BMBF-Funded Projects

Innovation in East Asia – IN-EAST School of Advanced Studies

The IN-EAST School, funded with a fouryear grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), explores the phenomenon of “Innovation in East Asia” from a multi-disciplinary perspective. This approach is considered crucial, as technical and social innovation can only take place if the social and political conditions allow. The research focuses on the future of urban living in East Asia’s metropolitan centres and on new concepts of mobility in the region.

Parallel to this research programme, the INEAST School is also exploring innovative ways of training and qualifying junior researchers in area studies. Research takes place in six groups, in which junior professor/postdoc researchers work with PhD students on the relevant subjects. A team of experienced professors from the UDE’s five participating faculties (Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering, Economics and Business Administration, Mercator School of Management) provide advice and support to the young researchers with their research activities. Following successful evaluation, the BMBF has extended the funding for the INEAST School for another two years. During the second funding period, the junior researchers, now organised in postdoc working groups, will additionally analyse transnational phenomena of innovation development in Asia and how innovations “travel” and evolve across borders (travelling institutions). (Funding period: 2013–2017, 2017–2019)

Governance in China: Preconditions, Limits and Potentials of Political Adaptability and Innovativeness in the 21st Century – BMBF Collaborative Project

Authoritarian states and the growing influence of non-democratic political systems, especially in the People’s Republic of China, are a central challenge in politics, political consulting and academic research. The “Governance in China” research network investigates the prerequisites for, achievements of and constraints on the adaptive and innovative capacity for governance. A network of partners from the Universities of Duisburg-Essen, Trier, Tübingen, and Würzburg and the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg are collaborating on this BMBF-funded collaborative research project. The promising results have prompted the BMBF to extend project funding for another two years. (Funding period 2014–2016)