Successfully funded initiatives and guest invitations 

Podcast „Auf den Spuren alter Kulturen“ (Exploring Ancient Cultures)

The funding supported a podcast in which experts from various disciplines of classical studies discuss their research and methods. Episodes are published via letscast.fm and accompanied by posts on the MCAW Instagram channel. Published episodes cover topics such as the historical-comparative method, ancient city history, interdisciplinary research in the Andes, Germanic language and onomastics, and ceramic studies. Additional episodes have been recorded and will be released soon. The project provided the host team with practical experience in podcast production and intensive exchange with international scholars. At the same time, it strengthened academic and interdisciplinary networks, improved collaboration between different areas of classical studies, and enhanced the international visibility of Philipps University Marburg.

Roundtable Event “Cooperative research: a conversation across disciplines, histories and cultures” 

In May 2025, the University of Marburg hosted an interdisciplinary roundtable titled “Cooperative research: a conversation across disciplines, histories and cultures.” The event brought together researchers from different fields and career stages to explore the potential of cooperative and participatory research approaches. The exchange offered important impulses for future collaborative research and impact generation practices across the disciplines and Faculties involved, including the Department of History and Cultural Studies (FB 06), Department for Social Sciences and History (FB 03) and the Center for Near and middle Eastern Studies (CNMS).

Discussions focused on how collaboratively developed research can enhance understanding of societal dynamics and support new forms of knowledge exchange. A two-day workshop accompanying the roundtable provided additional space to refine ideas and develop contributions for a joint publication project.

The event inspired several follow-up activities, including the preparation of a panel proposal for an international academic conference and strengthened dialogue on science communication and public engagement within the university. By fostering exchange across disciplines, the initiative opened up new perspectives on cooperative research and laid the groundwork for continued collaboration.

Kurdish Documentary Cinema KUDOC-MAP 

The funding supported the development of the interactive online map „Kurdish Documentary Cinema“ (KuDoC-map), created during the Summer Semester 2025 seminar „History of Kurdish Documentary Cinema“ at Philipps University Marburg. The project aims to systematically document Kurdish documentary films, which remain largely unarchived due to war, conflict, and lack of institutionalization. The platform visualizes key data on feature-length films, including filming and production locations, on a dynamic world map combined with a chronological timeline. In the first phase, students created a dataset of around 100 films, supplemented by a workshop on data visualization, digital mapping, and open-science communication. The results are accessible on the website kudocmap.com. The funding strengthened interdisciplinary collaboration, produced open-access scientific data, fostered student initiative, and contributes to the sustainable documentation and visibility of Kurdish documentary cinema.

Interdisciplinary Initiative and Guest Invitation:
Innovative Approaches to Mathematics for Blind and Visually Impaired People

Within the Creative Space funding, Yannik Waßmuth (FB 12), Kai Kortus (FB 01) and Thomas Busch (FB 10) developed new concepts for tactile, audio-tactile and digitally accessible STEM materials and systematically tested them in a dedicated workshop. The team combined several materials and tools, created initial technical prototypes—most notably for the accessible online calculator “Arithmico”—and established a coherent project portfolio. The group also invited Kyle Keane, an internationally recognized expert in accessible mathematics, whose contributions significantly advanced the development of methods, materials and emerging standards. This work led to several third-party funding proposals, including a BMBF submission, the approved “MarBMINT” project and an additional application to the Tschira Foundation, as well as a submitted journal article. Collaboration with the blista and the University of Bristol strengthened an international network that supported advances in accessible digital STEM standards and enhanced UMR’s profile in inclusive STEM education.

