HoMe - Merseburg University of Applied Sciences
2024 to 2028
EU - COST
An Evolutionary View to Understanding Affective States across Species (AFFECT-EVO)
Understanding the affective states (emotions and moods) of non-human animals is crucial to understand their needs, improve their welfare, and assess the effects of treatments for affective disorders in animals, be they preclinical models of human disorders, or patients in their own right. Existing knowledge regarding affective states across species is limited and fragmented. For example, it is unclear: (1) whether and to what extent different affective states occur in different species; (2) if these states are expressed and experienced in similar ways by different species; (3) which physiological mechanisms of affective states are shared across species; and (4) which indicators of affective states are valid across more than one species., AFFECT-EVO brings together an interdisciplinary network of scholars in philosophy, psychology, humanities, social, computational, and natural sciences, with relevant stakeholders from industry, advocacy organizations, and governments. This network will apply an evolutionary framework to evaluate collaboratively and systematically what we know about affective states in non-human animals. This approach will (1) identify gaps in our knowledge, guiding future research; (2) provide a basis for developing strategies to reliably generalize knowledge about affective states across species; (3) develop better methods to assess affective states to improve animal welfare; and (4) develop better treatments for both animal and human affective disorders. We will also explore how the public and policy makers engage with the concept of affective states in animals and how this interacts with the implementation of new laws and policies that affect animals., Action keywords, Evolution of Affective States - Comparative Psychology - Affective Science - Animal Welfare - Affective Disorders
2025 to 2028
EU - INTERREG
SMARTAUTO - Smart Policy Innovation for Enhanced Automation in European Transport
SMARTAUTO, an innovative interregional project that unites a diverse group of European partners, including the University of Aveiro, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Local transport service Saxony-Anhalt GmbH (NASA GmbH), TTS Italia, Qartu, the City of Tuzla, Public company Business and Innovation Center BIT Center Ltd, Bucharest-Ilfov Intercommunity Development Association for Public Transport (TPBI), South Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency, City of Águeda, and Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI), aims to address the uneven landscape of autonomous vehicle (AV) implementation across Europe. Recognizing the transformative potential of AVs for personal mobility and logistics, SMARTAUTO seeks to bridge the gap between regions with varying levels of AV experience. By fostering a collaborative network, the project aims to accelerate innovation, share best practices, and support all regions in maximizing the benefits and addressing the challenges of automation in the transport sector., SMARTAUTO PPs are committed to harnessing the full potential of AVs to shape the future of personal mobility and logistics across Europe. The project gathers diverse regions across Europe, aiming to understand, shape, and maximize the benefits of AVs, while thoughtfully addressing the challenges involved in this technological transformation., The core objectives of SMARTAUTO are to create a robust network connecting regions with varying levels of AV experience, accelerating innovation and spreading good practices. The project will proactively analyze and learn from past successes and challenges of AV pilot programs, building capacity on tools to evaluate AVs' social, environmental, and economic impacts to support informed, smart, and effective policymaking. SMARTAUTO partners are committed to ensuring that AV development is guided by the needs of citizens, prioritizing safety, accessibility, and sustainability in the deployment of AVs.
