Uni-Tübingen

University branch offices and research stations abroad

Branch offices

Dōshisha University in Kyoto (Japan)
Dōshisha University in Kyoto, Japan

The University of Tübingen has two branch offices in East Asia:

The primary objective of the branch offices in Japan and Korea is to offer opportunities for Tübingen students of Japanese and Korean studies and also for students from some other disciplines to get to know the language and culture of the respective country as an integral part of their Bachelor study program. Besides, the two branch offices function as platforms for international cooperation of the University of Tübingen with the East Asian countries in research and education.

Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies at Doshisha University (TCJS)

Since nearly 25 years the University runs the Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies in Kyōto. It was opened as the first European university branch office in Japan in the year 1993. Its hosting institution, Dōshisha University, is one of the most esteemed private universities in Japan.

For Tübingen students of Japanese studies the 2-semester stay in Kyōto is an integral part of their Bachelor study program. By its branch office at Dōshisha University, Tübingen Japanese studies offers its students a Europe-wide unique opportunity to learn and experience the language and culture of Japan already very early during their study in the country itself.

"During their time at the Tübingen Center, all course participants are paired with Japanese host families. The stay with a host family is important not just for language acquisition but also for students’ familiarization with Japanese culture, since it provides deep insights into the host country’s way of life that would otherwise be difficult to experience."

from the experience report of an exchange student

Contact person: Dr. Michael Wachutka, Managing Director TCJS, michael.wachutkaspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de
Homepage of the “Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies”

 

Tübingen Center for Korean Studies at Korea University (TUCKU)

The Tübingen Center for Korean Studies at Korea University (TUCKU) in Seoul was opened in 2012 and is located on the campus of Korea University. Korea University is one of the oldest and most prestigious private universities in Korea.

For Tübingen students of Korean studies in the Bachelor Major study program a one year stay at TUCKU in the 4th or 5th semester is an integral part of their study curriculum, which is unique in Germany. In order to further deepen their linguistic and methodical skills, students participate in intensive language courses and Korea-related seminars.

"For me, the year abroad at Korea University was a fantastic experience, I couldn’t just broaden my language and cultural knowledge but also made new friends and develop as a person."

from the experience report of an exchange student at Korea University

Contact person: Dr. Myoung Hoon Shin, Managing Director TUCKU, myoung-hoon.shinspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Homepage of the “Tübingen Center for Korean Studies”


External research stations

Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Gabun
Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Gabun

The University of Tübingen also runs two external research stations,

Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Gabon

In 1981, the third generation of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, originally created in 1913, was built. In 2011, the Center became independent from the Hospital and was renamed to “Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné” (CERMEL). The Research Center performs applied clinical research, such as clinical trials and epidemiological studies, as well as fundamental research in immunology and molecular biology of infectious and chronic diseases prevalent in the region.

The University of Tübingen has established a professorship in Africa for the first time in October 2016, funded by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and the Government of Gabon. Dr Ayola Akim Adegnika has been appointed; he is currently Co-Director at the Centre de Recherches Médicales (CERMEL) in Lambaréné. The DZIF professorship is dedicated to immunoepidemiology and clinical infection research in the tropics, and will be located at CERMEL. Malaria research and the development of new vaccines and treatment will constitute important focuses.

Contact persons: Dr. med. Bertrand Lell, Co-Director CERMEL, bertrand.lellspam prevention@cermel.org; Dr. med. Dr. rer. nat. Carsten Köhler, Director Competence Center Tropical Medicine Baden-Württemberg, carsten.koehlerspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Homepage of the “Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné”

Center for Research and Nature Conservation, Pró-Mata, Brazil

The Research Station in Pró-Mata was established in collaboration with Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS, Porto Alegre). Its cooperation agreements with the University of Tübingen date back to 1983.

The station has room for about 45 students and teachers as well as laboratories, teaching and seminar rooms. Together with the University of Applied Forest Sciences Rottenburg methods of reforestation were elaborated in order to reforest devastated areas with Araucaria angustifolia. Students from Tübingen and Rottenburg realize practical training in the araucaria forest. More than 100 diploma, master and doctoral theses have been written in Pró-Mata since 1996.

