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Armenien hat einen langen Transformationsprozess vom Sowjetsystem zur Marktwirtschaft durchgemacht. Dennoch ist das Land und seine Menschen mit den vielfältigen sozialen, wirtschaftlichen, politischen und ökologischen Problemen konfrontiert. Die Folgen der Covid-19-Pandemie, aber auch das Wiederaufflammen des Krieges in Berg-Karabach haben Einfluss auf die Entwicklung des Landes und stellen die Menschen vor komplexe gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen. Um diese zu bewältigen, werden die unterschiedlichen Wissenszugänge der Universitäten rege genützt – sie führen akademisches, praktisches und lokales Know-How zusammen und zeigen Lösungswege auf. Diese Transdisziplinarität weist nicht nur die Einbindung der Universitäten in den Problemlösungsprozess deutlich hervor, sondern sie bietet auch die Möglichkeit zur Stärkung der Rolle der Universitäten in der Gesellschaft. Das war nicht immer selbstverständlich, denn das sowjetische Modell des Marxismus-Leninismus war in Europa einzigartig: An den Universitäten wurde getrennt gelehrt und geforscht. Freie Forschung war nicht an den Universitäten, sondern an der dafür gegründeten Akademie der Wissenschaften vorgesehen. Der gebürtige Armenier Tigran Keryan hat vor einigen Jahren mit einem Stipendium im Rahmen des APPEAR-Programms, das aus Mitteln der Österreichischen Entwicklungs- und Ostzusammenarbeit (OEZA) finanziert und im OeAD umgesetzt wird, sein Doktorat an der Universität für Bodenkultur abgeschlossen. Seine Expertise umfasst transdisziplinäres Forschen und Lernen, Citizen Science, Ökosystemleistungen, nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung und naturbasierte Lösungen. Derzeit lebt, arbeitet und lehrt Tigran Keryan in Wien. In dieser Sendung von „Welt im Ohr“ spricht er über seine Bemühungen, die gemeinsame Wissensproduktion zwischen Wissenschafter/innen, Praktikerinnen, Praktiktern und politischen Entscheidungsträgerinnen und Entscheidungsträgern zu fördern. Er schildert seinen Beitrag rund um Veränderungen im armenischen Hochschulsystem und berichtet über die Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten der Integration transdisziplinärer Ansätze in post-sowjetische akademische Institutionen. Anhand des APPEAR-Projektes „Ecosystem Services Assessment through a Participatory Approach for Sustainable Water Resources Management in ArmeniaEcoServ, einer Kooperation zwischen der Yerevan State University (YSU), der Armenian Academy of Sciences und der BOKU, an der er aktiv beteiligt ist, spricht Tigran Keryan erstmals auf Deutsch und zeigt anhand von Beispielen, wie partizipative Methoden, basierend auf dem Citizen Science Ansatz, zu einem nachhaltigen Management von Wasserressourcen in Armenien beitragen. Gestaltung: Maiada Hadaia (Verantwortlich für den Sendungsinhalt) Im Interview: Dr. Tigran Keryan, Institut für Landschaftsentwicklung, Erholungs- und Naturschutzplanung, Universität für Bodenkultur (BOKU) Wien Musik:

Apinun Limmongkon has been conducting research on antioxidants and secondary metabolite production since her bachelor's degree. These substances are not only a much researched but still little explored area in the food and cosmetics industry. Above all they are very important in medical research that expects a lot from them, for example in the fight against dementia. Under stress or adverse conditions, plants produce active ingredients that allow them to defend themselves. These are not important for the primary life of the plant but are very effective when it comes to defeat dangers from ozone or parasites. Apinun Limmongkon came from Thailand to Austria in the early 2000s to graduate her PhD at the University of Vienna. In 2008 and 2021, she returned for further research. In her home country Thailand, Apinun Limmongkon not only conducts research, but also inspires her students – distinguishingly female – for biochemistry. In this podcast, she talks about her stays in Austria, the role of peanut hairy roots in her research and why the question of whether women have a harder time in science is no issue for her.

Crista Stubbs recognized the fragility and vulnerability of ecosystems on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua early on. This vulnerability is directly linked to climate change. She already dedicated herself to this topic in her bachelor thesis. In her master's thesis at the University of Vienna she deepened the subject and examined the role of the mangrove ecosystems on the east coast of Nicaragua in relation to their ability to store CO2. She was a scholarship holder of - Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development. One of her most recent research projects examines the vulnerability of local producers after Hurricane Iota devastated the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua in November 2020. Iota hit the coast shortly after Hurricane Eta. These rapid on-going natural disasters made it difficult for local people to deal with the consequences. Hurricanes are not uncommon in this region, but climate change makes them more likely to happen now and in the future. So it is the adaptation to the consequences of climate change that plays an important role in this region. In this podcast, Crista Stubbs tells about her experiences in Austria, about climate protection and climate change adaptation in Nicaragua and about how the population is affected by natural disasters.

