Media information 2025

Since autumn 2023, Germany has been expanding controls at its external borders. Now the Polish government has also announced that it will tighten controls at its borders from 7 July. Against this highly topical background, the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) is hosting a panel discussion on the legal, political and humanitarian challenges of border controls on Thursday 17 July at 6.15 pm. The situation at the border between Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice has repeatedly been in the spotlight, most recently due to a judgement by the Berlin Administrative Court, according to which the rejection of three refugees at the German-Polish border was unlawful.

What values does the European Union represent in its foreign policy and from which sides are these values under attack? Researchers from 20 partner universities on five continents are investigating these questions in the Jean Monnet Network ValEUs. In order to publicise their findings beyond academic circles, the network has now made a free online course available to all interested parties. In addition, students publish short analyses with practical relevance within the framework of the network.

From Monday, 7 July, almost 50 students from Nepal, Senegal, Argentina, Croatia and many other countries will be studying the European system of human rights protection at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). The two-week summer school "The European System of Human Rights Protection" offers Viadrina students as well as international students from almost 20 countries the opportunity to learn from renowned researchers and experts from the field. This is the 26th time that the programme takes place at the Viadrina, and this year there were once again far more applicants than available spots.

On Monday, 16 June, the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) will celebrate the opening of the first graduate programme for Ukrainian Studies. Twelve doctoral students will begin to work on their dissertations in June at the Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) - Berlin (KIU). The opening ceremony for the programme will begin at 6 p.m. in the Logensaal of the Viadrina, Logenstraße 11, in Frankfurt (Oder).

How is the Ukrainian resistance organised? What image of Ukrainian women in the military is conveyed via social media? To what extent does the current war influence language ideologies in Ukraine? And how is the attacked country being supported by Lithuanian volunteers, for example? Nine fellows from the KIU – Competence Network for Interdisciplinary Ukraine Studies are working on these and other issues at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) until the end of July.

German commitment to peace in current conflicts, Ukrainian protest, digital entrepreneurship and computer games as a business model - these are the topics of Viadrina experts at the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften in Berlin, where the Viadrina will be participating for the first time. The science festival will take place on Saturday, 28 June, from 17:00. Viadrina researchers can be seen between 5.00 pm and midnight in the Main Building of the Humboldt-Universität, Unter den Linden 6, room 1072.

The European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) is strengthening its international network. It is the first university in Berlin and Brandenburg to be accepted into the global network "United Nations Academic Impact" (UNAI).

Who is researching which topics at the Viadrina? Which projects have received funding, which work has been honoured with awards? And how is the reform process at the European University going? Answers to these and other questions are to be found in the newly published annual report Viadrina 2024. On Wednesday, 14 May, Prof. Dr Eduard Mühle, President of the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), presented the report at a press conference.

Which steps of modernisation and transformation can be seen in the history of the GDR and the People's Republic of Poland and to what extent do they provide inspiration for the analysis of current transformation, for example in Ukraine? These questions will be addressed at the annual conference of the Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies (VCPU) at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) on Thursday, 22 May and Friday, 23 May. Under the title "Between Hope and Reality. Modernisation and Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe", the conference marks the conclusion of the seven-year research project "Mod-Block-DDR".

Running enthusiasts from the city and region are invited to the ViaRunning charity run on Wednesday, 7 May. The start for this year's four-kilometre run will be given at 6.15 pm at the bridge to Ziegenwerder behind the Gräfin-Dönhoff-Building of the European University Viadrina. The meeting point is the Mensa terrace; the run will cover two laps around the Ziegenwerder island. Afterwards, all participants are invited to celebrate the evening with live music, drinks and a barbecue.

The European University mourns the loss of its former guest researcher Dr Tamila Kyrylova, who tragically passed away on 28 January 2025 in Frankfurt (Oder). Her doctoral supervisor Dr habil. Ievgeniia Voloshchuk, who had hosted her as a guest researcher at the Axel Springer Chair for German-Jewish Literary and Cultural History, Exile and Migration at the Viadrina together with Prof. Dr Kerstin Schoor, remembers the Germanist in an obituary.

On Friday, 10 January, the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) will cease its activities on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). It is thus participating in a joint withdrawal by more than 60 German-speaking universities and research institutions.