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“Between democratic responsibility and economic modernization”: Can the welfare state be adaptet to the conditions of the 21st century? Photo: Fotolia.com/Gina Sanders.

Between Democratic Responsibility and Economic Modernization – Political and administration scholars compare welfare state reforms in Europe

Outdated, inefficient, and no longer supported by a majority of the people: Systems of the welfare state, with a long tradition in Europe, have become …
Luther linden tree in Treuenbrietzen. Photo: Uwe Tresp.

500th Anniversary of the Reformation – Towns in Brandenburg discover their Reformation history

If you visit a Brandenburg town, you are likely to happen upon benches, tables, lecterns, and gates made of rust-brown metal. You will find them in …
Project manager Dr. Marian Krawietz and Prof. Ulrich Kohler. Photo: Karla Fritze.

Sudden Revolution or Long Turn? – What grievances statistics tell us about the end of the GDR

Above a gray cabinet in an open-plan office filled with folders standing in pairs is a map of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Its former …
Dr. Julian Drews, Prof. Dr. Ottmar Ette, and Julia Bayerl. Photo: Karla Fritze.

Leaving Behind Signs of Life – Humboldt‘s American Travel Diaries

Between 1799 and 1804, Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) and his companion botanist Aimé Bonpland undertook three major expeditions: They explored …

A Camel instead of a Mouse – Biologists are developing a new system to produce antibodies

The body produces them in masses during an infectious disease. They are able to bind to specific surface structures of bacteria and viruses, dock …
Dr. Tsanko Gechev, scientific manager of CropStrengthen, in the greenhouse. Photo: Thomas Hölzel.

The Genome Analysts – New Methods in Plant Breeding

How large can fruits get? How resistant are they to disease? How long can they survive during a drought? The information for all these traits is …

Ancient Languages and the Benefits of Slowness – Classical Philologist Ursula Gärtner

Ursula Gärtner gets carried away when talking about Catullus’ love poems – and her passion is contagious. She talks about how the Roman poet’s use of …
Test setup of XPRAG. Photo: Choonkyu Lee.

I Spy with My Little Eye… – Linguists research how information is processed in the brain when we change our perspective

“I might speak differently to you than I would speak to someone else,” Isabell Wartenburger says. This is how the Professor of …
Mormyrids in an experimental aquarium. Picture: Karla Fritze

The Electric Code for a Partner – Mormyrids rely on electrical signals to choose partner

How do new species develop? This question has plagued researchers for centuries and remains one of the most topical questions in evolutionary and …
Frank Bösch, Professor of German and European 20th Century History at the University of Potsdam and Director of the Centre for Contemporary History (ZZF). Picture: Karla Fritze

A Direct Detour – What contemporary historian Frank Bösch brought to Potsdam

Frank Bösch’s office is spacious—and necessarily so. A shelf covering a whole wall is filled with countless folders. Books jockey for attention in …