Interdisciplinary Imitative: International Conference „Echoes of Change. Exploring the Dynamics of Religious Atmospheres“

From May 15 to 17, 2025, the Research Training Group 2844 “Staging Religious Atmospheres in Ancient Cultures” hosted its first international conference titled “Echoes of Change. Exploring the Dynamics of Religious Atmospheres.” The organization of the conference was made possible through the funding of the Creative Space project. The three-day event explored the dynamics and variability of religious atmospheres in antiquity and contemporary contexts from an interdisciplinary perspective. Through two keynotes, 14 presentations, and three workshops, theoretical approaches and case studies—ranging from the ancient Mediterranean, 19th-century Tehran, to modern Japan—were discussed. Special attention was given to the roles of time and space in the creation and transformation of atmospheres. A panel discussion also addressed the possibilities for historical reconstruction of atmosphere in digital games. The conference provided graduate students a unique opportunity to discuss their research, engage in collegial exchange, and network with international scholars. A selection of the contributions is planned for publication in 2026.

Interdisciplinary initiative: GABA in the Brain Tumor Microenvironment

The initiative explored the role of the neurotransmitter GABA in the microenvironment of brain tumors and its impact on tumor behavior. By combining neurobiological, molecular, and clinical approaches, the team identified new insights into neuron–tumor interactions. Initial results were presented at the DGNC Annual Meeting 2025, and a publication is in preparation. The funding provided a foundation for ongoing research on GABA and other neurotransmitters in brain tumors.

In the picture on the left, Dana Hockling (FB 20) successfully presents the initiative at the ‘Innovative minds’ pitch contest, which took place in March 2025.

Interdisciplinary Workshop Series on the Ethics and Politics of Field Research

In July 2025, researchers from the Center for Conflict Studies, the Departments of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Transcultural Media Studies of the Middle East, and Educational Science organized an interdisciplinary workshop series on the ethics and politics of field research, supported by the Creative Space program. The workshops created a space for early-career scholars to engage in open dialogue about the ethical complexities of fieldwork, particularly in contexts of conflict and repression.

The series resulted in tangible outcomes, including an open-access literature database with over 320 annotated entries, practical tools for ethical research, and the empowerment of scholars working in their countries of origin. It also fostered new collaborations such as peer-led writing and discussion groups and joint conference panels. The initiative strengthened cross-departmental cooperation and heightened institutional awareness of ethical and reflexive research practices at Philipps-Universität Marburg.

Interdisciplinary Initiative and Guest Invitations:

Walking the Line – Workshop Series on Walking, Movement, and Walkable Media Worlds

The workshop series “Walking the Line”, jointly proposed by doctoral researchers from Departments 05, 06, and 09, brought together scholars and artists from various disciplines in October 2025 to explore walking as a performative practice and as a medium of aesthetic experience. Through lectures, discussions, and experimental formats, the workshop examined body, space, and perception as interconnected dimensions of walking.

The concept of the series aimed to productively bring theoretical and artistic perspectives into dialogue. In doing so, the special relevance of phenomenological and existential-aesthetic approaches became evident—perspectives that make walking tangible as an interface between research and lived experience.

The workshop series fostered new interdisciplinary connections between researchers in Marburg and guests from other universities and fields. A hybrid edited volume (print & open access) is currently being prepared, documenting the contributions and discussions from the series and carrying forward the scholarly and artistic impulses it generated.

Interdisciplinary Initiative: Bacterial Metabolites in the Fight Against Blood Cancer

This interdisciplinary project brought together expertise from infectious diseases, oncology, biochemistry, and metabolomics to investigate how bacterial metabolic products (metabolites) influence the immune system and what role they play in the development and treatment of leukemia. The aim of the initiative was to gain a deeper understanding of how these metabolites affect immune responses during cancer therapy and to develop new therapeutic approaches.

As part of the funding program, 236 patient samples were successfully analyzed, and the measurement methodology was established. The evaluation of the clinical data is ongoing, and the first publications are expected in mid to late 2026.

