Tropical Climate Variability and Coral Reefs
The kick-off meeting of the priority program “Tropical Climate Variability and Coral Reefs” (SPP 2299) funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) will take place on Monday, October 3, 2022, at the University of Bremen. The background for the research project are rising temperatures at the sea surface, threatening tropical coral reefs, as these ecosystems are sensitive to a changing environment. The priority program aims to improve understanding of the variability of the tropical marine climate and its effects on coral reef ecosystems in a world that is increasingly getting warmer.
To this end, climate and environmental changes, both during current warming and during past warming periods, are quantified on time scales relevant to society. Scientists from ten universities, three Helmholtz centers, a Max Planck Institute, and a Leibniz Center are now coming together in Bremen to attend a kick-off meeting for the first funding phase at the University of Bremen. The SPP is coordinated by Dr. Thomas Felis (University of Bremen, MARUM).
Contact: Dr. Thomas Felis, tel. + 49 421 218-6575, email: tfelisprotect me ?!marumprotect me ?!.de. Further Information:https://www.spp2299.tropicalclimatecorals.de/
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
The Institute of Artificial Intelligence has invited high-ranking international scientists to a symposium on cognitive robotics from October 5 to 6, 2022. On the first day, the latest developments in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics will be presented. The second day will focus on the impact of research on industry and society, with panels supporting start-ups, to collaborate within the new European Network of Excellence for Robotics and AI “euROBIN,” and to unlock opportunities arising from concepts such as open science, open education, and open ecosystems.
Contact: Professor Michael Beetz, tel. + 49 421 218-64005, email: ai-officeprotect me ?!cs.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Utopia and (Post-)Colonialism
“Utopia and (Post-)Colonialism. Imaginary Communities in European Discourses of Crisis” – this will be the subject of a conference on literary studies held at the University of Bremen on Thursday and Friday, October 13 to 14, 2022. Utopia originated as a text genre in Europe, but its origins were linked to the conquest of America and the configuration of a “New World.” However, the connection between utopia and colonialism – characterizing aspects of the European and especially of the German overseas discourse – still needs to be extensively researched. Latin American topoi are not only counterimages of Europe, but also places in which utopias of alternative communities, and thus designs of a different imaginary Europe, are inscribed. With this in mind, the conference invites us to also test the productivity of the concept of imagined communities (B. Anderson), which hitherto focused largely on the nation, between the two poles of utopia and colonialism.
Contact: Dr. Linda Maeding, Faculty 10, Linguistics and Literary Studies, email: maedingprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de