"This is a significant success - for our colleagues, for our university as a whole, and for the strategic Rhine-Main Universities alliance," said Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff. "This success highlights both the breadth of research conducted at Goethe University and how we are addressing the major questions of our time. I am extremely pleased that the long-term preparation has borne fruit in the form of a LOEWE Center. The funding is a strong signal: In addition to acknowledging the outstanding work of those involved, the decision also confirms the trust in and the strategic further development of the humanities - which deliver such essential contributions to understanding and shaping our coexistence. 'DynaRel' strengthens our 'Universality and Diversity' profile area and firmly establishes the socially and politically relevant topic of interreligious relations as a central research focus at our university. I am proud of my colleagues and look forward to implementing the project - even more so since it also reinforces RMU thanks to our link to Mainz.
"An innovative research approach in the life sciences is also being funded," Schleiff continued, adding that, "'Lipid Space' builds new connections between molecular basic research and our Clusters of Excellence CPI and SCALE. This fits perfectly into our 'Science for Health' profile area and develops it strategically. The funding of the LOEWE Research Cluster 'MultiDrug-TDM', which is led by TU Darmstadt and in which Goethe University is involved, also underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration across university boundaries: groundbreaking medical technology is being developed here that could significantly improve life-saving therapies. All of this - including the funding of a LOEWE-Exploration project by our physicists - illustrates just how broad and well-networked our research is."
The LOEWE Center "DynaRel - Dynamics of the Religious: Ambivalent Neighborhoods between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Historical and Contemporary Contexts" is the only center in Hesse to be funded in the current round and the second LOEWE Center with its spokesperson located at Goethe University (the other one is the "Frankfurt Cancer Institute"). "DynaRel" investigates the diverse and complex religious, cultural, and political dynamics between the three major monotheistic religions. Central to this approach is the concept of "ambivalent neighborhoods": the project is based on the premise that it is only by addressing the close historical spatial and cultural interconnections between the religions that current questions at the intersection of religion and politics can be adequately addressed. In addition to exploring conflicts between religions, the researchers at the new center also examine how religious traditions can provide resources for engaging constructively with diversity and difference in today's pluralistic, post-migrant societies. The center also develops innovative educational concepts - and maintains a focus on multireligious coexistence in the state of Hesse and the Rhine-Main region.
Scholars from a wide range of disciplines - from religious studies to social sciences, educational sciences, as well as language and cultural studies - cooperate in the new LOEWE Center headed by Goethe University. The Universities of Marburg and Giessen are also involved, along with numerous international research institutions and non-university partners.
Funding Period: January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2029: ~ €19 million
