The Oxford–Berlin Research Partnership
Professor Alexander Betts, University Local and Global Engagement Officer, shares his recent experience of attending the annual Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin
From left to right: Anna Luhrmann, Petra Schleiter, Alexander Betts, Carsten Holtkamp and Lora Viola
- We participated in the Falling Walls Science Summit 2024, 7–9 November, which marked the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
- We are renewing our Oxford–Berlin Research Partnership to support strategic research collaboration and offer opportunities to early-career researchers.
- We are strengthening our wider connections to Europe, including recently signing a partnership with the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the revitalisation of the Europaeum.
The Oxford–Berlin Research Partnership is one of the University’s largest multi-institutional research collaborations.
Created in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, it has been running for 7 years, facilitating opportunities for Oxford researchers at all career stages to connect and collaborate with researchers across the four Berlin University Alliance (BUA) institutions – Humboldt Universität, Freie Universität, Technische Universität and the Charité (one of the largest university hospitals in Europe), as well as more widely across Berlin.
A delegation from Oxford attended the annual Falling Walls Science Summit, 7–9 November, and held a series of meetings with partner institutions based in Berlin. As one of the highlights of the Berlin calendar, the summit brings together researchers with policy-makers, entrepreneurs and cultural leaders, offering an opportunity for us to connect with our partners across the city.
This year’s summit marked the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the context of the Oxford–Berlin Partnership, BUA and Oxford jointly organised a Falling Walls panel on ‘Democracy Under Attack’. Taking place in the week of the US presidential elections and the collapse of the German coalition government, it could hardly have been better timed.
I enjoyed moderating the panel, which featured Professor Petra Schleiter, who is working to build a new Centre for Democratic Resilience in Oxford. She spoke alongside speakers from research, politics and business within Berlin, including Anne Luhrmann, the youngest ever Bundestag parliamentarian, Professor Lora Viola from the Freie Universität, and Carsten Holtkamp, Director of Corporate and Public Affairs at consultancy firm Kreab. The panel explored themes such as the underlying causes of democratic backsliding, and effective institutional and societal responses.
Democratic resilience is just one of several areas of research collaboration taking place within the Oxford–Berlin Partnership. Others include ageing societies, energy systems and digital humanities, with the leadership from colleagues across every academic division of the University.
With the UK having rejoined Horizon Europe, and the new government seeking to strengthen cooperation with Germany and Europe, we too are in the process of renewing and updating the Oxford–Berlin Research Partnership. Oxford–Berlin 2.0 will aim to foster a series of strategic collaborations related to major global challenges, with the potential to lead to world-leading research, while also supporting early-career opportunities for mobility and exchange.
The partnership is coordinated by our International Engagement Office, and Oxford has office space at the prestigious Berlin–Brandenburg Akademie der Wissenschaft (BBAW), the regional equivalent of the British Academy or the Royal Society. It is located within a stone’s throw of historical central Berlin and available for our researchers to use.
There are lots of ways for researchers at all stages to get involved, whether or not you have pre-existing networks in Berlin. Several of our academics have been awarded Einstein Fellowships to spend time at BUA institutions and to build research capacity in Berlin. Every year we convene an annual symposium, and next year’s will take place in September and focus on the theme of ‘Innovation: Pathways to Social Impact’, with plenary sessions and breakout workshops across the humanities, sciences and social sciences. In January, we will launch our annual seed funding call to support collaboration between Oxford and Berlin-based partners. We believe that these new connections have the potential to become tomorrow’s externally funded joint research programmes.
In addition to the Oxford–Berlin Partnership, we are also renewing our commitment to Oxford’s connections to Europe more generally. In September, the Vice-Chancellor signed a new 5-year partnership agreement with the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) to provide a range of mobility and exchange opportunities for our researchers to spend time in Brussels, and vice versa. Meanwhile the Europaeum, based at St Antony’s College, has new leadership, and is revitalising its programmes for student exchange with partner universities across Europe.
To learn more, please get in touch with our International Engagement Office at international.engagement@admin.ox.ac.uk.
