The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the center with 1.7 million euros under the name “Maria Sibylla Merian Centre” during the initial phase until the end of 2020. The entire funding over the expected span of 12 years will be up to 18 million euros in total. The University of Freiburg is primarily responsible for its structuring and coordination, together with the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) and the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute for Cultural Science Research (ABI).
The “Merian International Centre for Advanced Studies in Africa” (MICAS Africa) will be headquartered at the University of Ghana in Accra with a second office location at the Centre de Recherches sur les Politiques sociales in Dakar, Senegal. MICAS Africa is slated to open mid-2018. The German partners include the German Historical Institute Paris as a member of the Max Weber Foundation, the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, the University of Konstanz and the Centre for Interdisciplinary African Studies (ZIAF) at the University of Frankfurt.
The consortium under Freiburg’s leadership is placing its main emphasis on sustainable governance. In the beginning, issues such as migration, democratic consolidation and ecological restructuring will be the focus of interdisciplinary work conducted by excellent scientists in various fields. One of the main objectives for MICAS Africa is to make a significant contribution to tearing down the global imbalance in knowledge. This should be achieved through the planned years-long cooperation amongst top researchers as well as young researchers from Africa and the entire world.
Maria Sibylla Merian Centres
With the international research colleges “Maria Sibylla Merian Centres”, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research seeks to promote the internationalization of the humanities, cultural and social sciences in Germany through close cooperation with bilateral and multilateral projects in locations outside of Germany. For this purpose, colleges in scientifically and politically important regions and partner countries in Asian, Latin America and Africa should emerge in which a group of scientists form Germany and the host country can conduct joint research on issues related to the humanities and social science and invite fellows to get involved on a regular basis. The colleges will be developed and operated in partnership with German academic institutions.
