Hostility towards democracy is on the rise in Germany. Yet politicians and academics pay little attention to the attitudes of a particularly important group: young voters. An interdisciplinary project in eastern Germany is determined to change that.
A small, rich minority is becoming increasingly wealthy. Eva Wegner and Miquel Pellicer ask: How does politics contribute to growing economic inequality – and whose interests do MPs actually represent?
So that everyone can have their say: Citizens' assembly on AI research
Rhetoric expert Anika Kaiser researches how people can make themselves heard on the major issues of our time – artificial intelligence (AI) being a case in point. She is the right person to take care that this grassroots democratic process does not remain too detached from reality: in her first life, she trained as a painter.
Radical democracy – How grassroots movements lead to solidarity and problem solution
5 countries, 10 cities, over 100 initiatives – in a large-scale research project, social scientist Helge Schwiertz is investigating how citizens are working together at local levels to find solutions to the major crises facing Europe.
Protest movements: How do they affect democracies in Europe?
Election victories for authoritarian parties, demonstrations against the right, Fridays for Future and increasing populism: democracies in Europe are coming under pressure. The "ProDem" project has analysed the impact of protest movements on the development of democracy in six European countries.
Wolfram Pernice is researching how computers based on neural networks could in future compute even faster and more efficiently – using light instead of electronics. And real nerves instead of optical fibres.
Marine scientist Dr Christina Roggatz from the University of Bremen is leading her own team for the first time – and through her work wants to arrive at a better understanding of climate change. Here she gives us an insight into her everyday life as leader of a junior research group.