If one tries to describe Oliver Hauser's research area in two words, it would probably be inequality and cooperation. But it's not that easy. Oliver Hauser is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Exeter Business School, has a Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Innsbruck and a PhD in Biology from Harvard University, where he taught and conducted research. Today he also heads the initiative with the great acronym “BIG Ideas - Behavioral Insights: Gender, Inlusivity, Diversity, Equality and Access” initiative, which is funded through a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship. Oliver Hauser conducts research, teaches and publishes beyond the boundaries of his discipline(s). From the point of view of economics, psychology and management, evolutionary biology or environmental sciences, he describes the large and small structures in society and in companies. Game theory is one of his favourite tools. Since the corona pandemic hit the world, he has also dealt with the intensification of inequalities and the possibilities of restructuring society. In 2009 he received an Erasmus scholarship and studied in Romania and from 2007 to 2010 he was scholarship holder of the Mondi Austria Foundation, which was managed by the OeAD. Here you can find an article about the Mondi Austrian Student scholarship.

Tigran Keryan grew up in the nearly untouched nature of Armenia. He grew into a life in harmony with nature at an early age, which went hand in hand with his studies of geography and his interest in sustainability issues. After graduating, he worked for several years as a geography teacher and assistant to the principal. During this time he enrolled in his doctoral studies at the Armenian State Pedagogical University. He focuses on sustainable mountain development in Armenia and sustainability since then. In 2017 he came to Vienna and continued his studies at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Boku). As part of the CaucaSusT project, which was funded by the APPEAR programme, he conducts transdisciplinary research in the context of sustainable tourism development in Georgia and Armenia. Tigran is convinced, that transdisciplinarity in science is the right way to address local challenges. Transdisciplinarity means the cooperation not only between scientists from different disciplines, but also between science, students and the local population. Nevertheless, this approach is still neglected in today's science and funding landscape. This complex, albeit holistic, approach is often in contradiction to long-established frontal teaching and professors who stick to a teacher-student or researcher-researched subject dichotomy. In this podcast he talks about his experience in transdisciplinary research, his career and his doctoral studies, which he successfully graduated from in spring 2021. But he also addresses the ongoing conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in the Caucasus.

Vahidin Preljevic focuses in his research on the literature of Viennese modernism and on the role of literature and documents related to the assassination attempt in Sarajevo. This attack led to the First World War. He himself fled the war in Bosnia to Germany in the 1990s. He finished school here and started his German studies at the University of Halle/Saale. But he never intended to stay in Germany, so he quickly returned after the war. Vahidin Preljevic is Germanist, cultural theorist, essayist, literary translator and holder of the chair for German-language literature and cultural studies at the University of Sarajevo. He was also a scholarship holder in the Franz Werfel scholarship program, which enables researchers from abroad to conduct research on topics of Austrian literature in Austria. Once someone has been a “Werfelianer”, he or she will remain in a follow-up programme for many years. From this a network of former Werfel scholarship holders has developed over the years. Even decades later, they meet regularly, organize conferences and exchange their experience. In this podcast, Vahidin Preljevic talks about his experiences in Germany and the role of literature and culture in the eventful history of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He also talks about his forthcoming anthology about Peter Handke's Yugoslavian texts, which are received very critically in several countries, including several former Yugoslav states

Jessica Virginia is conducting research on the degradability of lignin with the help of bacteria and enzymes. Lignin is the substance that is responsible for the strength and fiber structure, especially in wood. It is known that fungi can decompose this substance, but little research has been carried out on bacteria in this framework. Jessica Virginia is working on her doctoral thesis with an Ernst Mach Asea Uninet scholarship at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna. She did her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in biotechnology in her home country Indonesia. She then took part in a research project that dealt with the recycling of residues from palm oil production for several years. After pressing the oil-containing kernels, a substance is left that is called palm kernel meal. By degrading it, it can be used as an animal feed additive. In this episode Jessica talks about her first and current experiences as a young researcher in Austria, about the criticism of palm oil in Europe, about research in times of Covid-19 and national identity in Indonesia.

