At the science festival GLOBE21, the Merian Centers, which are funded by the BMBF, would like to contribute to a better understanding and general reflection on the immanent, but also on the possible long-term implications of the COVID-19 crisis on research conditions in the Global South and on international scientific cooperation. 

What do science, research and international cooperation (North-South; South-South) mean in times of crisis? And what are the constraints and opportunities in these areas? What are the consequences for the Merian Centers and the international research community?

Over the past year, the five Merian- Centers in the humanities and social sciences, located in different regions of the Global South, have felt the constraints on international mobility resulting from the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic on research and exchange conditions to a significant degree. At the same time, however, the Merian Centers are an extremely suitable place to observe, accompany and research the effects of the pandemic on research and science in these partner regions. 

The idea behind the BMBF's Merian Initiative is that in-depth exchange with scientists from countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as cooperation with foreign universities and non-university research institutions, will make a significant contribution to the long-term networking of top-level German regional science research with the respective partner countries and regions.

The GLOBE Panel will be available here as a YouTube video (with the original languages) starting at 5:00 p.m. (Berlin) on July 15, as well as a link to the Zoom webinar with simultaneous interpretation.

Alternatively, you can also visit the YouTube-Channel of ReCentGlobe.

For more information see: www.globe-festival.de/merian-centres