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Academic Freedom Week: Safeguarding and (Re)Constructing Space, Networks, and Knowledge

May 18-22, 2026

Amid unpredictable geopolitical shifts, the commitment to academic freedom faces increasing pressure–including across Europe.

In 2026, the Berlin Brandenburg Academic Freedom Week (BBAFW) will focus on the themes of safeguarding and (re)construction.

We will examine the complex dynamics shaping the individual trajectories of at-risk academics, students, and artists. Simultaneously, we will discuss effective strategies and practices for safeguarding and reconstructing academic freedom at both regional and transnational levels.

Academic Freedom Week 2025Panel Discussion as part of Academic Freedom Week 2025Closing Remarks at Academic Freedom Week 2025

Overview of Events

Berlin-Brandenburg Academic Freedom Week 2026 consists of events from May 18-22 hosted by organizers across the city. Below is an overview of the week's program. Please note that participation in some events requires registration in advance.

This one-day workshop, conducted by Dr. Anne Schreiter, supports international researchers in planning their next career steps within or beyond academia in Germany. Participants reflect on their strengths, values, and goals and learn how to connect these to real opportunities in different sectors. A key focus is on defining and communicating a clear professional message – and adapting it to diverse audiences such as academic institutions, research organizations, or potential employers. The session also covers networking, visibility, and useful resources for further exploration, helping participants shape a career strategy that feels both authentic and adaptable. Dr. Anne Schreiter is the managing director of GSO* – Guidance, Skills & Opportunities for Researchers e.V., an independent non-profit organization in Berlin that supports researchers in their career paths. She earned her doctorate in organizational sociology at the University of St. Gallen and conducted research at UC Berkeley. As a certified systemic coach, she designs programs and workshops on career planning within and outside academia and is a member of the advisory boards of the German Postdoc Network, Network Science Management, and the Kohli Foundation for Sociology.

Title: Career Strategy for Academia and Beyond: A Seminar for International Academics

Organizer: Technische Universität Berlin / TU Berlin Corporate

Date and time: Monday, May 18th

Location: KiezLab, Tamara-Danz-Str. 13, 2nd floor, 10243 Berlin

Format: In-person

Details: Registration required.

Standing for Freedom: Portraits of Scientists in Exile (or Poser pour la liberté) is a traveling exhibition created by Pascale Laborier and photographer Pierre-Jérôme Adjedj, documenting the experiences of 55 academic researchers forced into exile. It uses transparent photographic techniques to highlight the intersection of their personal stories and professional lives. On May 18th, both Pascale Laborier and Pierre-Jerome Adjedj will open and give a guided tour of the exhibition. Featuring opening words from HU Professors: Co-directors of HU Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research Prof. Aileen Edele & Prof. Pauline Endres de Oliveira, and Prof. von Steinsdorff (Department of Social Sciences). A small buffet is planned to enable further discussion and connection between the participants.

Organizer: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Date and time: Monday, May 18th, 4-6 p.m.

Location: Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin – Main Foyer

Event format: In person

Details: Registration required.

Over the past decade, universities in Berlin and Brandenburg have welcomed a large number of at-risk scholars. While these researchers initially came from countries such as Iran, Syria, or Turkey, today they arrive from a diverse range of nations, including Afghanistan, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Palestine. Their flight and exile in Berlin tell stories not only of the geopolitical conflicts of our world but also of the suppression of academic and free speech, of research under threat, and of courage in science. They also highlight the often arduous journey of rebuilding an academic life in Berlin—a journey that at-risk scholars undertake together with the supporting universities. In a panel consisting of two separate parts, this event brings together scholars from Afghanistan, Belarus, Turkey, and Sudan to narrate their different trajectories and showcase how scholars and scholarship are nowadays subject to forced mobility.

Event title: Journeys of Scholarship at Risk

Organizer: Freie Universität Berlin

Date and time: May 19th, 9:30-11:30

Location: Freie Universität Berlin

Format: In-person

Details: Open to the public

A key challenge in advancing academic freedom is fostering inter- and transnational exchanges that allow for sharing experiences and mutual learning. In response to the global rise of authoritarianism and closing spaces of critical scholarship, numerous regional initiatives, networks and coalitions have emerged in recent years. As part of the Berlin Brandenburg Academic Freedom Week 2026 and in close cooperation with co2libri, the BCGE will host an online workshop bringing together these international, transregional and interdisciplinary Academic Freedom Initiatives and Networks along with key science-policy actors. The workshop will explore practical lessons on protecting academic freedom on a transnational and interdisciplinary level to map out and highlight repertoires and ways universities can actively support these efforts.

