Emerging Fields

The ”Emerging Field”, entitled “Movement, Nutrition, Health”, is an interdisciplinary joint project, in which researchers from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Human Sciences, the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Digital Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute) and the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE, as a non-university partner) collaborate. The project with its health science focus is concerned with the prevention and treatment of non-communicable chronic diseases using digital technologies and innovative approaches in the areas of exercise and nutrition. The objective is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between behaviour, social deprivation and health in order to develop innovative prevention and intervention strategies that also meet ethical and social requirements. Special emphasis is given to the issues of social inequality and regional challenges in Brandenburg. The activity of the “Potenzialbereich” involves a synthesis of basic and applied research from cooperating scientific disciplines, for example, to understand the effects of nutrition on mental well-being and exercise, and to investigate how digital tools (e.g., apps, wearables) can support behavioural changes (e.g. activity and nutritional behaviour). Ethical aspects such as the responsible handling of health data are also crucial in this context. In the long-term the project aims to develop practical measures for healthy lifestyles that are accessible to all population groups with equal opportunities and to further develop interdisciplinary approaches for prevention and health promotion.

Duration: Jan. 1, 2025 - Dec. 31, 2027

The Potsdam Postcolonial Studies Collective (established in 2025 as a “Emerging Field”) is an interdisciplinary network of scholars at the University of Potsdam’s Faculty of Arts. We understand the field of postcolonial studies as a critical perspective that challenges and offers alternatives to colonial and neo-colonial ways of ordering the world. This includes research on coloniality in all its forms, but also the study, development, or implementation of new critical methodologies in research and teaching, as well as a sustained effort to connect academic research to social actors and developments outside the university. As a new “Potentialbereich,” the Potsdam Postcolonial Studies Collective seeks to establish an International Research Training Group Cultures of Repair in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, develop alternative formats of communicating our research and establishing collaborations with groups and organizations beyond the university, strengthen faculty-wide joint research in the field of postcolonial studies, and ensure that this research field translates back into academic teaching. The Potsdam Postcolonial Studies Collective builds on several years of experience in collaboration, including the Research Training Group minor cosmopolitanisms and the Research Unit Collaborations (both funded by the German Research Foundation), a DAAD Gastlehrstuhl (Postdam Postcolonial Chair of Global Modernities, 2020-2022), various bilateral research and exchange programs with partners worldwide, as well as a faculty partnership with the Princeton Global History Lab and ongoing collaboration with the Global History Lab at the University of Cambridge.

Duration: Jan. 1, 2025 - Mar. 31, 2028

The research focus area Digital transformation of socio-technical ecosystems explores digital transformation and its disruptive impacts on societal subsystems. Technological developments, such as artificial intelligence, social media, and virtual reality, serve as the starting point for a new dynamic between people and organizations in the economy, state, and society. Under the guiding concept of "social ecosystems," the interconnectedness of people, processes, organizations, and institutions within societies is the central focus of the research interest. Interdependencies among these dimensions are examined from various analytical perspectives, such as business administration and information systems. At the same time, the debate around "digital ecosystems" in social science research on digitalization is addressed, characterized by specific transformation logics, constellations of actors, and change pathways across different sectors and policy areas.

Duration: Jan. 1, 2025 - Dec. 31, 2027

Resilience refers to the capacity of actors to withstand, adapt to, and recover from external challenges, crises, and disruptions. Existing research in the social sciences and humanities has primarily focused on the resilience of societal functional systems or individual-level resilience, such as within families.

This research potentials area emphasizes the current significance of the topic by explicitly addressing the resilience of institutions and organizations across three dimensions: resistance and defense, absorption and adaptation, and recovery and regeneration. The research focuses on the relationships between these dimensions as well as the nature and characteristics of external challenges to resilience, such as natural disasters, pandemics, or wars. In the current era of "polycrises," where multiple crises occur simultaneously, diverse external challenges may intersect and amplify each other, creating novel interactions between resistance, adaptation, and recovery.

The research potentials area aims to establish connections between currently ongoing and future research projects on resilience, to discuss methodological foundations and challenges of resilience research, and to develop innovative perspectives on the topic.

Duration: Jan. 1, 2025 - Dec. 31, 2027