Lighthouse Fellowships

During his stay, Prof. Cairns collaborated closely with the ERC Advanced Grant project “Honor in Classical Greece” (University of Edinburgh) and with Collaborative Research Center 1285 “Invectivity” at TU Dresden. Together, they organized two workshops and a conference. In addition, Prof. Cairns supervised a doctoral candidate at TU Dresden, for whom a three-year doctoral fellowship was awarded, and initiated the awarding of three postdoctoral fellowships for six-month research stays at the University of Edinburgh.

For Prof. Cairns, exchange with international colleagues is a central component of his scholarly work. Dialogue about different approaches and perspectives not only enriches his own research but also enables critical reflection on and expansion of familiar methodological and institutional structures.

In his words: “German classical philology continues to set standards in many respects that serve as a guide for colleagues in other disciplines. All good classical philologists need a strong command of German and strong connections to Germany. Dresden is the ideal place to cultivate these relationships—the city combines outstanding academic resources, dedicated colleagues, and a rich cultural environment. Moreover, Dresden is one of the most beautiful and best-located cities in Europe—and thus in the world.”

Prof. Douglas Cairns’s connection to TU Dresden began in 2011 through his contact with Prof. Fritz-Heiner Mutschler, professor emeritus of the Chair of Classical Philology/Latin at TUD. In 2016, Prof. Cairns visited TU Dresden for the first time as a Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for a short-term stay.
Upon the nomination of Prof. Dr. Dennis Pausch, he received the Humboldt Foundation’s Anneliese Maier Research Award in 2018, in the amount of €250,000, for a five-year research collaboration with TU Dresden. During this time, he developed a close collaboration with Assistant Professor Dr. Mario Baumann, who nominated him for a Senior Fellowship at TU Dresden in 2025. Furthermore, this collaboration also facilitated his membership in the research networks“AG Sensorium”and the DFG network“In (E)motion: Methodological Approaches to Emotions in the Classical Sciences.”

Prof. Cairns is currently working with colleagues from Glasgow and Marburg on a proposal for a collaborative project that—if funded—will also involve researchers and networks from Dresden.

• 2018: Anneliese Maier Research Award (250.000€) from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Dr. Sperling and Dr. Ingwersen structured the fellowship so that it could be integrated into the annual conference of the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) and the German Society for Fantastic Research (GfF), held in Dresden in 2023. As part of the conference, she curated the evening event Contactics: Science Fiction in Performance with the internationally renowned artists Irina Gheorghe, Emma Waltraud Howes, and Justin F. Kennedy. Together, they presented an impressive show intended for both conference participants and a broader public audience. The event was met with great enthusiasm and sparked lively discussions about what science fiction is and what it achieves outside the rather traditional forms and media that science fiction scholars engage with in their work.

The network of stakeholders working and conducting research in the field of science fiction and speculative fiction in Germany is growing dynamically and relies on international relationships and collaborations. The fellowship was crucial for strengthening international exchange within the science fiction community and for expanding it beyond Dresden’s borders to include contemporary visual and performing arts in Europe.

Dr. Sperling’s collaboration with the TUD Dresden University of Technology has been ongoing since 2021. At the invitation of Dr. Ingwersen, she came to Dresden at that time to present joint conference papers as well as to conduct an online seminar project on the topic of “Global Weirding.” The seminar focused on the history of “Weird Fiction” of the 20th and 21st centuries and was awarded the University Prize for Diversity-Sensitive Teaching in 2022.

This successful collaboration evolved into a long-term and productive partnership, which resulted in a Junior Fellowship in 2023. In 2025, Dr. Ingwersen extended another invitation for her to give a guest lecture as part of his course “Anthropocene Fiction.” Furthermore, Dr. Sperling gave another lecture in a seminar on the topic of “Climate Fiction.” The collaboration continues, and future joint events are already being planned.