Tübingen teaching curricula: Since 1998, the station in Pró-Mata has been used for parts of the four-week zoological excursion, which was initiated in 1989, and since 2002 for the annual three-week geo-ecological practical field training.

Contact person: Dr. Rainer Radtke, Baden-Württembergisches Brasilien-Zentrum der Universität Tübingen, rainer.radtkespam prevention@uni.tuebingen.de

Homepage „Pró-Mata, die Tübinger Forschungsstation im Araukarienwald“ at the Baden-Württembergisches Brasilien-Zentrum at the University of Tübingen


Branch offices of partner universities in Tübingen

Neue Aula in Tübingen, with flags of the EU, Germany and Baden-Wurttemberg
Neue Aula, University of Tübingen

The University of Tübingen is also home to a branch office of Dōshisha University. Tübingen has a long-standing partnership with Dōshisha in Kyoto, Japan. The "Dōshisha EU Campus" has taken up its work in Tübingen in February 2019.

Branch office of Dōshisha University

The branch office of Dōshisha University, the "Doshisha EU Campus at Tübingen University", was established in 2018 and has started its activities in February 2019. It is the only overseas office of the renowned Japanese university in Europe – and a counterpart to the Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies at Dōshisha University in Kyoto. The office supports and coordinates academic exchange and cooperation between Dōshisha University and the University of Tübingen. In addition, it initiates and promotes Dōshisha's collaborations also with other partners in Germany and Europe.

Together with the Tübingen partners, Doshisha EU Campus organizes regular international symposia in Kyoto and Tübingen, semester programs for Dōshisha students in Tübingen (German Language and Intercultural Studies Program and EU Campus European Studies Program), and an annual Doshisha Week in Tübingen. In addition, a Faculty Exchange Program supports the academic exchange between researchers.

The University of Tübingen provides Dōshisha University with offices and seminar rooms, presently at Keplerstraße 2, where a staff member from Dōshisha is working for the management of the EU Campus and its activities, supported by a staff member from UT Japanese Studies. From Kyoto, a professor from Dōshisha acts as the Director of the EU Campus Office. This was until 31st March 2024 Prof. Dr. Yoshihiko Wada and is since 1st April 2024 Prof. Dr. Yoko Akiyama.

Contact EU Campus: Ms. Mari Taneichi 
Program Coordinator, Doshisha EU Campus at Tübingen University
Keplerstraße 2, D-72074 Tübingen, phone +49(0)7071 29-77610, mtaneichspam prevention@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Contact UT: Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck, Research Division of the University of Tübingen, Div. II 1.2 International Research Cooperation (IFK), Keplerstr. 2, D-72074 Tübingen, phone +49(0)7071 29-77353, karin.moser-von-filseckspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

More information about Doshisha EU Campus can be found on the website of Dōshisha University and on the website of Tübingen Japanese Studies.
 

Activities from 2022 to 2024

Semester Programs 2022/23 to 2024

Please see the reports on the Dōshisha Website

Doshisha Week 2022 and 2024

A report of Doshisha Week 2022 can be found on the website of Dōshisha University

After the long time between spring 2020 and spring 2022, when no personal mobility between the two universities could happen because of the Covid-19 pandemic and only a few online offers for students and researchers could be realized, the participants were delighted about the hybrid format of Doshisha Week, which could be organized real time on both campuses in Kyoto and Tübingen. The interactive topic of “Japanese calligraphy” was a good instrument to open the exchange between the students of both institutions in an easy and playful manner. This was after the semester programs for Dōshisha Students at EU Campus had already started again face-to-face in spring for the German Language and Intercultural Studies Program 2022 and in autumn for the first EU Campus European Studies Program 2022/23 (see Semester Programs 2022/23 to 2024).