Interdisciplinary initiative: ‘Fake History?’ - Successful interdisciplinary workshop on the digital (re)construction of history

The two-day workshop ‘fake history? Unsichere Vergangenheits(re)konstruktion auf Social Media’ brought together experts from the humanities, social and cultural sciences, digital humanities, education and media practice in November 2024 to discuss current research approaches to historical representations in the digital space. In addition to a variety of keynote speeches and discussions, the event laid the foundation for an open access publication by transcript Verlag. Further projects, including a collaboration with ‘Archivnachrichten aus Hessen’ and the integration of the topic into university teaching, demonstrate the lasting impact of this successful format.

Guest invitation: Dr. Giulia Pedrucci

Dr Ramona Jelinek-Menke (left): ‘In June 2024, we welcomed Dr Giulia Pedrucci from the University of Verona (Italy) to Marburg's Department of Religious Studies. Her exciting project ‘DisAntiquity’, which Giulia Pedrucci is currently developing, will investigate the resonance of impaired people in polytheistic-religious contexts of ancient Rome and its neighbours. She presented her project on various occasions and received valuable input from Marburg academics from different disciplines. The joint visits to the Religious Studies Collection, the Cast Collection and the Medical Anatomical Collection at the University of Marburg were particularly enriching. Our students were also actively involved.’

This enriching exchange was made possible by an interdisciplinary collaboration between Dr Ramona Jelinek-Menke (Religious Studies), Dr Maximilian Haars (History of Pharmacy and Medicine) and Peter Nothbaum (Educational Science).

Guest invitation: Prof. Alejandro Majalí-Martínez

With support of the Creative Space funding, Prof. Alejandro Majalí-Martínez (Universidad Europea of Madrid; right in the photo) was invited to Philipps-Universität Marburg in July 2025. He introduced the game-based learning concept PAGARAMI and led a workshop on the frame of a Colloquium on Innovative didactic methods organized by Dr. María Gómez-Serrano (Institute for Tumor Immunology). The event fostered exchange and opened up perspectives for joint publications, the implementation of PAGARAMI at UMR, and new project ideas such as the SPEAK concept (Science Participation Engagement And Knowledge). This fruitful exchange was boosted by the interdisciplinary participation of members from different departments of the UMR, SYNMIKRO as well as the Max-Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology (MPI-Marburg). It also initiated new collaborations and a planned Erasmus+ partnership between the UMR and the Universidad Europea of Madrid.

Interdisciplinary initiative: Hackathon to develop an AI assistance chatbot for autism

In collaboration with three departments, the Marburg research team Kilian Stenzel, Johannes Wichmann, Fabian Lechner and Sophie Kievernagel have tackled the development of an AI assistance chatbot for autism in a first interdisciplinary hackathon.

In the 24-hour hackathon ‘AI & Autism’, experts and 14 students of computer science, data science, psychology, law and economics as well as an autistic person worked on the development of an innovative assistance chatbot for autism. After inspiring keynote speeches, the objective was developed in interdisciplinary teams and then implemented in the respective departmental teams. Based on validated questionnaires, primary evidence and guidelines, a first prototype was created within a very short space of time, which takes into account psychological issues as well as the legal framework. Further projects include validation of the chatbot by psychotherapists, subsequent publication of the results and further development of the prototype.

Interdisciplinary initiative: The Tabaka project 

The TABAKA project focuses on the complex realities of life for LGBTIQ+ people in Kenya and scrutinises Western-influenced perspectives of media and science. Thanks to the Creative Space funding, a creative concept for 13 artistic short films was developed that vividly address topics such as family, religion, colonialism and solidarity. The content was further developed in several workshops with Kenyan experts, new inspiring ideas were collected and important collaborations were established. The next steps: incorporating personal stories, deepening the research and specifically tapping into new sources of funding in order to present and reflect on the complexity of Kenyan LGBTIQ+ realities in an authentic way.

This interdisciplinary initiative was made possible by the collaboration of Dr Mariel Reiss (Centre for Conflict Research), Dr Sarah-Mai Dang (Department of Media Studies), Matti Traußneck (Department of Political Science) and Jordan Awori (University of Nairobi, Kenya).  The artistic concept was developed by Jordan Awori: https://jordanawori.com/.