In 2015, the International Center for Advanced Studies M.S. Merian – R. Tagore “Metamorphoses of the Political” (ICAS:MP) in Delhi was the first higher school for research in the humanities and social sciences in non-European countries to be funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Researchers from the Universities of Erfurt, Göttingen and Würzburg and the German Historical Institute London worked together with Indian colleagues in a preparatory phase to set up the higher research school on the theme of “Metamorphoses of the Political”.

In Mexico, the Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS) at Universidad de Guadalajara addresses issues of perception and reflection of social crises by political, economic, and cultural actors from an interdisciplinary perspective. What are the answers to the various social challenges and problems? What might the new problem-solving approaches look like – including an international level – and how can they be put into practice? The research training group is a joint project of the Universities of Bielefeld, Kassel, Hannover and Jena. It will establish research groups not only at the main site in Guadalajara, but also in Buenos Aires (Universidad Nacional de San Martín), Quito (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and San José (Universidad de Costa Rica).

The Maria Sibylla Merian Center Conviviality-Inequality in Latin America (MECILA) at the prestigious Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil and the Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) started in spring 2017. The centre studies past and present forms of social coexistence from multiple disciplinary perspectives, ranging from economics and law to sociology, history, ethnology and literary studies. How is coexistence achieved despite sharp disparities in income and despite cultural and religious diversity? How do these forms of social inequality relate to unequal gender relations? In Germany, Freie Universität Berlin, Universität zu Köln and Ibero-American Institute – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation take part in the project. In addition to the main site in Brazil, they also work closely with Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Argentina and Colegio de México.

Since spring 2018, the Research Institute at the University of Ghana, one of Africa’s top universities, has focused on democratic governance, conflict transformation, and sustainability transformation. Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa focuses on urging research questions such as: What are the distinctive features of African societies in which democratic structures persist? Why do sub-Saharan African states in particular face violent and protracted conflicts? What is their impact on refugee and migration movements? Partners in Germany are the universities of Freiburg, Frankfurt am Main and Konstanz, as well as the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and the German Historical Institute in Paris of the Max Weber Foundation.