Humboldtn

The universities in North Rhine-Westphalia joined forces in 2021 to form the Humboldtⁿ Initiative. The initiative offers a platform for scholarly exchange and aims to bring together skills and expertise in sustainability research. The Wuppertal Institute and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts have also joined in the initiative.  
By 2025, sustainability research is to be integrated throughout all the member institutions via their degree program curricula as well as by installing a joint program in basic and applied university research.

Interactive Sustainability Map

Sustainability projects at the 16 university locations in North Rhine-Westphalia are shown on an interactive online sustainability map. This map makes it easy to see the universities’ different research approaches and focus areas and it facilitates research collaborations, both between individuals and at an institutional level. At the same time, the sustainability map allows the universities to identify synergies and collaborations in teaching and discover best-practice approaches. RWTH is currently represented by 15 projects.

Promoting Young Talent

Promoting young talent plays an important role in the initiative. As part of Humboldtⁿ, a sustainability working group was set up at the “Junges Kolleg” of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts. Three additional research fellowships financed by the Humboldt Sustainability Initiative were awarded for the first time in 2023. One of the sustainability fellowships, funded annually with 10,000 euros, went to RWTH. Dr. Ilka Jahn (Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems) was newly admitted to the Junges Kolleg for 2023.

Humboldtⁿ also promotes awareness of sustainability research aspects among early-career researchers through the HumboldtⁿSchool for doctoral candidates and postdocs. The second interdisciplinary summer school focusing on the “hydrogen innovation ecosystem” took place at RWTH in June 2023.