Summer School
Una Europa Winter School 2027 for doctoral researchers: Rethinking Cultural Heritage Collections
Event information
Date & location
Freie Universität Berlin
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Participation
Interested? Submit your application via the form by 23:59 CEST on 15 September 2026. See below for full details on how to apply.
The inaugural Una Europa Cultural Heritage Winter School invites doctoral researchers from across our alliance partner universities working in cultural heritage to come together at Freie Universität Berlin under the theme, 'Rethinking Cultural Heritage Collections: Complex Histories and New Methodologies'.
Join us to explore how heritage collections serve as sites of knowledge and memory through seminars, field trips, and collaborative workshops. Together we will examine colonial legacies and wartime displacements associated with existing collections, while also exploring the digital technologies used to catalogue these collections and create new ones. A key question will be the role replicas play in these processes.
Apply now to the Una Europa Winter School 2027: Rethinking Cultural Heritage Collections
Why should I apply to this Winter School?
The Winter School is designed for doctoral researchers to exchange ideas with peers across disciplines and to discuss their own research with experts in archaeology, digital humanities, history, museology, natural history, library science, literary studies, and related fields.
Upon successful completion of the Winter School programme, participants are eligible to receive 4 ECTS. Please note that final ECTS recognition is subject to the regulations of each participant’s home institution.
What can I expect from the Winter School?
The Winter School has two main objectives:
- To examine the histories of classification, reclassification, ordering, and reordering of cultural heritage collections – including digital practices – starting with Berlin’s unique experience of relocated, recontextualised, and reinterpreted collections.
- To introduce current research and practical digital methods – for example, manuscript studies using Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR), or digital approaches in archaeology.
The programme will be hosted on Freie Universität Berlin’s campus. Field trips are planned to Berlin’s Humboldt Forum, the Museum of Natural History, and the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek), among other places.
Participants are required to attend one online preparation workshop in the second week of February 2027. After the Winter School, there will be an online follow-up meeting in mid-March where participants will discuss and summarise the results.
What is the cost of the Winter School?
There is no tuition fee for participants.
Each participant is responsible for organising and financing their own accommodation for the duration of the five-day onsite programme at Freie Universität Berlin.
At most Una Europa partner universities, doctoral researchers can apply for Erasmus+ funding for Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) from their own university. Please note that the availability of funding depends on your home university. They will advise you on the availability and format of funding. Please contact your university’s institutional contact at the list below for more information on funding options.
List of institutional contact points for questions on funding to participate in the Winter School.
Please note: Erasmus+ funding for BIP mobility is not available for doctoral researchers from KU Leuven. Doctoral researchers from Edinburgh and Zürich are not eligible for Erasmus+ funding but may receive alternative funding from their home university. Doctoral researchers from Universiteit Leiden are asked to check with their faculty first about the potential to cover travel expenses, due to limited Erasmus+ funding.
How do I apply?
Doctoral researchers at an Una Europa partner university whose research is connected to the field of Cultural Heritage are welcome to apply.
Applications must be submitted via this online form by 23:59 CEST on 15 September 2026. As part of the application, you will be asked to provide a curriculum vitae (CV) of 1–2 pages in PDF format, as well as a letter of motivation and an abstract outlining your doctoral thesis.
Applications will be evaluated in line with the following:
- Abstract of doctoral thesis (contained in online application form): max. 5 points.
- Curriculum vitae (separate PDF): max. 10 points.
- Motivation letter (contained in online application form): max. 10 points.
Questions?
- For questions related to the content of the Winter School, please contact Hauke Ziemssen (hauke.ziemssen@fu-berlin.de).
- For questions related to grant and funding options available, contact your university's contact point from this list.
People
Winter School Scientific Committee
- Prof . Dr. Magdalena Banaszkiewicz Cultural Anthropology, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
- Prof. Dr. Giovanni Colavizza Computer Science, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna
- Prof. Dr. Alain Duplouy Greek Archaeology, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
- Prof. Dr. Mariana Françozo Museum Studies, Universiteit Leiden
- Prof. Dr. Jeremiah Garsha Global History, University College Dublin
- Prof. Dr. Corinna Reinhardt Mediterranean Archaeology, Universität Zürich
- Prof. Dr. Kirsi Saarikangas Art History, Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet
- Prof. Dr. Niki Vermeulen History and sociology of science, University of Edinburgh
- Prof. Dr. Antje Wilton English Linguistics, Freie Universität Berlin
Local organising committee: Dr. Regina Attula, Dr. Stefanie Klamm, Prof. Dr. Antje Wilton, Prof. Dr. Lorenz Winkler-Horaček, Dr. Hauke Ziemssen, and the Una Europa team at Freie Universität Berlin.
This Winter School was created as part of the educational and research activities of Una Europa’s Focus Area in Cultural Heritage.