E-Dissertationen

Deutsch-britische Forschungszusammenarbeit auf supranationaler Ebene nach dem Beitritt des Vereinigten Königreichs zur Europäischen Gemeinschaft

2026-04-15T05:17:38Z

Deutsch-britische Forschungszusammenarbeit auf supranationaler Ebene nach dem Beitritt des Vereinigten Königreichs zur Europäischen Gemeinschaft Wekerle, Anke Die europäische Forschungsförderung stellt seit den 1980er Jahren einen zentralen Pfeiler der Europäischen Integration dar. Mit den Forschungsrahmenprogrammen (FRP) hat die Europäische Union ein supranationales Instrument etabliert, das die Förderung exzellenter Forschung unabhängig von nationaler Herkunft zum Ziel hat. Der Austritt des Vereinigten Königreichs aus der Europäischen Union ("Brexit") markiert jedoch eine tiefgreifende Zäsur für dieses Politikfeld, da Großbritannien nicht nur zu den größten Beitragszahlern und Nutznießern der europäischen Forschungsförderung zählte, sondern auch als zentraler Verfechter des Exzellenzprinzips galt.
Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Auswirkungen des Brexits auf die europäische Forschungsförderung mit besonderem Fokus auf die deutsch-britische Forschungszusammenarbeit auf supranationaler Ebene. Im Zentrum steht die Frage, inwieweit der Ausschluss britischer Akteure aus den formalen Entscheidungsprozessen der EU, insbesondere aus den Programmausschüssen und Komitologieverfahren, zu Veränderungen bei der Vergabe von Forschungsmitteln unter Exzellenzkriterien geführt hat. Methodisch basiert die Untersuchung auf einer vergleichenden qualitativen Fallstudienanalyse der Forschungspolitiken des Vereinigten Königreichs und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, ergänzt durch eine Auswertung von Primär- und Sekundärquellen sowie einschlägiger Programmdaten der Europäischen Kommission.
Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Brexit die institutionelle Balance innerhalb der europäischen Forschungspolitik verschoben hat. Während das Exzellenzprinzip weiterhin normativ verankert bleibt, haben sich Machtverhältnisse und Einflussmöglichkeiten in den Entscheidungsstrukturen verändert. Deutschland übernimmt zunehmend eine gestaltende Rolle innerhalb der EU-27, während Großbritannien trotz seiner Assoziierung an Horizont Europa dauerhaft von der formalen Mitgestaltung ausgeschlossen bleibt. Die Arbeit kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die langfristige Sicherung exzellenter Forschung in Europa maßgeblich von der starken institutionellen Stabilität der EU-Forschungsförderung und der strategischen Ausgestaltung der Beziehungen zu assoziierten Drittstaaten abhängt.; European research funding has constituted a central pillar of European integration since the 1980s. Through the Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation, the European Union has established a supranational instrument aimed at promoting scientific excellence irrespective of national origin. The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union ("Brexit"), however, represents a profound rupture in this policy field, as the UK was not only one of the largest contributors to and beneficiaries of European research funding, but also a key advocate of the excellence principle.
This dissertation examines the impact of Brexit on European research funding, with a particular focus on German–British research cooperation at the supranational level. The core research question addresses whether and to what extent the exclusion of British actors from formal EU decision-making processes—especially programme committees and comitology procedures—has led to changes in the allocation of research funding under excellence-based criteria. Methodologically, the study employs a comparative qualitative case study approach, analysing the research policy frameworks of the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany.
The findings indicate that Brexit has altered the institutional balance within European research policy. While the excellence principle remains normatively embedded in the EU’s research funding architecture, power relations and influence within decision-making structures have shifted. Germany has assumed an increasingly prominent role within the EU-27, whereas the United Kingdom, despite its association with Horizon Europe, remains structurally excluded from formal agenda-setting and governance. The dissertation concludes that the long-term sustainability of excellence-based research funding in Europe will depend on the great and stable institutional stability of EU research governance and the strategic design of partnerships with associated third countries.

