Visiting programme: "Global Talents for Local Transformations"

The visiting programme "Global Talents for Local Transformations" was devised in the framework of the Ideas Competition "International Research Marketing." It is part of the initiative "Research in Germany" and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The visiting scholars come to the University of Vechta for a six-month, structured visiting programme. The visiting programme will take place from October 31st, 2021, to April 30th, 2022, and the visiting scholars are supported by a monthly scholarship. They will participate in a cross-disciplinary supporting programme, which will provide them with essential information concerning research funding programmes and landscape in Germany and skills in knowledge transfer through a combination of training, counseling, and networking events.

The visiting scholars will cooperate with a researcher (host) at the University of Vechta and present their research project as part of an interdisciplinary Brown Bag Seminar Series (in English). Moreover, they will have access to a digital platform, where they will be able to post relevant research-related content – also in formats that are more accessible to the broader public - and initiate an interdisciplinary dialogue under the umbrella theme "Transformation processes in rural areas." The digital platform should encourage an academic dialogue with relevant local social actors.

The umbrella theme: “Transformation processes in rural areas”

The rural setting of the University of Vechta makes it a privileged venue to observe many current challenges of our transforming world: from sustainability issues raised by intensive animal farming, to the role of education for a sustainable development; from societal challenges posed by an increasingly aging population especially in rural areas, to the cultural transformations brought about by pervasive globalisation processes. Despite their crucial role in understanding such important phenomena, rural areas are underrepresented in the German University landscape, as the internationally renowned universities are located mainly in urban centres. “Global talents for Local Transformations” aims to represent an international programme that addresses and is tailored to the specificities of a rural university and its location.