Transregional Academies promote intensive peer-to-peer debates and encourages new perspectives grown from debates in small discussion groups. Participants take an active part in contributing to the program’s structure and content. They present their individual research, co-design thematic discussion groups, and are involved in organizing the workshops. While most of the work is conducted in an intensive small-group atmosphere, the academies also present their work to the public through lectures and open panel discussions.
Transregional Academies are a format of the Forum Transregionale Studien. They were part of the strategic cooperation with the Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland. The cooperation was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF).
The Forum Transregionale Studien is a platform for the international cooperation between scholars of different expertise and perspectives on global issues. The Forum provides scope for exchange on questions of science policy, epistemology and ethics, and develops infrastructures and formats that allow transregional research ideas and projects to be tested, implemented and communicated. The Forum is constituted by its members and the diversity of their research expertise and networks. It is committed to strengthening regional studies and to the principle of non-hierarchical research. It appoints scholars from around the world as fellows and engages in joint research programs and initiatives with partners from universities and research institutions in and outside Berlin. The Forum is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Higher Education and Research, Health, Long-Term Care and Gender Equality.
The Max Weber Stiftung promotes global research, concentrated around the areas of social sciences, cultural studies, and the humanities. Research is conducted at ten institutes in various countries worldwide with distinctive and independent focal points. Through its globally operating institutes, the Foundation is able to contribute to the communication and networking between Germany and the host countries or regions of its establishments.