – after a formal eligibility check – 67 were eligible: 26 from female, 40 from male and 1 from other researchers; 11 applications came from Germany, 56 from 29 different countries.
In its meeting on 25-26 January 2024, the Recruitment Committee decided to offer a 2-year Postdoctoral Fellowship to the following researchers:
New ZUKOnnect Fellows of the Zukunftskolleg
In 2019, the Zukunftskolleg introduced ZUKOnnect Fellowships to support early career researchers from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The fellowships strengthen the 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.
Thanks to the generous Henriette Herz Award by the Humboldt Foundation in 2020, the Zukunftskolleg was able to finance four fellowships between 2020-2023 (named as Herz Fellowships). This support for the active recruitment of excellent international early career researchers will continue from 2024 onwards as “Track B” (upon nomination by a member of the University of Konstanz) – independent applications are also possible within “Track A”.
One ZUKOnnect Fellowship is also generously co-funded by the foundation “Manfred Ulmer-Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft” at the University of Konstanz.
As part of an enhanced intra-university collaboration, the Clusters of Excellence “Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour” and “The Politics of Inequality” are funding three fellowships each in 2024/25 – allowing parallel access to activities of the Zukunftskolleg and the clusters.
The following ZUKOnnect Fellows joined the Zukunftskolleg on 1 July 2024 online for one year and will be on campus for 3 to 4 months in the autumn of 2024