HCE College
“Environmental Change and Society: Understanding and Shaping Transformations”
The HCE College brings together doctoral researchers from across disciplines for sustained intellectual exchange on environmental change and societal transformation. It draws on insights and expertise from diverse concepts and disciplines and creates a space to learn across disciplinary boundaries, communicate research to colleagues from other fields, and build a strong interdisciplinary network at Heidelberg University.
Application
We are pleased to invite you to join HCE College for the academic year 2026/27!
To apply, please send us a CV and a short, informal letter of motivation (no more than one page) in which you briefly explain why you would like to join HCE College, what perspective you would like to contribute, and your availability for the core program dates (hce@uni-heidelberg.de).
Deadline: 30 September 2026
Program
The college's core yearly program includes regular meetings throughout the academic year, ending with an integrative workshop, which brings the strands of the program together through integrative group work. In addition, the HCE College organizes additional courses and workshops tailored to participants' priorities and needs, provides direct access to the interdisciplinary 4EU+ training program Collegio futuro, and offers participants the opportunity to invite a guest speaker.
CORE PROGRAM ACTIVITIES:
Networking and Community Building: Provide a space for participants to get to know one another and develop a collegial, trust-based atmosphere.
Research Communication Across Disciplines: Encourage participants to explain their own research to colleagues from different fields in accessible language.
Collaborative Engagement with Literature: Pairs of participants from different disciplines jointly present and discuss an interdisciplinary publication from the field of environmental studies.
“Lens Shift”- Broadening Research Perspective: Create opportunities for participants to reframe their own research questions by exploring them through other disciplinary lenses, thereby integrating new perspectives and approaches.
The integrative workshop allows participants to dive deeper into a topic of shared interest, synthesize insights gained during the program, and engage with an invited guest speaker who brings additional expertise.
CORE PROGRAM SCHEDULE, ACADEMIC YEAR 2026/27
The HCE College's core program sessions are held entirely on-site.
Location: Mathematikon, Berliner Str. 47, 69120 Heidelberg
Kick-off:
12 Nov 2026, 15:00 - 18:30
Journal Clubs
Session I: 10 Dec 2026, 16:30 -18:00
Session II: 21 Jan 2027, 16:30 -18:00
Session III: 18 Mar 2027, 16:30 -18:00
Integrative Closing Workshop
29 Apr 2027, 13:00 -18:00
Optional follow-up opportunities
K3 Congress on Climate Communication
9 - 11 June 2027 | Heidelberg
4EU+interdisciplinary training - Collegio futuro
Summer School | 28 June - 02 July 2027 | Heidelberg
Member's Grant and Credits
To be able to build up one's own professional network and to make one's research visible in the community, the HCE provides funds for networking activities. These funds can be used to attend conferences or workshops or to meet with potential collaboration partners (e.g., in the context of preparing a joint proposal). Regular participation in the core program is a prerequisite for getting the grant.
For each academic year, participants may receive a Letter of attendance (including the ECTS or SWS).