2025 to 2027
EU - ERASMUS+
PROSPER - Jean Monnet Network
The OVGU is one of the beneficiaries to receive funding from the European Union (EU) to establish the Jean Monnet Network called PROSPER (, Project to Research Opportunities to Strengthen Prosperity and Economic Resilience in the EU, ), coordinated by Dublin City University Brexit Institute & Dublin European Law Institute under the lead of Professor Federico Fabbrini. It involves 12 academic institutions from 12 different EU member states. Professor Heidbreder is to be the university's academic lead., The aim of this network of 12 academic institutions from 12 different EU member states is to strengthen knowledge sharing, promote best practices, and address contemporary challenges facing the EU through interdisciplinary research and educational initiatives. It focuses on exploring and enhancing economic resilience within the EU, by identifying and promoting strategies that can bolster economic stability and growth, particularly in the context of challenges such as globalisation, climate change, and economic disparities among member states., The multidisciplinary team of the OVGU, led by Professor Heidbreder, also consists the team of the Jean Monnet Chair that signs responsible for the BA and MA European Studies., PROSPER is the only project that has received funding from the EU under the Jean Monnet internal network call of 2024. The 12 academic institutions that are involved are: Dublin City University (IE), Central European University (HU), Free University of Bolzano/Bozen (IT), University of Copenhagen (DK), Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL), Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona (ES), Jagiellonian University Krakow (PL), Universitè Libre de Bruxelles (BE), University of Luxembourg (LU), Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (DE), Université Paris-Est Creteil (FR), and Aristotele University of Thessaloniki (EL). The Jean Monnet Network PROSPER is overall coordinated by Professor Federico Fabbrini, Professor of EU Law & Policy and Founding Director of the DCU Brexit Institute & Dublin European Law Institute., The Jean Monnet Network PROSPER is led by Professor Federico Fabbrini of Dublin City University Brexit Institute & Dublin European Law Institute. Professor Eva Heidbreder, Chair for Multilevel Governance in Europe and Jean Monnet Chair will lead the team at the OVGU.
2023 to 2027
EU - COST
CA22150 - Comparative Research on the Executive Triangle in Europe (CoREx)
Description, CoREx creates a unique pan-European network of researchers studying the relationships of executive politicians, top civil servants, and ministerial advisers (‘the executive triangle’) from an internationally comparative perspective. These three actors and their mutual relationships significantly shape policymaking. Their capacity to solve problems and to make legitimate decisions are at the core of democratic governance. While pressing contemporary policy problems require professional top civil service competence, executive politicians demand political advice from personally trusted individuals to navigate their increasingly polarized and mediatized environments. CoREx addresses this tension between professional competence and political craft by taking a system-perspective on the executive triangle. Through pan-European networking and knowledge sharing across all regions in Europe, it develops a common conceptual and methodological framework revolving around different dimensions of politicization to collect comparative data from across Europe. Thereby, CoREx bridges currently disconnected research on the top civil service and ministerial advisers, as well as disparities in geographical coverage and research capacities. CoREx will generate comparative datasets and analyses on the institutional set-up, career backgrounds, roles and interactions in policymaking, and accountability and transparency of the executive triangle across regions and over time. In an innovative way, CoREx will provide systematic comparative knowledge about trends, causes, and consequences of different configurations of the executive triangle. CoREx contributes to a better understanding of democratic governance in times of increasing political polarization and populist politics. The unprecedented results will be relevant for the scientific community, stakeholders, and the public at large., Action keywords, top civil servants - ministerial advisers - politicization - comparative public administration - policymaking
2024 to 2027
EU - ERA Net, Joint Programm
REJUVENATE: Rerouting towards REsilience to JUVENile stress-induced psychopAThologiEs in adulthood: Spotlight on behavioural profiling and lifestyle interventions (Funded by ERA-NET NEURON – 2023 Call) - € ~274,000 (€ 1,081,000 total funding) (DFG, Projektnummer: 542950222)
Childhood adversities have long-lasting consequences in terms of mental health and well-being, and, exposure to childhood adversities (Juvenile stress [JS]) significantly increases vulnerability to mood and, anxiety disorders later in life. Yet, not all show an increased risk of adulthood psychopathology. Some individuals develop resilience, helping them to better cope with later life challenges. Our primary, objectives are (1) To elucidate mechanisms relating JS to vulnerability and resilience to stressful challenges in adulthood, and (2) To test the therapeutic/preventive potential of translational life-style interventions on the negative impact of JS later in life (i.e., boosting resilience). Our secondary objective is to systematically address sex-related differences in sensitivity, in related mechanisms underlying stress vulnerability or resilience, and in the effectiveness of life-style interventions for enhancing mental health resilience.