Event title: (Re)Constructing Solidarity: Connecting Academic Freedom Worldwide

Organizers: Berlin Center for Global Engagement (BCGE), Berlin University Alliance (BUA) and co2libri. Conceptual collaboration with Living Borderless Research Interaction (ZMO/FU/HU).

Date and time: May 19th, 12-3 p.m.

Format: Online workshop

Details: Upon invitation only

More information about the event is available here.

Geopolitical tensions and conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa increasingly affect international academic cooperation. Travel restrictions, political uncertainties, and legal frameworks can complicate research collaborations, mobility, and scholarly exchange—particularly when partner institutions are affected by crises. As part of Academic Freedom Week at TU Berlin, this round table brings together researchers and key university actors to share experiences from collaborations with partner institutions in the region and to discuss current challenges for international cooperation. The discussion will focus on the possibilities universities have to support their partners when academic institutions are affected by crisis or conflict, and on how academic networks can be sustained in solidarity and collaboratively strengthened or rebuilt under such circumstances.

Event title: Academic Freedom under Pressure: Academic Cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa

Organizer: Technische Universität Berlin

Date and time: May 19th, 4-6 p.m.

Location: Straße des 17. Juni 135

Format: In-person, internal to TU Berlin

Details: Registration required (link to follow)

This intergenerational expert roundtable brings together scholars at different career stages to reflect on the promises and limits of academic freedom in the context of field-based research. Panelists will explore how religion, ethnicity, gender, nationality, language, and other aspects of identity influence access, safety, credibility, and vulnerability in the field. From navigating institutional review processes and state restrictions to building trust with communities and managing political sensitivities, the discussion will examine mentorship, solidarity, and strategies for sustaining intellectual autonomy while maintaining ethical commitments to research communities in increasingly polarized and surveilled environments.

Event title: The Governance of Fieldwork: Minorities and Academic Freedom

Organizer: SCRIPTS

Date and time: May 19th, 4-6 p.m.

Location: Altensteinstr. 15

Format: Hybrid

Details: Registration required. Read more here.

The Universität der Künste Berlin and the Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, in cooperation with the Institut français Berlin, invite you to a film screening followed by a discussion.

Film Programme:

My Grandmother is a Skydiver, Animated short film, 13 min, Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
Director: Polina Piddubna

The Non-Monument, Short film, 13 min, Director: Yara Saleh

The films will be screened in their original versions with English subtitles, and the Q&A will be held in English.

Event Title: Academic and Artistic Freedom in the Context of Conflict and War: Film Screening and Q&A

Organizers: Universität der Künste Berlin & Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in cooperation with the Institut Français Berlin

Date and time: May 19th, 6-7:30 p.m.

Location: Cinema Paris, Kurfürstendamm 211, 10719 Berlin

Format: In person

Details: Open to the public. Find the event page here.

Registration: Reserve a seat here.

This event brings together experts and researchers to examine the challenges facing academic freedom in global and European contexts. The day begins with a keynote from Stephanie Balme (Sciences Po Paris), presenting insights from her report Defending and Promoting Academic Freedom: A Global Issue, an Urgent Matter for France and Europe, followed by a Q&A session. Roundtable 1 (2:15–3:30 pm) focuses on the forces eroding academic freedom worldwide, with case studies from different countries and regions in the world. Discussions will explore methods used to curtail academic freedom and the individual and collective responses from academia. Roundtable 2 (3:45–5:00 pm) examines the experiences of scientists and researchers in Franco-German research centres operating in illiberal political contexts. The conversation highlights the challenges for European research structures, their potential to foster resistance in host countries, lessons for Western Europe, and insights into strengthening capacities for academic freedom under pressure.

Event title: Roundtables: Transnational Perspectives on Academic Freedom

Organizer: Centre Marc Bloch

Date and time: May 20th, 1-5 p.m.

Location: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin, Senatssaal

Format: In person

Details: Registration required (link to follow)

Advocating for academic freedom and implementing programmes to host at-risk scholars and artists bring fundamental challenges into focus: how resilient are universities, and are they able to provide safe and supportive environments? This panel discussion with university presidents from Berlin and Paris explores protection programmes for at-risk scholars and asks how higher education institutions can safeguard freedom, solidarity, and openness under pressure.

   

   Welcome address

   The French Ambassador to Germany, François Delattre

   Introductory reflections

   Prof. Dr. Andrea Fleschenberg dos Ramos Pinéu (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) 

   Associate Prof. Dr. Khoo Ying Hooi (Universiti Malaya) 

   Prof. Jay Rowell (Centre Marc Bloch) 

   Discussion

   Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal (President, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

   Prof. Dr. Markus Hilgert (President, Universität der Künste Berlin) 

   Pierre-Paul Zalio (President, Campus Condorcet) 

   Chair

   Jan-Martin Wiarda


Event title: Academic Freedom at Risk: European Universities between Resilience and Responsibility

Organizer: Berlin University Alliance

Date and time: May 20th, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Location: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin, Senatssaal

Format: In person

Details: Registration required.