At Doshisha Week 2024, for the first time, doctoral students/candidates had been asked to present their research. The event was open for online participation by Zoom, which opportunity was also used by other audience from both universities. The subjects presented on two morning sessions comprised gender and religion, gender studies and from Social Sciences psychology and economics. Keynote lectures opened the program on both days. The presentations of the doctoral students/candidates were followed by lively discussions. In addition, the Japanese doctoral students used the opportunity for an exchange with Tübingen researchers about their topic and asked for advice. Their participation was funded by the program Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation, SPRING.

Doshisha Week 2024 Program
 

30th anniversary celebrations of TCJS in Kyoto 2023

On 4th to 7th October 2023, the Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies at Dōshisha University (TCJS) has celebrated its 30th anniversary in Kyoto. The festive program started, after a leadership meeting in the morning, with a commemorative lecture of Prof. Dr. Karla Pollmann, since 1st October 2022 President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tübingen. In the afternoon, the honorary doctoral degree of the Faculty of Letters of Dōshisha University was bestowed upon her in an honorable conferment ceremony. On the next day, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Faculties of Law of both institutions was signed as well as the continuation of the Faculty Exchange Agreement, a support program for the exchange of researchers which was started already in 2018. In the afternoon, a roundtable about “Tübingen-Doshisha Research Cooperation since 2013” followed and a ceremonial reception celebrating the 30th anniversary of TCJS in the evening.

The third day was completely dedicated to a research forum with the title “Successful Past, Envisioning the Future: Tübingen-Japanese Collaboration in Innovative Scientific Research”. The presentations gave insight in different collaborations of Tübingen researchers with colleagues from other Japanese institutions in the life sciences and medical sciences; a panel discussion under the headline “Cutting-edge Research in Medicine and Life Sciences: Considering Implications for Society” closed the session. From the side of Dōshisha University the Deans of the Faculty and Graduate School of Life and Medical Sciences and the Faculty and Graduate School of Science and Engineering showed the research highlights of their Faculty. On the fourth and final day of the program four academic workshops were organized: “The Institutional and Cultural Contexts of Gender Studies: Challenges and Strategies”; “Sustainability and Knowledge – Traditional and Modern”; “Japanese Language Education”; and “Metaphor, Allegory and Truth: Interreligious and Intercultural Perspectives”.
 

Faculty Exchange Program continued 2023

At the occasion of the 30th anniversary celebrations of TCJS in October 2023 in Kyoto, the Faculty Exchange Program between Dōshisha University and the University of Tübingen, signed in 2018, was continued. The program offers exchange opportunities for researchers from both universities to spend either a short-term research stay (up to three months) or a long-term research stay (up to 6 months from Tübingen side and up to 12 months from Dōshisha) at the other university. Two researchers per year per institution can be approved, one short-term and the other long-term. Applications can be submitted anytime. An already existing collaboration with a colleague from the other university is very welcome, but this is not a precondition. The host should support the hosted colleague to meet with other researchers at the host university during his/her research stay.

More information about the application process in Tübingen can be found here

Earlier activities

Interdisciplinary Symposium 2022 on Sustainable Development

On 12th and 13th September 2022, the University of Tübingen in collaboration with Dōshisha University (Kyoto) and Doshisha EU Campus at Tübingen University will organize their 4th international interdisciplinary symposium as a face-to-face event at the University’s Old Aula (Alte Aula). The title of the symposium is Challenges Toward True Sustainable Development.

Eleven researchers from both universities will give presentations in three panels about different aspects of Sustainable Development: Panel 1 – Challenges for Climate Change; Panel 2 – Agriculture, Forestry and Nature Conservation: Challenges for Biodiversity Conservation; Panel 3 – Reducing Economic Disparity. 
After the topics of „Internationalism“, „Aging Socities“, and „Diversity“ of the previous three symposia, Sustainable Development (SD) has become even more topical by the increasing pressure of climate change and the present changes of the geo-political situation than ever before.

In addition to the scientific presentations, two speakers from Dōshisha and Tübingen will present their institutional SD structures and activities in research and education, governance and engagement with selected examples.