If it had been up to his father, Ismail Gbadamosi would have become a doctor. That was the real plan. Ismail chose another way, but the human body became his field of work and research - more precisely the human brain. He is a neuroscientist and currently conducting research for his PhD at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology which is part of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He specializes in neurodegenerational diseases. His academic path began at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria, where he completed his Masters in Human Anatomy. During his student days he already worked as a research assistant. One of his major areas of research was (and still is) the effects of different substances on the brain in Alzheimer’s disease research, including nicotine. His interest is shaped by his grandmother's Alzheimer's disease. It was the whole family's job to take care for her at home. In 2020 he came from Nigeria to Vienna as an OeAD scholarship holder. This was shortly before Austria shutdown public life and travel due to the first lockdown. He stayed for 9 months. In this podcast, Ismail talks about his career, his past and current research and also about his personal passions such as cooking and fitness.

Gerd Micheluzzi - art historian and PhD student at the University of Vienna - visited the art history institute in Florence for two semesters in 2020. His stay – funded by a Marietta Blau scholarship - was interrupted by the pandemic. This started an odyssey that brought him to the University of Hamburg as a research assistant at the end. Micheluzzi did not choose Florence randomly as his research destination. As a PhD candidate he conducts research on the cast shadow in Italian painting of the 14th-15th centuries. The shadow was already an important motive in ancient times, but then it disappeared for centuries – at least in paintings – almost without a trace. In written sources, however, it has been clearly preserved. The natural philosophers of this time also devoted their attention to him. This brings the former Marietta Blau scholarship holder to the edge of his discipline and beyond. Transdisciplinary research is important and necessary in his field. In this podcast he talks about his fascination for shadows, his love for Florence and the challenges of research stays in pandemic times.

Right during this podcast recording, Dr Sony Baral received the acceptation to be the first woman to take up a position as an associate professor at the Institute for Forestry at Thribhuvan University/Nepal. The OeAD warmly congratulates her! Sony Baral grew up in rural Nepal, an area where forests play a major role for the population. They are the basis of life, living space, provide fuelwood for cooking and heating, and products to sell. On the other hand, especially cooking and heating with fuelwood is responsible for a large part of CO2 emissions in the rural areas of Nepal. Sony Baral has devoted her academic career to these CO2 emissions and the forests in Nepal in general. In 2019 she completed her PhD at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, as a scholarship holder of the. In addition, she has been working repeatedly at the interface between science and policy making for many years. A work that encouraged her to study additionally law since 2018. In this podcast she talks about forest management in Nepal, about the special features of so-called community forests and about the discrepancy between firewood as a necessity on the one hand and as a cause of CO2 emissions on the other hand.

The Eurovision Song Contest was established in 1956 to test whether it is possible to broadcast a TV program live across Europe. It succeeded and since then, 2020 is the first year in which no Eurovision Song Contest took place due to the prevailing circumstances. Dean Vuletic, historian at the University of Vienna, has chosen Eurovision as his main field of research. He conducts research on this big event in particular with regard to its development in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, as well as the role of the Cold War and communism for popular culture. He holds a PhD and a Master’s degree from Columbia University / New York as well as a Master’s degree from Yale University. In 2013 he came to Vienna with an OeAD scholarship. In 2014 Conchita Wurst won the song contest for Austria, which gave Dean Vuletic the opportunity to advance his career in this field. He is currently based at the Research Center for the History of Transformations at the University of Vienna Website of Dean Vuletic

On March 17, 2015, solar cycle 24 - which had been going on since 2008 - peaked. On that day, satellite data in Bosnia-Herzegovina showed large deviations due to strong solar storms and thus an unusually high proportion of electrons in the ionosphere. Such strong solar storms cause GPS signals and other satellite data to vary massively. This can even cause power outages of several hours, such as a few years ago in Canada. Randa Natras, born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, is currently working on her PhD in the field of satellite geodesy. She is researching these deviations above the western Balkans. She already dedicated her master thesis to the topic. In 2017/18, as an OeAD scholarship holder at the Vienna University of Technology, she developed a model for measuring the electron density in the ionosphere above Bosnia-Herzegovina. Subsequently, she expanded this to the entire Western Balkans. Even if it is difficult to infer future events from past events, Randa Natras is working to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to gain insights for predictions. She is currently completing her PhD at the Technical University of Munich. Randa Natras finds compensation for her research through voluntary work in the field of environmental protection, rights for women in Bosnia-Herzegovina and also in the field of education. She is a member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina delegation for the European Forum Alpbach and works to encourage Bosnian students to go abroad. A few years ago, she met the supervisor of her dissertation at a conference in Japan. Alumni Portrait of Randa Natras