Research Summer Schools

PaleoGeography: Reconstructing the Earth System through geologic times

Online classes: 13-15 May 2025, 14:00-16:45 each day

Attendance week: 30 June - 4 July 2025

Places available: 3

Course fees: none

Application deadline: 09 March 2025

The ability to reconstruct the development of environmental conditions and geographical features over geological time periods in so-called ‘palaeogeographies’ is of crucial importance for our future. 

Tomorrow's scientists studying environmental change will need increasingly detailed databases and maps to access and correlate the overwhelming amount of information resulting from the constant increase in environmental data and modelling. For the developing green industry, palaeogeographies are fundamental to assess potential sources and locations of key geo-resources critical to the energy transition (e.g. raw materials, rare earths, underground storage, geothermal sites). 

Target group: higher MA students and PhD students in geosciences, ecology, geography, biology and related disciplines.

Please apply to the University of Potsdam via this link, select ‘EDUC Outgoing grant’ and upload the following documents:

• Letter of motivation (max. one page)
• CV
•  Current PULS transcript of records (for Master's students)

Further information can be found here.

Critical Methodologies

Online classes:

28 April, 5 May, 8 May, 12 May and 19 May 2025, 15:15-17:00 in each case

Attendance week: 02-06 June 2025

Essay deadline: 20 June 2025

Places available: 4

Course fees: none

Application deadline: 12 March 2025

Drawing on critical, decolonial and participatory perspectives, this course will discuss methods in practice related to decolonising research and thinking differently. It looks at cross-disciplinary approaches such as participatory, multisensory, decolonial, feminist, indigenous and intersectional methodologies.

Global approaches in the social sciences, humanities and cultural studies will be addressed and problematised, engaging in dialogue with perspectives from the margins of society through research practice in different disciplines and in intercultural contexts. Students will gain insights into critical methodologies that aim to dialogue across structural, physical and disciplinary boundaries and challenge binary thinking. We critically reflect on the politics and ethics of knowledge, research design and impact, inequalities, power relations, coloniality, intersectionality, positionality, reflexivity and the unforeseen and failure in research.

The course begins with digital lectures and seminars, followed by a five-day residential week of lectures, seminars, participatory, multi-sensory workshops that provide empirical research experiences. Students present their research findings in seminars, incorporating the perspectives of the course.

Target group: Doctoral candidates in the humanities and social sciences

Please apply to the University of Potsdam via this link, select ‘EDUC Outgoing grant’ and upload the following documents:

• Letter of motivation with a brief description of your research project and methodology (max. 1,500 words)
• CV

Creative product design: towards a more Sustainable society through research.

Online classes:

• 13 May 2025 (2 hours in the afternoon)
• 14 May 2025 (3 hours in the morning)
• 15 May 2025 (2 hours in the morning + 3 hours in the afternoon)
• 22 May 2025 (2 hours in the afternoon)

Attendance week: 09-13 June 2025

Places available: 3

Course fees: none

Application deadline: 04 March 2025

The Blended Research Summer School is about product design engineering, focussing on sustainability and creativity to develop new product or system solutions for society and people. At the same time, it is about gaining confidence in the different stages of research, such as understanding the existing literature and background, improving writing skills, giving oral presentations or acquiring communication skills.

Target group: higher MA students and PhD students in engineering, product design, environmental sciences and related disciplines.

Please apply to the University of Potsdam via this link, uploading the following documents:

• Letter of motivation (max. one page)
• CV
•  Current PULS transcript of records

Further information can be found here.

This basically depends on your own study regulations at the University of Potsdam and must be clarified with the examination board of your own field of study (preferably in advance).

The recognition process is similar to that of regular semesters abroad or corona-related online semesters abroad according to the guidelines for recognition or internal faculty or institute regulations.

It is advisable to complete a Learning Agreement before starting the course in order to clarify the recognition with the local examination board in advance. An EDUC template for a Learning Agreement does not yet exist, which is why the general template of the International Office can be used.