More information about the symposium program you can find in the symposium program (PDF) and on the website of the Department of Japanese Studies.

Contact:

Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck
Division II Research
1.2 International Research Cooperation
University of Tübingen
Keplerstr. 2 – 72074 Tübingen
+49 7071 29-77353
karin.moser-von-filseckspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

Doshisha Week 2021

Doshisha and Tübingen Students Exhibited Their Contribution to Manga Culture and Sustainable Development/SDGs

Doshisha Week 2021 was successfully held in an online format on 25th and 26th November, 2021.

Please find the official report from Doshisha University here: https://www.doshisha.ac.jp/en/international/organization/eu/event.html  

Included in this link you can also find Doshisha’s previous reports on EU Campus activities since the first international symposium organized in Kyoto in February 2018.

Doshisha Week 2020 and Semester Program 2021

Doshisha Week 2020 – Zoom Webinar  and Semester Program 2021 “German Language and Intercultural Studies”

On 4th and 5th March 2021 Dōshisha University in collaboration with the University of Tübingen will organize the Doshisha Week 2020 as a Zoom webinar in the framework of Doshisha EU Campus at Tübingen University. The virtual event will be held between 9:30 and 12:00 at the two days and can be joined in the livestream via QR Code. 

Originally, Doshisha Week 2020 was planned to take place in late November 2020, but was for reasons of the Corona pandemic postponed to early March 2021, still with the hope for a face-to-face event. The further developments of the COVID-19 disease finally caused the decision to organize Doshisha Week 2020 as a virtual event in the Zoom webinar format.

The Program of Doshisha Week 2020 can be found here.
The Program Flyer can be found here.

Video Doshisha Week 2020

Contact:

Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck
Division II Research
1.2 International Research Cooperation
University of Tübingen
Keplerstr. 2 – 72074 Tübingen
 Phone 07071/29-77353
karin.moser-von-filseckspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de  

As well in March 2021, Doshisha EU Campus will organize the “German Language and Intercultural Studies” Semester Program 2021 for Dōshisha students the first time as a 4-weeks online course in cooperation with the Dept. of German as a Foreign Language and Intercultural Programs of the Tübingen International Office and the Dept. of Japanese Studies. The start of the program will take place on 1st March, the closing event will be held on 26th March.

Contact:

Donato Tangredi
Division V International Office
Dept. 2 German as a Foreign Language and
Intercultural Programs
University of Tübingen
Wilhelmstr. 22 – 72074 Tübingen
 Phone 07071/29-74392
donato.tangredispam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de  

Heike Glantz-Schückle
Dept. of Japanese Studies – AOI
University of Tübingen
Wilhelmstr. 90 – 72074 Tübingen
 Phone 07071/29-76985
heike.glantz-schuecklespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

Video-conference Meeting with President Ueki

As the final event of this extraordinary year 2020 the Doshisha EU Campus organized on 26th November together with the University of Tübingen a virtual meeting of Rector Bernd Engler and the new Doshisha President, Professor Tomoko Ueki, who had started her presidency on 1st April 2020. Also the Vice-Presidents for International Affairs, Professor Monique Scheer and Professor Naoshi Takasugi, joined the Presidents meeting, as well as Vice-President Toru Nishioka and a group of researchers and administrative staff members from both sides. Professor Yoshihiko Wada, the Director of the EU Campus, acted as moderator.

The meeting comprised in its first part a conversation of the two Presidents held in Japanese and German with translations vice-versa; the central topics had been: 1. the promotion of the Diversity Campus; 2. student exchange and research collaborations; 3. the planned hiring of a local staff for the EU Campus in Tübingen; and 4. the further planning of EU Campus activities. President Ueki as well as Rector Engler both emphasized their continuing personal support for all mentioned activities and plans for the next future. In the fields of research two examples for a new collaboration will be Diversity Research and Science Communication, esp. presently in the times of the Corona pandemic; in teaching and education it is the comparable Education Philosophy and Education Research at both universities. President Ueki and Rector Engler both accentuated again the longstanding friendly partnership between the two universities and expressed their long-term commitment.

