Berlin University Alliance

Global health requires global collaboration. Through its Global Health initiative, the Berlin University Alliance supports interdisciplinary research on key challenges such as vaccines, antibiotic resistance, and aging societies. In close cooperation with partners worldwide, new approaches are being developed that link technological innovations with the needs of people.

The COVID-19 pandemic made one thing unmistakably clear: health knows no borders – neither national, social, nor disciplinary ones. In early 2020, only 22 days passed between the first report of a novel virus in China and the first confirmed infection in Germany. As the disease spread rapidly across countries and claimed hundreds of lives, global stock markets collapsed just two months after the outbreak began.

The situation demanded swift action and made something possible that had previously seemed unthinkable: existing structures were broken open. Cross-disciplinary and cross-industry alliances to develop a vaccine formed almost overnight, bureaucratic hurdles were temporarily reduced, and approval procedures were accelerated. The pandemic showed that health is not a national, one-dimensional issue – it is a global and interdisciplinary challenge.

Even before the pandemic, the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) had identified Global Health as one of the major challenges of our time. As part of its Grand Challenges Initiative, BUA is funding five interdisciplinary Exploration Projects and one strategic project with more than €7.2 million, all aimed at addressing pressing global health issues. The projects focus on topics such as aging societies in urban regions, gender-specific health needs among migrant populations, and the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

A particular focus of the Global Health research initiative lies in collaboration with partner institutions around the world – especially in the Global South. Such partnerships are essential, emphasizes health researcher Hanna-Tina Fischer. “International collaboration is not an option but both substantively and institutionally essential,” she says. “Many countries have long-standing experience in dealing with epidemics or community-based health approaches.” At the same time, countries in the Global North are increasingly facing their own vulnerabilities – for example in supply chains or in questions of societal acceptance. “Learning therefore happens in both directions,” the global health expert explains.

Since January 2026, Fischer has been conducting research in the Einstein Research Unit “Technologies in Global Health – From innovation to users (and back)”, funded by BUA and the Einstein Foundation Berlin. Together with seven academic partner institutions in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda, the consortium investigates how new technologies in the fields of vaccines, antimicrobial resistance, and mental health can be developed, tested, adapted, and implemented. A particular focus lies on the users of these health technologies, aiming to understand which factors enable their successful use – and which may hinder it.

Yet despite its importance, this collaboration faces structural challenges, Fischer notes. “Research questions, funding frameworks, and publication structures are still largely anchored in the Global North.” In Germany, she adds, there is a specific tension: many research funds – including those for Global Health – are expected to be spent primarily within the country, as they come from public tax revenue. While understandable, this approach reaches its limits when addressing global health issues. “If research cannot be adequately funded where risks actually emerge, not only genuine partnership becomes more difficult, it also weakens both the quality and the significance of the results”, Fischer says. “What is often overlooked is that investing in international research also strengthens our own preparedness—for example through better pandemic readiness, more resilient supply chains, or earlier insights into emerging risks.” International research, she concludes, is therefore not only a matter of global solidarity but also of strategic foresight.

Beyond the Global Health initiative, health remains a central focus in the research of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA). For example, the project “Inclusive Food System Transitions”, part of the Grand Challenge Social Cohesion, examined how social cohesion is linked to inequalities and vulnerabilities in food systems—and the health issues that arise from them. The project integrated perspectives from social and political sciences, nutrition and innovation systems research, food technology, as well as medical and nutritional sciences. Building on these insights, one of the project’s researchers, Tilman Brück from Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin), together with colleagues from Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) and the Leibniz Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), launched a new study. Through an anonymous online survey, they aim to explore how different approaches to climate communication are perceived by the public.

With its new One Health initiative, the BUA is taking an even broader approach—looking at how humans, animals, and the environment interact. This includes situations where diseases are transmitted from animals to humans, environmental changes affect living conditions and health, and human actions, in turn, impact ecosystems. One Health views health as the result of interlinked biological, ecological, and social factors, and requires close collaboration with disciplines such as environmental and veterinary sciences. Public participation remains central: citizens provide crucial knowledge about daily practices, mobility, animal husbandry, working conditions, and health behaviors. These factors strongly influence how pathogens spread and how protective measures work—and are therefore essential for future research.