Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - bologna.lab

The Concept

Q-Kollegs are international research groups made up of students from Humboldt-Universität and an international partner university. In the setting of a research-based course, each ‘Kolleg’ carries out an independent project on a particular topic.

A Q-Kolleg can run for either one or two semesters and comprises eight to twelve student fellows who can work together in person or via dedicated virtual learning platforms. The Kolleg ends with a student conference at the HU or an alternative format of synthesis and presentation (e.g. an e-publication).

Organisation

A Q-Kolleg always involves a participating institute at Humboldt-Universität and a freely selected international partner. The supervising teachers decide on the thematic focus together. Within the thematic framework, the international student teams develop their research questions independently. Q-Kollegs are self-determined in the virtual learning platforms they use and the time schedule they follow. They can also be expanded or combined with existing research projects or teaching collaborations, provided they subscribe to the principle of research-based learning. 

The following video presents the work of the Q-Kolleg in the Winckelmann-Institute.

Who to address with further questions regarding Q-Kollegs?

Interested in Q-Kollegs or have any questions on the subject? Like to find out how to set up a Q-Kolleg at your institute and what support the bologna.lab can offer you? You’re welcome to contact us at any time. All questions to: 

Examples: Q-Kollegs at Humboldt-Universität

In February 2012, the first Q-Kolleg was set up in the form of a collaborative project between the Winckelmann Institute for Classical Archaeology at Humboldt-Universität and the Department of Classics at the University of Nottingham. Since then, an annually changing group of ten to twelve fellows from Berlin and Nottingham has carried out research on ‘Methods of Studying Images in Classical Archaeology’. Student collaboration in the pilot project centres around regular video conferences (‘milestones’) attended by the entire group, as well as group and tandem work in situ. Reciprocal visits are spread across the two semesters. 

The transatlantic Q-Kolleg between the Institute for German Literature and the Teachers’ College, Columbia University in New York began its teacher-training-oriented research work on the topic of ‘City and Diversity’ with a workshop in New York in June 2014. Four labs (focus groups) focused on various sub-topics identified during the workshop, while four video conferences provided an opportunity for discussion of work-in-progress. The results of the project were presented at a conference at Humboldt-Universität in June 2015. 

The Q-Kolleg ‘Milieu, Environment, Habitat: Environmental Studies from an Interdisciplinary and Transcultural Perspective’ offered in Winter Semester 2014/2015, was a collaboration between the Institute for Cultural Studies and the department of Habitat Studies at the Art Faculty of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. It combined the perspectives and methods of cultural studies with those of art and design and the natural sciences. With the help of a virtual learning platform, the participating students were able to work on topics and concepts that were then explored in more depth during week-long workshops in Bogotá and Berlin.