In his welcome speech, Prof. Dr. Stefan Müller-Stach, Vice President for Research and Early Career Academics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) emphasized the importance the RMU alliance has for science: “Networking and cooperation across the three universities and across subject areas is the key to innovation and excellence. By pooling competences and adopting new approaches, we are shaping the Rhine-Main region as an integrated, globally attractive and competitive region of science.”

The conference offered a varied program that gave the participating VARM partners the opportunity to present their joint projects, with a particular focus on research initiatives involving several cooperation partners within the network. VARM spokesman Prof. Dr. Wicke highlighted the successes and future prospects of the network: “With VARM, we created a platform that brings together scientists from different archaeological disciplines and institutions. There are not many regions in Germany with such a high number of institutions and researchers active in or for archeology. We must make use of this and allow everyone to profit from this.”

The event was also a testament to the close connection between the RMU alliance and VARM. Joint networks such as VARM not only contribute to strengthening research, but also help intensify the exchange among scientists in the Rhine-Main region. The response generated by the annual conference shows the immense interest in this type of cooperation – which has already successfully been put into practice in various joint research projects.

The next annual VARM conference is planned to take place in 2025 at Goethe University Frankfurt. It will be exciting to see which topics and developments will be the focus then.

The CEDITRAA research project addresses nothing less than a new world order in cultural production. While US-American cultural production dominated the world in the 20th century, new players have emerged in recent decades as a result of digitalization: In Asia, South Korea's culture is gaining in importance, while in Africa, Nigerian film and music production has become one of the largest industries of its kind in the world. Since 2021, the joint project CEDITRAA, operated by the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) partners Goethe University Frankfurt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, together with Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos, Nigeria, has been investigating cultural entrepreneurs and the opportunities that arise for them as a result of the digital transformation in cultural production. The project will now receive another three years of funding to the tune of almost €1.4 million; this follows an earlier €2.1 million in funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s (BMBF) Regional Studies funding line. The RMU joint project will start on January 1, 2025. In addition to Goethe University and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the strategic Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) alliance also includes TU Darmstadt.

As part of the second phase, the project’s 18 scientists are changing their perspective: having previously focused on cultural production, they are now turning to its distribution. Their underlying assumption is that the new distribution channels themselves constitute a factor in media production and that the question of how to control channels and distribution networks will determine whether there will emerge a shift in emphasis away from the traditional cultural industries. While this shows that artists and cultural entrepreneurs alike are already taking advantage of the benefits of digital infrastructures – like portals or platforms – during media production, at the same time a lot depends on who owns and controls this infrastructure. The central questions asked by the researchers include: Do TikTok and portals like YouTube, Netflix or irokotv, Spotify and Boomplay shape cultural formats? And how do globally active online communities emerge in the process of music production that are simultaneously locally shaped and rooted? 

The participating researchers come from different disciplines: In addition to ethnology and African studies, Korean studies, sinology, film studies and economics are also represented – making the joint project both interdisciplinary and international. In addition, CEDITRAA also uses the existing research infrastructures of the Frankfurt-based Centre for Interdisciplinary African Studies (ZIAF) and the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO) as well as the Georg Forster Forum (GFF) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. 

When it comes to securing data and results, CEDITRAA benefits from the cooperation with the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Europe's leading institution for digital research and education platforms in the film sector. At Goethe University, CEDITRAA will also cooperate with the new Center for Critical Computational Studies C3S (https://www.c3s-frankfurt.de), where digital methods of researching social transformation processes will be critically tested.

Under the heading "Hymns and cultural transfer in the Baltic Sea region of the 17th century. Interdisciplinary perspectives", hymnologists, theologists, musicologists and music theorists will hold various talks on both days on the hymn repertoire of the 17th century and its consequences for figural music.

Further information on the workshop and its programm are available for download below (in German).

The research project "Kirchenlied und Kirchenmusikpraxis im 17. Jahrhundert" (Hymns and the practice of hymns in the 17th century) is a collaborative project funded under the RMU Initiative Funding for Research. The aim of the project is to collect the repertoire of hymns from the German-Danish border area and vocal and instrumental compositions based on this corpus and to analyze them in case studies. 

The RMU Day also was the perfect opportunity to introduce the new RMU container on Irène-Giron-Platz of JGU. Here, RMU members met before the start of the event to catch up and network over coffee and hot fruit punch. The beverages were served in mugs with the RMU’s brand new corporate design, and RMU members were invited to keep the mugs as a present.

To start the day, Prof. Dr. Georg Krausch, President of JGU and current RMU spokesperson, welcomed the RMU members together with science journalist Dr. med. Florence Randrianarisoa, who was the host for the all-day event. Several members gave the audience an insight into their – in some cases long-standing – experience with RMU projects and the cooperation within the RMU alliance. And they made one thing perfectly clear: For many members, RMU is a real matter of the heart. The cooperation between the universities and the complementary nature of their alliance has enabled the realization of innovative ideas and projects. With their statements, the RMU members demonstrated how colorful and varied the alliance is and that it is the members that fill the alliance with life. 

Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt, Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl, President of Technical University Darmstadt, and Prof. Dr. Georg Krausch then gave an overview of the Excellence Strategy, its framework conditions and its schedule. They emphasized the chances of a joint proposal by the RMU as a consortium and highlighted the RMU’s strengths. They also invited all RMU members to participate in the afternoon workshops to provide their feedback on the concepts and ideas already developed.

Following this introduction, the persons responsible for the work packages for the excellence project presented their projects, and all RMU members were invited to choose the two topics they wanted to learn more about and to contribute to in the workshops on offer in the afternoon. In the workshops, the existing ideas were discussed intensively in an open and constructive dialogue. To close out the afternoon program, the key results from the workshops were presented to the audience, enabling all participants to gain insights into the topics discussed in the other workshops.

Prof. Dr. Georg Krausch emphasized: “I would like to thank the RMU members who followed the invitation and came to Mainz in large numbers for this year’s RMU Day to shape the future of the RMU together with us. The proposal as a University Excellence Consortium is an adventure – and I am delighted about the strong interest and willingness among RMU members to embark on this adventure with us. Today’s exchange was very productive and valuable and is a great help for us in order to further develop the key ideas and concepts for the proposal. Of course, the RMU Day was not the last chance to be part of the proposal. In the coming year, there will be further opportunities for RMU members to receive updates and to discuss with us at events and during meetings of the universities’ committees.”

Following a buffet dinner, it was time for some fun at the Science Contest. Three interdisciplinary teams with members from all three universities – team „GEZ“ („Gute Erklär-Zentrale“), team „Reason, Matter, Universe“ and the „STEMinists“ – accepted the challenge to answer five scientific questions as entertainingly as possible. The questions had been submitted by the audience during the registration process and selected by the jury for the Science Contest, consisting of Dr. Patrick Honecker, Chief Communication Officer of TU Darmstadt, Junior-Prof. Dr. Elena Link, junior professor for science communication at JGU, und Dr. Phyllis Mania, Science Communiation Officer at Goethe University.

The teams had to answer the following questions: 

• Are chickens able to memorize human faces? 
• Are dietary supplements such as vitamins, zinc etc. useful in order to strengthen the immune system or are they just a waste of money? 
• What was before the big bang? Where did the matter that “banged” come from? 
• How would the social behavior of a generation change if it grows up exclusively with AI friends?
• How can I explain to my friends that horoscopes are useless? 

The teams‘ performance in answering the questions was judged not only by the jury, but also by the audience. With 28 points, team “Reason, Matter Universe” managed to secure the win, a half-day workshop on science communication with Dr. med Florence Randrianarisoa. Of course, the other teams did not leave the stage empty-handed. They received an RMU cotton bag filled with Christmas cookies as a thank you for taking part in the Science Contest. 

Prof. Dr. Georg Krausch stated: „With the Science Contest, we tried an innovative format of science communication at the RMU Day for the first time, which was well-received by the audience. The teams’ creative answers to questions which, in part, were highly complex, did not only provide us with new knowledge, but were also very entertaining. I would like to thank the members of the three teams who have successfully tackled the challenge and ensured that the audience had a very entertaining evening. The Science Contest was a successful conclusion for the 6th RMU Day.”

The next Rhine-Main Universities day will ta place in 2025 at Goethe University Frankfurt.

This workshop program, which is part of a nationwide entrepreneurship program, offers participants the opportunity to (further) develop their entrepreneurial skills. They will work in teams on existing business ideas, supported by excellent mentors and speakers. 

From January to June 2025, six practice-oriented face-to-face workshops will take place (each from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm).

Registration is now open until 10 December 2024. 

Information on how to apply and on the program is available on the website of the workshop program.  

The workshops are aimed at postdocs, doctoral students and master students from the fields of medicine, life science, biotechnology, bioinformatics and material sciences who already have a specific business idea or would like to explore the topic of entrepreneurship in greater depth.

The RMU-Networking-Hour was launched as a new RMU-wide digital networking opportunity and offers all RMU employees informal and short RMU networking meetings.

Participants receive a new RMU contact in a random matching on the 9th of each month, a maximum of twelve times a year, thereby establishing a personal RMU network. 

The RMU Networking Hour is a learning and development offer in the RMU and therefore part of working hours.

From now on, all interested RMU employees, from staff to managers from science and administration at the three universities, can register and enroll for the RMU-Networking-Hour online.

Register now and take part!

Data protection-secure access to the networking platform: www.bit.ly/4epLVoW

The Verbund Archäologie Rhein-Main (VARM) [Archaeology Network Rhein-Main] is a network of archaeological institutes and institutions from the Rhine-Main area. It offers a unique platform for trans- and interdisciplinary exchange and joint research in classical studies. 

Click here for the program and here to register!
 

Further information is available at: VARM Jahrestagung – VARM