In the second part of the video-conference, held in English, the Vice-Presidents and other participants discussed again some of the topics from the Presidents meeting, and a few other subjects were added. First, the planning for the Doshisha Week 2020 was presented, which had been postponed to 4-5 March 2021 and will focus on Covid-19 research at the two universities (with three selected themes: Proteomics Analysis, Science Communication, and Campus Internationalization). The event will be held as a webinar. Under topic 2, the continuation of faculty exchange on both sides was discussed, under 3 the planning for the German Language course and Intercultural Studies Program for Dōshisha students in the summer semester 2021, under 4 once more the procedures for hiring a local staff, and finally under 5 the renewal of the Agreement on Student Exchange between the two universities.

The conversation of the Presidents as well as the following discussions of the Vice-Presidents and other staff members strengthened on both sides the conviction that the very friendly collaboration between Dōshisha University in Kyoto and the University of Tübingen has an extraordinary importance. The two university leaderships as well as the involved researchers and administrative staff members will continue in the next year all jointly planned activities first via online formats, but hopefully soon afterwards also with personal face-to-face contacts. This is a very good message at the end of this year!

https://www.doshisha.ac.jp/en/international/organization/eu/event.html#id_201211

International symposium of Doshisha University, Kyoto February 2020

EU Campus makes great progress!

Report from the international symposium of Doshisha University and the University of Tübingen on 25 – 27 February 2020 in Kyoto with the title: Challenges toward Building Societies Filled with Respect for “Diversity”

English translation of Doshisha Newsletter No. 505 from 31st March 2020 (Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck, Division II 1.2, in cooperation with Prof. Yoshihiko Wada, Mari Taneichi, and Iku Sugiwaka from Doshisha University)

Doshisha Week 2019 in Tübingen

For the first time a Doshisha Week will be organized this autumn at the University of Tübingen. From 25th to 29th November 2019 the Vice-President for Research of Doshisha University, Prof. Dr. Ryuichi Yokogawa, and about 40 researchers from Doshisha, other universities in Japan, East and Southeast Asia as well as Europe will participate in three international interdisciplinary symposia. 

The event starts on Monday, 25th November at Alte Aula with the presentation of the Space-DREAM Project (Doshisha Research Project for Active Life in Space Engineering and Medical Biology). On 26th-28th November a law symposium on “Modernity’s Challenges to Law and Dispute Resolution” will follow at the Tübingen Castle (Fürstenzimmer). On the final day, 29th November, researchers will address different themes of developmental psychology and health in early childhood under the title “Baby Science: Past, Present, and Future”.

The Doshisha Week 2019 will be jointly organized by Doshisha University, situated in Kyoto, Doshisha EU Campus in Tübingen and the University of Tübingen. The date remembers the founding day of Doshisha University on 29th November 1875.

Doshisha EU Campus at Tübingen University has started its activities in February of this year with an interdisciplinary international symposium on “Challenges for Aging Societies: Interdisciplinary Approaches in Comparative Japanese, German and European Perspectives”. During this summer semester the first group of Doshisha students attended an attractive semester program on German language and intercultural studies in Tübingen. For the next year several activities are already planned, e.g. an interdisciplinary symposium with the title “Challenges Toward Building Societies Filled with Respect for ‚Diversity‘” in February 2020 at Doshisha University in Kyoto, programs for students in summer semester 2020 and winter semester 2020/21 in Tübingen and several faculty exchanges in both directions.

In all its activities the Doshisha EU Campus Office works closely together with the Department of Japanese Studies of AOI, Faculty of Humanities, and Division II Research, International Research Cooperation of the University Administration. Already since 1993, Tübingen Japanese Studies runs very successfully a branch office at Doshisha University, the Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies, TCJS.