Time to turn the tide: A praxeological exploration of marine sciences

2026-04-09T08:18:12Z

Time to turn the tide: A praxeological exploration of marine sciences Hägele, Ramona Marine carbon observations (MCOs) are central to understanding the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle and as a major sink for anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂). They are also key to global climate governance, informing the Global Carbon Budget and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments. Despite their scientific and political relevance, the socio-material conditions of their production remain underexplored. This dissertation addresses this gap by examining how MCOs are produced, and which internal and external factors shape these knowledge production processes.
Using an inductive, praxeological, and multi-sited ethnographic approach, the dissertation draws on fieldwork conducted between 2021 and 2024 across laboratories, research and merchant vessels, virtual meetings, and marine research institutes in Brazil and Germany. It analyses four interconnected empirical cases: deep-sea observations aboard a research vessel, transnational intersectionality in work and research at sea, socio-material processes of (de-)stabilisation in MCO, and an autoethnographic marine expedition.
The findings show that MCOs are relational socio-material achievements rather than linear technical outputs. Observations are co-produced by human and more-than-human forces, including scientists, technicians, sensors, seawater, and infrastructures. Their stabilisation depends on communication, interpersonal relations, and data availability, while funding shortages, borders, and climate change impacts contribute to destabilisation. In addition, sensory, embodied, and experiential forms of knowledge - including intuition and emotions -shape everyday scientific practice and insight. Marine knowledge production is further structured by transnational intersectional hierarchies and micropolitics, with gender, age, class, ethnicity, and physical appearance influencing access, credibility, and safety at sea.
Conceptually, the dissertation develops the framework of Intra-active Observation Assemblages (IOA) to capture how situated practices, embodiment, affect, inequality, and more-than-human forces co-produce policy-relevant marine knowledge. It contributes to the Sociology of Knowledge, Science and Technology Studies, feminist and new materialist approaches, while methodologically extending multi-sited ethnography to mobile, transnational, and more-than-human field sites. The findings further highlight how borders, funding structures, and institutional hierarchies shape scientific cooperation, with implications for more transparent, diverse, and inclusive science-making at sea.; Marine Kohlenstoffbeobachtungen (MCOs) sind zentral für das Verständnis der Rolle des Ozeans im globalen Kohlenstoffkreislauf und seiner Funktion als bedeutende Senke für anthropogenes Kohlendioxid (CO₂). Zugleich sind sie ein wesentlicher Bestandteil globaler Klimagovernance, da sie in Prozesse wie das Global Carbon Budget und Bewertungen des Weltklimarates einfließen. Trotz ihrer wissenschaftlichen und politischen Relevanz sind die sozio-materiellen Bedingungen ihrer Hervorbringung bislang unzureichend untersucht. Die Dissertation schließt diese Forschungslücke, indem sie analysiert, wie MCOs produziert werden und welche internen sowie externen Faktoren diese Wissensproduktionsprozesse beeinflussen.
Auf Grundlage eines induktiven, praxeologischen und multi-sited ethnographischen Ansatzes stützt sich die Arbeit auf Feldforschung, die zwischen 2021 und 2024 in Laboren, auf Forschungs- und Handelsschiffen, in virtuellen Meetings sowie an meereswissenschaftlichen Instituten in Brasilien und Deutschland durchgeführt wurde. Analysiert werden vier miteinander verbundene empirische Fallstudien: Tiefsee-Beobachtungen an Bord eines Forschungsschiffes, transnationale Intersektionalität in Forschung und Arbeit auf See, sozio-materielle Prozesse der (De-)Stabilisierung von MCOs sowie eine autoethnographische marine Expedition.
Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass MCOs relationale sozio-materielle Hervorbringungen und keine linearen technischen Outputs sind. Beobachtungen werden durch menschliche und mehr-als-menschliche Kräfte ko-produziert, darunter Wissenschaftler:innen, Techniker:innen, Sensoren, Meerwasser und Infrastrukturen. Ihre Stabilisierung hängt von Kommunikation, zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen und Datenverfügbarkeit ab, während Finanzierungsengpässe, Grenzen und Auswirkungen des Klimawandels zu Destabilisierungen beitragen. Darüber hinaus prägen sensorische, verkörperte und erfahrungsbasierte Wissensformen - einschließlich Intuition und Emotionen - den wissenschaftlichen Alltag und die Generierung von Wissen. Die marine Wissensproduktion ist zudem durch transnationale intersektionale Hierarchien und Mikropolitiken strukturiert, wobei Geschlecht, Alter, Klasse, Ethnizität und physisches Erscheinungsbild Zugang, Glaubwürdigkeit und Sicherheit auf See beeinflussen.
Konzeptionell entwickelt die Dissertation das Framework der Intra-active Observation Assemblages (IOA), um zu erfassen, wie situierte Praktiken, Verkörperung, Affekt, Ungleichheit und mehr-als-menschliche Kräfte politisch relevantes marines Wissen ko-produzieren. Damit leistet sie Beiträge zur Wissenssoziologie, zu Science and Technology Studies, feministischen und neu-materialistischen Ansätzen und erweitert methodologisch die multi-sited Ethnographie um mobile, transnationale und mehr-als-menschliche Feldorte. Darüber hinaus verdeutlichen die Ergebnisse, wie Grenzen, Finanzierungsstrukturen und institutionelle Hierarchien wissenschaftliche Kooperation prägen, und zeigen Implikationen für eine transparentere, diversere und inklusivere Wissenschaftspraxis auf See auf.

