In 2020, the prize for outstanding doctoral programs in Berlin was awarded for the fourth time.
The Einstein Foundation has awarded the Berlin School of Economics and the Research Training Group "Parasite Infections: From Experimental Models to Natural Systems" as "Einstein Doctoral Programs." Both doctoral programs impressed with the particular scope of their research questions and the excellent training offered. The award winners from the life sciences contribute valuable insights to drug and vaccine development, among other things. In addition to business administration, the economics group focuses primarily on economic research, including policy-relevant issues such as the labor market or monetary policy. The prize money amounts to 300,000 euros each, spread over three years.
Berlin School of Economics
Since September 2019, the "Berlin School of Economics" (BSE) offers an outstanding European-wide training program for doctoral and postdoctoral students in economics. It emerges from three successful predecessor structures and is a cooperation of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin with the following additional partner institutions: the German Institute for Economic Research, the European School of Management and Technology, the Hertie School, the University of Potsdam, and the Social Science Research Center Berlin. Currently 65 professors cover a wide range of courses at the eight participating institutions. Numerous special professorships also enable young economists to pursue projects in applied and policy-related research. Another advantage for participants is the opportunity to regularly meet with internationally renowned economists who are invited to Berlin in the context of master classes and workshops. By bundling and structuring the diverse offerings of the economic sciences, BSE significantly strengthens the visibility of Berlin as a center of science.
DFG Research Training Group „Parasite infections: From experimental models to natural systems"
The scientists of the DFG Research Training Group "Parasite Infections" are dealing with globally spread parasite infections, which represent a major medical and veterinary challenge due to increasing drug resistance, global warming and rising long-distance travel activities. Four major parasite groups are used to analyze infections in wild and domestic animals in Europe and Africa, mosquitoes, and humans. The young researchers will receive interdisciplinary training in the latest technologies at the molecular, cellular and organismal levels. The findings are expected to contribute to a better understanding of the ecological basis and to provide a basis for the development of vaccines. One of the special features of the doctoral program is a field course at the Serengeti Wildlife Research Center in Tanzania. The doctoral program, which is based at Freie Universität Berlin, comprises a network of six other scientific institutions with parasitology-oriented research groups: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Robert Koch Institute, the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, as well as the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. The bundling of training offers strengthens the international visibility of infection research in Berlin.