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Two Philipp Schwartz fellowships for the HU

Threatened researchers from Syria and Turkey to conduct research in Berlin from July

After successful application as part of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) has been given the opportunity to award Philipp Schwartz fellowships to two at-risk researchers.

Dr Mohamed Ali Mohamed from Aleppo (Syria) and Dr Nil Mutluer from Istanbul (Turkey) will begin their research at the HU from July 2016 for two years. With the Philipp Schwartz fellowships, they will be able to continue their scientific careers, which they were forced to interrupt due to the current situation in their home countries.

Dr Mohamed Ali Mohamed has already been working as a researcher at the Geography Department since January 2016 with Professor Hilmar Schröder, who will also be acting as scientific mentor to Dr Mohamed over the next two years. “When the war began, I had to end my work at the University of Aleppo in August 2015. There, I was assistant professor at the Geography Department. I had already completed my PhD at the HU in 2010. I am happy and relieved that I will be able to continue with my project on GIS-based soil research in metropolitan regions with the help of the Philipp Schwartz fellowship.”

Dr Nil Mutluer, sociologist in the area of gender studies, is also very pleased about the grant. She will be researching issues surrounding the topic of “The Masculine Voice of Political Authority in Turkey: From Gezi to Sur” at the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research (BIM). “It is a great pleasure that we are able to award two of these renowned fellowships at the HU. In this way, we can provide a perspective to researchers whose careers are in danger – and expand our research at the HU at the same time.” Gökce Yurdakul, Professor of Diversity and Social Conflict at the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research, will be supporting Mutluer in the implementation of her project.

Besides the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, threatened researchers as well as potential hosts can consult the central contact person for the HU initiatives “Refugees Welcome” at the International Strategy Office. This offers quick and unbureaucratic advice in close consultation with the different in-house points of contact according to the scientists’ personal situation.

The Philipp Schwartz Initiative was launched by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation together with the German Federal Foreign Office. It enables universities, universities of applied science, and independent research institutions to grant threatened researchers fellowships for research stays in Germany. The initiative has been made possible through generous support from the Federal Foreign Office, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the Klaus Tschira Foundation, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Stiftung Mercator.

Additional Information

Contact

Inse Böhmig
Central contact person for the HU initiatives "Refugees Welcome"
International Strategy Office
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Phone: 030 2093-20092
inse.boehmig@hu-berlin.de

Press contact

Hans-Christoph Keller
Head of Press and Public Relations
Spokesperson

Phone: 030 2093-2946
pr@hu-berlin.de