The Chinese Cultural Sphere in Vietnam

2026-04-08T13:10:09Z

The Chinese Cultural Sphere in Vietnam Le, Ngoc Han Vietnam and China were intertwined throughout their long history. The past relationship between Vietnam and China is marked by confrontation and liberation struggles. This power struggle had a tremendous impact on Vietnamese history and culture. Historically Vietnam has been a part of the Chinese Cultural Sphere. The development of specialized ceramic production in Vietnam is closely related to the interaction with China. Vietnamese ceramics from the Lý dynasty (1009 - 1225), Trần dynasty (1225 - 1400), and Primal Lê dynasty (1428 - 1527) are a central objective of this study. Although Vietnamese ceramic culture has a long tradition, Vietnamese ceramic culture is little researched, especially in the context of Chinese ceramic culture. Little is known about the Vietnamese organization, production, and distribution of ceramic products. This research project aims to shed new light on an old tradition of Vietnam and to show the deep cultural entanglement between Vietnam and China. The evolution of glazed ceramics in Vietnam does have parallels with the evolution of Chinese ceramics and Vietnamese ceramic culture is strongly shaped by the Chinese, however, it is still independent. Hence, the usage and choice of decorative motifs are similar to Chinese ceramic culture but still showcase a separate ceramic culture. Additionally, the purpose of this project is to provide insights into the knowledge transfer between these two countries and the role of Vietnam in the Southeast Asian maritime trade.
The data for this project was collected through extensive data collection of the excavated ceramic objects of the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long and through gathering information about Chinese ceramic production, as there are few to no sources about Vietnamese ceramic production. The analysis of these components allows an insight into the Vietnamese organization of ceramic production and its distribution, the knowledge transfer between China and Vietnam, and Vietnam's role in the Southeast Asian trade market. In particular, the motif discoveries on Vietnamese ceramics assisted these understandings.
These findings indicate that because Vietnamese ceramics have such parallels with the evolution of Chinese ceramics, Vietnam also operated official kilns. The kilns in Vietnam also had imperial patronage, affirmed by ceramic objects with official kiln marks in Vietnam. The Vietnamese ceramic production was not a competitor for the Chinese ceramic commercial market, nevertheless, they could deliver orders in large quantities too. Furthermore, it attests to the ability of the diversity of Vietnamese glaze types and the ability of Vietnamese potters to adjust to the global market.

Building Bridges: Corporate Collaborations as Catalysts for NGO Financial Sustainability

2026-03-27T08:52:09Z

Building Bridges: Corporate Collaborations as Catalysts for NGO Financial Sustainability Gouda, Ahmed In an era of growing financial volatility and rising public scrutiny, nonprofit organizations are increasingly compelled to explore innovative financing strategies beyond traditional donor models. One such strategy is cross-sector collaboration with private sector actors, particularly corporations. While these partnerships are often promoted as win–win solutions that advance both social and business objectives, their implications for the financial sustainability of NGOs remain under-researched and contested. This dissertation investigated how collaboration with corporate partners affects the financial resilience and resource diversification strategies of NGOs, with a focus on the German nonprofit sector.
Employing a qualitative multiple-case study design, triangulated with financial data drawn from annual reports and other organizational documents, the research analyzed four Germany-based NGOs differing in size, mission, and modes of corporate engagement. Drawing on 22 semi-structured interviews with senior managers, the study applied an analytical framework informed by relevant literature and theoretical perspectives on nonprofit strategy, cross-sector collaboration, and financial sustainability. The data were examined thematically using elements derived from this framework and further expanded through inductive coding to capture emerging patterns.
The findings indicate that while corporate partnerships offer only modest financial contributions, they deliver considerable non-financial and in-kind value – such as capacity-building support, access to technology and know-how, reputational capital, and pathways to other corporate actors. These strategic resources play a critical role in enhancing organizational competitive advantage, adaptability and agility, public credibility, and long-term sustainability. The study also identifies a range of risks and tensions, some of which are generic, while others are organization-specific – for instance, those related to religious affiliation or internal governance structures.
The study contributes to theory by refining existing models of collaboration and financial sustainability, emphasizing the non-linear, hybrid nature of NGO–corporate partnerships. It advances a multi-dimensional understanding of sustainability that integrates financial, operational, and relational capacities. Methodologically, it demonstrates the value of combining qualitative insights with financial data. Practically, it provides actionable guidance for NGOs and corporate partners on designing collaborations that enhance legitimacy, financial resilience, and long-term strategic alignment and sustainability.