University & People - News

With approximately 3,000 manuscripts, including some 600 medieval manuscripts and numerous early modern manuscripts, the Frankfurt University Library’s collection is one of the largest of its kind in Germany. Now, an extraordinary object has come into focus.

Using artistic methods, American artist, design educator, and attorney Ryan Lilienthal explores multidirectional and multiperspectival approaches to remembering National Socialism. Participation lies at the heart of his work, which also involves collaborations with students in Germany. The project is funded by the German-American Fulbright Commission and the German federal government and receives academic support from the “Education After Auschwitz” teaching and research forum.

Where is the Chinese economy headed? And what are the implications for Germany and the wider world? These questions are central to the research of Philipp Böing, Professor of Empirical Innovation Research with a focus on China at Goethe University Frankfurt and the ZEW Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim. Recently appointed spokesperson for the Leibniz Research Network on China, the economist is one of the few German scholars conducting empirical research on the Chinese economy and innovation using large datasets.

The Faculty of Economics at Goethe University has once again achieved outstanding results in the latest ranking by the Center for Higher Education (CHE). 

Some evenings offer more than a meal. In Frankfurt, a handful of tables became the setting for conversations reaching from Tokyo to Kolkata, from Nigeria to South Africa, from philosophy to immunology. The Social Dinners hosted by the Foundation for the Promotion of International Academic Relations at Goethe University serve as a first taste of global science in its most vital form: personal, curious and based on exchange. 

Biologist Horst Lange-Bertalot has devoted his life to the study of diatoms. The internationally acclaimed scientist celebrated his 90th birthday in February.

Academic excellence depends on diversity, freedom and fair opportunities. But independent research can only thrive when institutions provide the right conditions: strong onboarding, awareness of diversity, and reliable support for researchers with different career paths and life circumstances. Goethe University Frankfurt is breaking new ground in this area. A new university-wide study examines the experiences and needs of researchers across all career stages – and identifies where action is needed.

For as long as she can remember, Britta Baumert knew one thing: she wanted to become a teacher. Having reached that decision while still at school, it initially did not seem so important what she would teach rather than the fact that she would teach at all. Although she was raised Catholic and active in parish life as a child and teenager, religion classes at school did little to inspire her. She also viewed the Church with a healthy degree of skepticism. Catholic theology, in other words, was not the obvious path.

Why is progress on inclusion in the German education system so slow? The new Collaborative Research Center in:just, which focuses on equity and participation, has launched with a kick-off meeting.

On May 10, compositions by persecuted Jewish musicians from Frankfurt will be performed in the Hochbunker at Friedberger facility, built on the foundations of the synagogue destroyed by the National Socialists. The concert will feature works by Bernhard Sekles, Ernst Toch, Max Kowalski, Erich Itor Kahn, as well as songs by Rosy Geiger-Kullmann and Willy Salomon. This event is the result of a cooperation involving Goethe University, the University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), the Initiative 9. November e.V., Musica Judaica e.V., and the Frankfurt Society for New Music e.V. The shared goal of the project “Against Forgetting” is to bring the works of Jewish musicians from Frankfurt, who were persecuted by the National Socialists, back into the spotlight—making them both visible and audible once again.

Two research-led projects in the 2025 summer semester gave students the chance to engage directly with provenance research. One focused on the ethnographic collection of the State Museum in Darmstadt; the other examined historical manuscripts and the documentation of items circulating in today’s art and antiquities market.

Environmental sociologist Prof. Dr. Tobias Rüttenauer explores the relationship between nature and society. For example, he investigates whether people adopt more environmentally friendly behavior when they are directly affected by the consequences of climate change. After conducting research in the United Kingdom, most recently at University College London, Rüttenauer is now continuing his work at Goethe University with a LOEWE Start Professorship in Quantitative Social Science at the Center for Critical Computational Studies (C3S). To support his research on climate justice, the state of Hesse is providing €1.3 million in LOEWE funding over the next six years.