• 2022: Recipient of the University Award for Diversity-Sensitive Teaching for the online seminar project on “Global Weirding” (in collaboration with Dr. Ingwersen)

The fellowship was part of a long-term collaboration with partners in South Africa. As early as 2009, environmental researchers from Dresden began collaborating with UFS Bloemfontein to establish a United Nations University (UNU) in Dresden and a corresponding Institute in Maputo, Mozambique. In 2019, Dr. Avenant and Dr. Jungmann organized the Germany–Southern Africa Summer School on topics related to water management.

The international activities of the research group led by Dr. Jungmann (Institute of Hydrobiology) and Dr. Börnick (Institute of Water Chemistry) include research on water resources and water quality in the arid and semiarid landscapes of South Africa. Even in traditionally temperate regions such as Germany, water availability is changing due to climate change. The expertise and strategies of our colleagues from South Africa in dealing with changing water resources in the context of climate change will become increasingly important here.

A central component of the fellowship was the intensification and expansion of existing collaboration in the field of surface water monitoring. A key focus was on developing a jointly coordinated strategy for current and future sampling in South Africa. By combining traditional aquatic biomonitoring methods with innovative in vitro bioassays and state-of-the-art chemical analyses, the impacts of climate change on South Africa’s water supply and water quality were analyzed.

In addition to expert discussions, practical laboratory work, and aquatic studies, the fellowship resulted in three joint publications and three project proposals. Furthermore, Dr. Avenant was involved in teaching, including through seminars and colloquia, and delivered a keynote address at the 39th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Limnology.

The fellowship also strengthened the exchange of expertise with the University of the Free State, which has long been working on sustainable solutions in water research. The practical, hands-on knowledge in dealing with climate-related extreme events is particularly valuable for TU Dresden. According to Prof. Stefan Stolte, TUD students also benefit from concrete case studies such as those from South Africa (“non-perennial rivers”): “This allows us to illustrate our teaching even more effectively using practical examples. It also highlights just how interconnected and international our own research is. Based on our experience, this is highly valued by the students.”

In March 2023, the final report of the South African research project “Threats of Extreme Weather Events: Improving the Resilience of QwaQwa to the Multiple Risks of Climate Change” was completed. The TU Dresden participated as an external scientific partner and made significant contributions through two monitoring campaigns, analytical studies, and the scientific evaluation of the results.

Another milestone was the publication of a joint scientific paper in 2024, based on the multi-year collaboration and joint research efforts in South Africa. In September 2024, Dr. Avenant returned to Dresden for the annual conference of the German Society for Limnology, delivered a plenary lecture, and used her stay to conduct laboratory work, engage in professional exchanges, and plan further joint projects.

With the help of additional funding from the funding program Internationalization in 2025 at the Institute of Water Chemistry, practice-oriented assessment and protection strategies for temporary watercourses were developed. To this end, additional research institutions (Sol Plaatjes University, Kimberley; University of KwaZulu-Natal) and stakeholders (water utilities, farmers) were integrated into the research activities. Furthermore, a professional network has emerged involving the University of Duisburg-Essen and UFS Bloemfontein.

Supporting early-career researchers and fostering institutional collaboration play a central role. Beyond the fellowship, this led to further opportunities for collaboration, including another fellowship with Dr. Mariana Erasmus. In addition, contacts were established with regional companies in Dresden and South Africa, leading to discussions aimed at initiating joint projects and project proposals.

Between 2023 and 2025, three major project proposals were developed and submitted in collaboration with UFS Bloemfontein. Although funding was not awarded due to intense competition, the extensive application process significantly deepened the collaboration and academic exchange. The insights gained have already been utilized in scholarly articles and exchanges and are intended to be reused in future calls for proposals.

Since June 2026, Dr. Hilmar Börnick has been working as a research fellow at the University of the Free State, thereby creating additional opportunities for joint research projects and the exchange of researchers.

The collaboration with Dr. Avenant and the UFS Bloemfontein remains very active, and the research group at TU Dresden looks forward to deepening this partnership.