The Global Hub is a new research building that is to be constructed in the heart of Leipzig by 2026. It will provide an innovative and inspiring workspace for almost 500 humanities scholars and social scientists at Leipzig University and their internationally recognized cutting-edge research on globalization processes.
The Global Hub at a glance
- New research building on Leuschner-Platz in Leipzig's city center brings together almost 500 researchers from the Research Centre Global Dynamics
- A place of top international research that connects outstanding Leipzig research projects from the humanities and social sciences with regional and international cooperation partners
- A laboratory for innovative digital research practices thanks to a technological infrastructure that enables innovative collaborative knowledge production in globally networked teams
- Opening research to the urban population and an international audience through participatory science communication and knowledge transfer projects, both structurally and conceptually
- Excellent promotion of young talent through the integration of an internationally renowned graduate school
What is being researched in the Global Hub?
At the Global Hub, we investigate new global dynamics and the associated worldwide crisis phenomena. Our researchers analyze
- how world orders are changing,
- how social cohesion is changing under the conditions of global dynamics,
- how old and new world views and worldviews compete with each other and
- how the use of planetary resources and their distribution is changing and affecting people and the environment.
Research is developed on these four questions, current developments are compared with earlier transformation processes and (our own) normativity is reflected on in the face of global change. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE RESEARCH HERE
Who conducts research in the Global Hub?
In order to research global dynamics, we bring together many studies and internationally recognized scientists who pursue these four topics across the globe. They do this both in large collaborative research projects and in individual studies, which are carried out, for example, by doctoral students from the Graduate School of Global and Area Studies. We bring together a critical mass of researchers from many countries in the Global Hub and cooperate closely with renowned locations on other continents. Leipzig has a long tradition of researching cross-border processes and their influence on individual countries and regions. Since 2020, the Research Centre Global Dynamics has been bringing together this wide-ranging expertise as a central institution of the university. It will be the main user of the Global Hub alongside the Institute for the Study of Religions, the INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES, the GLOBAL AND EUROPEAN STUDIES INSTITUTE and the GRADUATE SCHOOL.
What does the building achieve for research?
The building enables the spatial consolidation of those projects, facilities and institutes that are currently spread across the city. It not only intensifies networking and communication within the university but also with cooperation partners around the world: thanks to its technological infrastructure, the Global Hub will become an internationally recognized laboratory for innovative digital research practices that enable new types of collaborative knowledge production in globally networked teams. Three labs put this goal into practice:
- The DIGITAL LAB supports the use of digital humanities and augmented/virtual reality as well as the expansion of systematic research data management.
- The COOPERATION LAB oversees the interdisciplinary Fellow Program and coordinates digital interaction with partner institutions worldwide.
- The TRANSFER LAB organizes the interaction and co-production of knowledge with political, economic, cultural and civil society partners around the world.
How do the Global Hub and society interact with each other?
The research results in the Global Hub are made internationally visible through ambitious science communication. Interaction with urban society is just as important at the Global Hub as international visibility. Taking advantage of its central downtown location and benefiting from the inviting foyer, it opens up to an interested public with creative event formats - for example, through exhibitions, panel discussions or citizen science projects.
Who finances the Global Hub?
The federal government and the state of Saxony are financing the new building with a total of 34 million euros. The prerequisite for the funding was to convince the Science Council of the scientific excellence of the institutions involved in the construction and their research concepts. In particular, the Science Council examined whether the research program was of national importance and whether the building was in line with this research program. The way in which new global dynamics are investigated at ReCentGlobe is a unique selling point and calls for a new form of joint scientific work, which is realized through the development of new working environments and spatial formats.
Who decides on the architecture and construction planning of the Global Hub?
Following the approval for the construction of the research building, an architectural competition was launched in August 2021 by the Free State of Saxony in cooperation with the City of Leipzig in order to seize the opportunity to integrate the Global Hub into the overall concept of Leuschner-Platz and, in particular, the development of the adjacent market hall. In March, an eleven-member jury consisting of freelance architects and experts from the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts (SMWK), representatives of Leipzig University, the City of Leipzig and the Saxon State Office for Real Estate and Construction Management (SIB) decided on the results. The contract was awarded to the design by "Schulz und Schulz Architekten" from Leipzig, which not only impressed with the implementation of the spatial concept, but also offered an innovative solution for a climate-friendly new building that could set standards in the planned Leuschner-Platz climate quarter.
An exhibition will show all the architectural designs for the Global Hub from 28.06.2022. It will be opened at 2 p.m. by Mr. Kylau, Staatsbetrieb Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement, and Mr. Dienberg, Mayor and Alderman for Urban Development and Construction, City of Leipzig.
Milestone
- January 2021 | Submission of the application to the German Science and Humanities Council (WR)
- April 2021 | Positive vote by the Council
- August 2021 | Invitation to tender for the architectural competition
- March 2022 | Decision in favor of the design by Schulz & Schulz Architekten
- June - July 2022 | Exhibition of the architectural designs in the New Town Hall
- 2026 | Planned completion
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