A warm welcome!

On Wednesday, 3 July 2024, 53 committed and talented students were accepted into the Honours Programme for Future Researchers at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The Vice President for Early Career Researchers and Diversity Management, Prof. Dr Uwe Cantner, welcomed the new Honours students and thanked the mentors for their outstanding commitment.

The Honours Programme at the University of Jena supports students from all disciplines with a special interest in research and science. The aim is to provide students with in-depth insights into research processes during their studies and to prepare them for a possible academic career.

Prof. Dr. Cantner was particularly pleased with the exciting and innovative research projects carried out by students from all faculties at the university. Master's student Greta Fischer, for example, is writing a legal analysis of shitstorms on the internet. Vivian Werner is trying to identify new types of autism using structural brain imaging. Paulina Floriane Ebmeier is analysing transgenerational talk about the GDR in contemporary German-language literature and Julia Schäfer is investigating how incentive-based policy instruments can be used to strengthen advocacy for climate protection.

In the Honours Programme, students receive mentoring from experienced researchers and access to an extensive interdisciplinary qualification programme. They also have a budget of €1,000 at their disposal for their research work, which can be used for participation in international conferences and summer schools or for laboratory materials and research literature. Prof. Dr. Uwe Cantner expressly encouraged the students to actively help shape the Honours Programme with their ideas and commitment and to see it as an interdisciplinary network of science-loving students. As part of the programme, students and mentors also receive support in organising their own lectures, panel discussions, workshops or networking events.

One of the highlights of this funding year is the student congress "Imagine - Utopia and Dystopia as Practices of Social Imagining" in April 2025. Together with the Exzellenclusterinitiative "Imaginamics - Dynamics and Practices of Social Imagining" de, the Honours Programme invites all interested students from the university and beyond to present and discuss their own projects. The call for proposals will be published in September - stay tuned!

The Honours Programme is part of the "LIGHT, LIFE, LIBERTY - Connecting Visions" strategy of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and is funded by the university lump sum of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.

If you have any questions about the Honours Programme visit the Website or contact Dr. Tobias Schwessinger: