The Volkswagen Foundation and the Hertie Foundation are Supporting German-Israeli Cooperation on Democracy Research
The Volkswagen Foundation and the Hertie Foundation are each providing 1.25 million euros in support of the newly established Max Planck Centre for Democracy, Security and Human Rights.
How can democracies tackle terrorism, disinformation, digital surveillance and authoritarian tendencies without undermining the very principles of the rule of law and human rights that they seek to defend? The newly established Max Planck Centre for Democracy, Security and Human Rights is dedicated to addressing this question. The Hertie Foundation and the Volkswagen Foundation are each providing around 1.25 million euros in funding to support the international research centre until 2030.
The Centre is a joint initiative of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg and the Minerva Centre for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This German-Israeli collaboration brings together perspectives from two democracies that are confronted, in different ways, with issues of the rule of law, counter-terrorism, social polarisation and the protection of human rights.
A project involving researchers from Germany, Israel and the Arab-Palestinian region
Liberal democracies are under pressure worldwide: from political polarisation, security threats and authoritarian claims to power. Many states are responding to this with new security laws, digital surveillance or restrictions on individual civil liberties.
The new Max Planck Centre addresses this area of tension. The collaboration between Freiburg and Jerusalem provides a comparative perspective on different democratic experiences, legal traditions and security policy realities. Researchers from Germany, Israel and the Arab-Palestinian region will work together to investigate how democratic states can remain capable of acting without compromising their own principles.
To this end, the Centre brings together experts in constitutional law, human rights law, security law, criminal law and legal theory. The aim is to develop new academic concepts that transcend the traditional dichotomy between ‘security’ and ‘freedom’.
Fellowship and scholarship programme for early-career researchers
The Max Planck Centre is organised on a binational basis and operates from sites in Freiburg and Jerusalem. It is led by Prof. Dr Ralf Poscher of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law and Prof. Dr Barak Medina of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The co-directors are Prof. Yuval Shany, former Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee, and Prof. Dr Tatjana Hörnle, an expert in criminal law and legal theory.
A key element is a fellowship and scholarship programme for early-career researchers:
- PhD students and postdocs will be able to undertake research stays at both locations.
- Joint seminars, international conferences and exchanges between the participating research centres are intended to facilitate sustainable academic ‘brain circulation’.