Dear Readers,

Five years ago, when Michael Daxner and Peter Timm, the two heads of the universities of Oldenburg and Bremen, presented the idea of founding a joint Wissenschaftskolleg to the public, they were widely applauded. But few actually believed that this plan would become reality. The astonishment was all the greater when the state government of Lower Saxony and the University Senate of Bremen allowed themselves to be convinced by the project and even resisted the killer argument - the empty public coffers. That speaks for foresight and strength - qualities that are all too often denied to politicians. But the cliché does not apply here. The Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg is being created because it is important, and not because it will win a flower pot in the election campaign. The foundation stone for the eight million mark building was laid in Delmenhorst at the beginning of August, and the official opening as an independent foundation will take place on 13 October - in the presence of the first Fellows.

There are already three institutions of this kind in Germany: the Berlin Wissenschaftskolleg, the Essen Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and the Bielefeld University Didactics Centre. Unsurprisingly, the common model comes from the USA: the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton was founded in 1930, the year of the global economic crisis, when good advice was expensive and much was expected of science.

Even in the current time of upheaval, many hopes are focussed on science and its ability to innovate. This is exactly what the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg is all about. This institution brings together scientists from all over the world, fellows, with local colleagues to stimulate research at the universities of Bremen and Oldenburg as a source of hope for a structurally weak region. What is new about the Oldenburg-Bremen model is that the guests, who stay for one or two semesters, not only work at the college, but also conduct research at the local universities and, as a rule, also teach. In this way, students also benefit from the constant enrichment and can directly enjoy different or new perspectives on scientific problems.

Yours

Gerhard Harms