News

Until May 2023, Regine Fahn, M.A., will take over the management of the Passau International Centre for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies (PICAIS), representing Dr. Stefanie Meister during her parental leave.

PICAIS is a central scientific institution of the University of Passau, located under the umbrella of research and junior researcher promotion. The focus is on the promotion and networking of research along the strategic thematic priorities of the University of Passau. It offers two funding programs in the area of international fellowships/guest residencies and interdisciplinary project and event ideas that break new ground thematically and/or methodologically. This year marks the third round of selection.

Regine Fahn studied International Cultural and Business Studies at the University of Passau and received her Master's degree here. She has experience as a research assistant in the International Support Services department at the University of Passau and will take over the management of PICAIS for the coming year with a half-time position.

The university management and collegial leadership of PICAIS are pleased to welcome Ms. Regine Fahn to the team.

Twice a year, PICAIS invites applications for funding programs for Research-in-Residence fellowships and event funding at the University of Passau.

The second round of applications for 2022 is now open. The application deadline for 2022 is as follows:

Application Round 2 closes on Monday, October 17, 2022, for fellowships and event fundings in 2023.

You can find further information here.

The Passau International Centre for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies (PICAIS), in collaboration with the Research Training Group "Digital Platform Ecosystems" (DPE) and the Chair of Development Economics (Prof. Grimm), invites you to the first event of the PICAIS Fellow Dr. Edward Asiedu.

Edward Asiedu holds a PhD in Development Economics and is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Business School. He is currently a Fellow at the Department of Development Economics (Prof. Michael Grimm) at the University of Passau, Germany, conducting research in behavioral and development economics.

The symposium will include a workshop and a roundtable discussion. The workshop will address development bottlenecks in sub-Saharan Africa and discuss possible solutions through digitization. The round table discussion will focus on "Achieving an Inclusive Digital Ecosystem in Africa". Panelists will be Dr. Edward Asiedu and Prof. Jann Lay, Dr. Patricia Boshe (Research Center for Law and Digitalization (FREDI)) and Prof. Jan Krämer (spokesperson of RTGDPE), both from the University of Passau.

You can find further information here.

As PICAIS, we stand in solidarity with our fellow researchers from Ukraine. Therefore, we established a fellowship for junior and senior researchers in Ukraine threatened by the current war. We invite applications for a visiting position at the University of Passau. The deadline for applications is July 11, 2022. You can find more information on this website.

Edward Asiedu published a paper entitled “Economic Recovery but Stagnating Mental Health During a Global Pandemic? Evidence from Ghana and South Africa” in the journal “Review of Income and Wealth”. In this study the authors explore the mental and economic well-being of the urban poor in Ghana and South Africa comparing the COVID-19 lockdown and the “new normal” one year later.

Dr. Asiedu holds a Ph.D. in Development Economics and is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Business School. He is currently visiting the University of Passau as a Fellow at the Chair of Development Economics (Prof. Michael Grimm) and undertakes research in the field of behavioural and development economics.

His publication can be accessed here.

Dr. Stefanie Meister took over the management of the Passau International Centre for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies (PICAIS) on 1 March, replacing Dr. Kerstin Theis, who accompanied the centre during its start-up phase and is now back in full-time charge of the National Research Programmes Unit in the Research Funding Department.

The PICAIS is a central scientific institution of the University of Passau, located under the umbrella of research and junior researcher promotion. The focus is on promoting and networking research along the University's strategic thematic priorities. It offers two funding programmes in the area of international fellowships and interdisciplinary project and event ideas that break new ground thematically and/or methodologically. This year, the second and third selection rounds will take place.

Dr. Stefanie Meister studied neurobiology and completed her doctorate in the field of behavioural neuroscience at the University of Regensburg. After a two-year DFG-funded research stay at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, she worked as Scientific Fundraising Manager and Project Manager at Helmholtz Zentrum München. Most recently, she worked as a Research Officer in the National Research Programmes Unit from 2020 to 2022.

The university management and collegial leadership of PICAIS are pleased to have gained an internationally experienced scientist and proven science manager for PICAIS in Dr Meister. In addition, the team in the office will be strengthened with a staff member in the summer term 2022.

Since January 2022, we have been providing information on relevant funding calls, events and general information via our PICAIS mailing list.
If you are interested, you are welcome to subscribe to our info mails here (link: lists.zim.uni-passau.de/mailman/listinfo/picais ).

The joint newsletter with the Research Funding Division has been discontinued as of December 2021. Since then, you can independently search for relevant funding opportunities via the external search engine ResearchConnect. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the colleagues in the Research Funding Department and in PICAIS.

In April 2021, the Science Council published recommendations for the further development of Institutes for Advanced Studies (IAS) - considering that the relevant centers are characterized by a variety of functions, forms and structures and face numerous tasks and roles.

The Science Council has since raised a systematic inventory of IAS in Germany and presented development prospects for IAS in Germany.

Here you can find the recommendations, analyses and brief profiles of the Science Council.