The nine new fellows bring novel research projects to Aarhus that will explore topics ranging from ocean and climate change, hybrid warfare, neurodiverse cooperation to plastics and recycling. The researchers selected come from research institutions from all over the world, from Australia to Portugal, from Ghana to Germany, and will bring new perspectives and research methods together in one house at AIAS.

“Reading each of the projects is like being offered a window to a wonderous, interesting world.  We look very much forward to welcome the fellows at AIAS and to the larger Aarhus University community,” says AIAS Director Andreas Roepstorff.

Individual projects in a joint cross-disciplinary community

When the fellows arrive in Aarhus, they will work on individual projects at AIAS in an explorative community of talented scholars that value cross-disciplinary research exchanges and joint training activities. In addition, the fellows will work together with partners and research groups at Aarhus University.

The nine selected researchers commencing on 1 September 2025 are:

• Alejandro Esguerra, Faculty of Sociology, Working Group Political Sociology and Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Science, Bielefeld University, Germany
  Project at AIAS: ‘Forming Plastic Expertise: Science-Policy Sites and International Treaty Making (FOPEX)’
• Dario Campisi, Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Italy
  Project at AIAS: ‘Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Templates for the Origin of Life?’
• Darren Halpin, School of Politics and International Relations, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Australia
  Project at AIAS: ‘Organising the Present to Give Voice to the Future? Political Representation of Future Generations’
• Elena Racheva, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, UK
  Project at AIAS: ‘War Without Peace: Analysing Russian Civil Militarization Propaganda and Hybrid Warfare’
• Emily Cockayne, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, School of History and Ideas of Art, University of East Anglia, UK
  Project at AIAS: ‘Recreating historical non-synthetic plastics: relearning Victorian recycling for environmental good’
• Federica Cavaletti, Department of Philosophy "Piero Martinetti", University of Milan, Italy
  Project at AIAS: ‘Improving Neurodiverse Cooperation in Academic Research: A Study on (Shared) Time Experience’
• Kwadwo Opoku, Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, Ghana
  Project at AIAS: ‘Sustainable Financing of Long-Term Care in Lower Middle-Income Countries: Evidence from Ghana’
• Malene Friis Hansen, Department of Anthropology, Princeton University, USA
  Project at AIAS: ‘Towards a Cultural Biology’
• Nazik Ogretmen, Ocean and Climate Change Research Group, Center for Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Portugal
  Project at AIAS: ‘Minimum Endmember of Paleo-salinity Spectrum from Subpolar and Equatorial Deep Ocean: DEEP’

Meet the new fellows – 3-minute speed-lectures on 3 September 2025

You can meet the nine new AIAS-AUFF fellows, the four new Science Diplomacy theme groups fellows, the Artist-in-Residence fellow, the AIAS-Riksbankens Jubileumsfond fellow and the 14 new Associate fellows from Aarhus University at the ‘Introductory Research Presentations Seminar,’ held on Wednesday 3 September at 13:00pm.

At this seminar, they will all introduce their research areas and projects in short 3-minute speed-lectures. The seminar and the time of the speakers will be announced here in August: https://aias.au.dk/events/aias-seminar-series. Attendants are welcome to join the entire seminar or selected parts of the programme.

About the AIAS-AUFF Fellowships

The AIAS-AUFF Fellowship programme is supported by Aarhus University Research Foundation (in Danish Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond (AUFF)) and aims at bringing talented international scholars to Aarhus University to develop new and innovative lines of research, thinking and collaboration across disciplines.

See the last call of the AIAS-AUFF Fellowship programme here: https://aias.au.dk/opportunities-at-aias/aias-auff-fellowships

The next call is expected to open in August 2025 with an application deadline in October 2025, and a commencement date on 1 September 2026.

Contact

Andreas Roepstorff, AIAS Director
E-mail: andreas.roepstorff@aias.au.dk
Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, AIAS
Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 6B
DK-8000 Aarhus C
Denmark