2022 to 2027
EU - HORIZONT 2020
MEDICODE - The Medial Frontal Cortex in Cognitive Control and Decision Making: Anatomy, Connectivity, Representations, Causal Contributions
THE ROLE OF THE MEDIAL FRONTAL CORTEX IN COGNITIVE CONTROL AND DECISION-MAKING: ANATOMY, CONNECTIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, CAUSALITY, Using cognitive control, people flexibly adapt their behaviour to achieve their goals of action in a changing world. Despite intensive research, there is still no overarching understanding of the mechanisms of cognitive control and its underlying main structure, the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC). This is due to the insufficient consideration of the neuroanatomy of the pMFC, its subregions and individual variability, the low sensitivity of group studies, the scarcity of causal evidence in humans, and the use of diverse research methods and paradigms in heterogeneous studies, which makes it difficult to differentiate general principles of cognitive control from study-specific idiosyncrasies. The project aims to solve these problems with two completely new approaches:, A) So-called dense sampling, the comprehensive collection of behavioural, imaging, EEG, eye movement and peripheral physiological data in multiple studies of the same subject as they perform cognitive control demanding tasks, allows variables of cognitive control to be quantified directly or via computer modelling. Multivariate analysis procedures are used to identify general as well as task- and modality-specific representations of these variables and to create a functional mapping of the subregions of the pMFC. The basic idea is that general principles of cognitive control over tasks and context should generalise and always be represented in a similar way., B) The new non-invasive brain stimulation with transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) allows influencing neuronal activity with unprecedented spatial resolution. In combination with EEG and imaging, tFUS will reveal the necessity of sub-areas of the pMFC and some sub-cortical network partners for cognitive control., In the medium term, this project will open new avenues for studying individual differences and pathological changes in cognitive control., This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101018805).
2022 to 2026
EU - ERASMUS+
EU GREEN - European University alliance for sustainability: responsible GRowth, inclusive Education and ENvironment
Nine European universities are involved in the EU GREEN European University Alliance. Otto von Guericke University is one of them. The overarching theme of cooperation in EU GREEN is sustainability. By participating in this alliance, OVGU is further expanding its education and research at European level. The aim of the network is to improve and promote sustainability and solve social challenges. The driving force behind this is to build a fairer world, a balanced economy and a more viable environment., The mission statement of the European University Initiative is to promote common European values and improve the quality of higher education.
2023 to 2026
EU - ERASMUS+
Second Language Learning at School for all Teenagers (SLS4Teens)
Im Rahmen des Projekts SLS4Teens sollen Lehrkräfte innovative Methoden für das Lehren und Lernen von Fremd- und Zweitsprachen kennenlernen und im eigenen Unterricht erproben. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt auf dem Ziel, Sprachlernende für die mündliche Konversation schneller und besser zu befähigen und zu ermutigen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen werden 50 aktive Sprachlehrer (30 Lehrer für Englisch als Fremdsprache und 20 Zweitsprachenlehrer für Schüler mit Migrationshintergrund) und 25 angehende Lehrer der fünf Partneruniversitäten (Angers und Nantes in Frankreich, Extremadura in Spanien, Parma in Italien, Magdeburg in Deutschland) im Rahmen eines Online-Fortbildungskurses und vor Ort-Schulungen über zwei Jahre hinweg ausgebildet. Der Effekt dieser Maßnahmen wird evaluiert, und alle Materialien stehen später Open-Access Ausbildungsstätten zur Verfügung.
2022 to 2025
EU - ERASMUS+
Development of Financial Autonomy of Universities in the Kyrgyz Republic
DEFA unterstützt 10 kirgisische Hochschulen dabei, neue Wege des hochschulautonomen Selbstmanagements zu gehen. In Kooperation mit dem zuständigen Bildungs- und Wissenschaftsministerium werden neue Modi des Finanzmanagements erprobt und verstetigt. Gegenstand ist zudem die Weiterentwicklung der nationalen Regularien für das Selbstmanagement der Hochschulen im Land.
2021 to 2025
EU - HORIZONT 2020