Link The Program of Doshisha Week

Contact: 

Prof. Dr. Klaus Antoni
Department of Japanese Studies (AOI)
Wilhelmstr. 90 – 72074 Tübingen
 +49 7071 29-73990
antonispam prevention@japanologie.uni-tuebingen.de 

and:

Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck
Division II Research
1.2 International Research Cooperation
Keplerstr. 2 – 72074 Tübingen
 +49 7071 29-77353
karin.moserspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

“Hanami” in Tübingen – Semester Program for Students from Dōshisha University at the University of Tübingen

In this summer semester, the first group of ten students from Doshisha University (Kyoto) has started an intensive semester program at the University of Tübingen. Until early August the Japanese students will experience a tailored course program jointly developed and organized by the Division V International Office, Section German as a Foreign Language and Intercultural Programs, and the Department of Japanese Studies of Asian and Oriental Studies (AOI).

The students will learn German in an intensive German language course, supported by tutors and student buddies from Tübingen Japanese Studies, and will have the opportunity to make a lot of exciting experiences about German and European culture and society in courses on Facts about Germany and at three excursions to Stuttgart, the European Parliament in Strasburg and to the Lake of Constance, all three of them with preparatory and follow-up seminars before and after the excursion. 

In addition to the language program, Dr. Michaela Oberwinkler from Japanese Studies teaches a Joint Seminar on Intercultural Studies to the Dōshisha students.

  • “Since having been the Managing Director of the Tübingen Center at Dōshisha University, it was my concern to bring larger groups of Dōshisha students to Tübingen. I am delighted to teach the first Joint Seminar, where German and Japanese students can study together in Japanese and discuss on eye level. This is a unique opportunity and great enrichment for the students from both universities!”

Michaela Oberwinkler

In the final week, in early August, an Intensive Lecture Course taught by two professors from Dōshisha, Prof. Dr. Katsuhiro Kohara and Prof. Dr. Yoshihiko Wada, will conclude the semester program 2019.

The students will also have the opportunity to meet with Tübingen fellow students from their own study fields, from theology and philosophy, art history and cultural studies, psychology, sports science, and commerce.

The semester program 2019 is organized in the framework of the Doshisha EU Campus at Tübingen University, which has started its activities this February with an international interdisciplinary symposium. For the next year a similar program for Dōshisha students is planned for the summer semester, prospectively followed by a tailored International & European Studies (IES) Program in the winter semester.

This autumn the Doshisha EU Campus will organize for the first time a “Doshisha Week” in the last week of November (25 – 29 November 2019) in Tübingen. A large group of researchers from different Faculties and Graduate Schools of Dōshisha University will join this event. More details will be found soon here.

Contacts: 

Doshisha EU Campus Office: 
Mari Taneichi, Dōshisha University   
Keplerstr. 2, D-72074 Tübingen 
 +49 7071-29-77610
mtaneichspam prevention@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Donato Tangredi
German as a Foreign Language
and Intercultural Programs 
Division V International Office, Section. 2  
Wilhelmstr. 22, D-72074 Tübingen
+49 7071 29-74392
donato.tangredispam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Prof. Dr. Viktoria Eschbach-Szabo
Department of Japanese Studies (AOI)
Wilhelmstr. 90, 72074 Tübingen
+49 7071 29-76894
eschbachspam prevention@japanologie.uni-tuebingen.de 

Dr. Michaela Oberwinkler
Department of Japanese Studies (AOI)
Wilhelmstr. 90, D-72074 Tübingen
+49 7071 29-73996
michaela.oberwinklerspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

Martina Drijkoningen and Heike Glantz-Schückle 
Department of Japanese Studies (AOI)  
Wilhelmstr. 90, D-72074 Tübingen 
+49 7071 29-76985 and +49 7071 29-76959
drijkonspam prevention@japanologie.uni-tuebingen.de
heike.glantz-schuecklespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de  

Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck
Division II Research
1.2 International Research Cooperation
Keplerstr. 2, 72074 Tübingen
+49 7071 29-77353
karin.moserspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de