Since 2021, the "Hilde Domin Programme" funded by the German Federal Foreign Office has enabled at-risk students and doctoral candidates from all over the world to pursue their studies or doctoral research at a German university in a safe environment. During the event, we will jointly reflect on the successes and challenges of the past years. By discussing academic freedom and presenting personal accounts from current and former scholarship holders, we aim to underscore the solidarity necessary to safeguard academic freedom and highlight the societal and economic value that welcoming at-risk students brings to Germany.

Event Title: Wege der Hoffnung - Fünf Jahre Hilde Domin-Programme / Pathways of Hope - Five Years of the Hilde Domin Programme

Organizers: Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD)

Date and time: May 21st

Location: Berliner Freiheit (Berliner Freiheit 2, 10785 Berlin)

Format: In person

Details: Registration required (registration link to follow)

Two cabarets, La Bouche (Paris) and The Velvet Creepers (Berlin), are taking part in a joint artistic residency at the Institut français Berlin. Over ten days, the artists develop new forms of contemporary cabaret that blend music, drag, burlesque, performance art, and elements of new circus. This meeting brings together two complementary aesthetics: Berlin’s spectacular, politically engaged scene and Paris’s powerful, music-driven cabaret with a distinct queer voice. The exchange promises fresh creative energy and an experimental Franco-German signature. Cabaret has always been a space of freedom, a place for satire, dissent, and questioning social norms. By celebrating queer visibility, artistic risk-taking, and the right to speak freely, this project naturally echoes the core values of Academic Freedom Week. Here, artistic freedom and academic freedom meet in a shared space of critical thought and creative expression. The residency will conclude with a public cabaret performance on May 22nd, 2026, closing Academic Freedom Week with a unique Franco-German co-creation that reimagines cabaret for today and highlights its political and artistic relevance.

Event title: Cabaret Evening

Organizer: Insitut Francais Berlin

Date and time: May 22nd at 8 p.m.

Location: Boris Vian Hall – Institut Francais Berlin, Kurfürstendamm 211, 10719 Berlin

Format: In person

Details: Registration required with 20€ (15€ reduced) entry fee. Spots can be reserved online.

As part of the Academic Freedom Week, the BUA Postdoc Academy is offering confidential, 45-minute, one-on-one coaching sessions for Scholars at Risk. These sessions create a supportive space to reflect on your situation, explore career paths within or beyond academia, and clarify possible next steps. Who is this for? Researchers whose lives, freedom, or well-being are under threat and who face heightened uncertainty about their future. You may discuss career transitions, funding or contract insecurity, professional goals, receive feedback on your CV – or any other career-related matter. Please note: 45 minutes cannot resolve structural challenges, but it can help you sharpen your focus and define concrete actions. The sessions are led by Ulrike Schneeberg, PhD, coach and trainer specialising in academic career transitions and reflective leadership.

Title: Career Coaching for Postdocs at Risk

Organizer: Nadia Zysman - BUA Postdoc Academy

Date and time: Ongoing throughout the week

Format: Hybrid

Details: Registration required.

About Berlin Brandenburg Academic Freedom Week

Initiatives and institutions are working worldwide to counter the erosion of academic freedom. They raise awareness, promote solidarity, and advocate for concrete protection mechanisms and sustainable programs for scholars, artists, and students at risk.

The 2026 Berlin Brandenburg Academic Freedom Week is the result of a collaborative effort between the Scholars at Risk Section Berlin-Brandenburg and the Berlin University Alliance, together with European and international scientific and cultural partners. Through cultural events, public discussions, and workshops we want to strengthen engagement with academic freedom within and beyond scientific communities.

Contact

For general inquiries write to: int.events(at)hu-berlin.de

For press inquiries write to: hu-presse(at)hu-berlin.de

Organizers

Academic Freedom Week Organizers

Academic Freedom Week Organizers

Main Organizers: Scholars at Risk Berlin-Brandenburg | Berlin University Alliance

Participating Institutions (alphabetical): Bard College | Berlin Center for Global Engagement | BUA Cluster of Excellence SCRIPTS | BUA Postdoc Academy | Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin | Centre Marc Bloch | DAAD: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst | Établissement public Campus Condorcet | Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) | Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF | Freie Universität Berlin | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Institut Francais Berlin | Technische Universität Berlin | Universität der Künste Berlin | Universität Potsdam

With the support of: Ambassade de France en Allemagne | Berlin University Alliance | Institut Francais Deutschland | Philipp Schwartz-Initiative