Christian Lazar is the new head of the liaison office of Freie Universität in São Paulo

Freie Universität maintains five international liaison offices: in Beijing, Cairo, Moscow, New Delhi, and São Paulo. They represent the university, support scholars and scientists in reaching out internationally, and set up exchange programs for education and research. Christian Lazar took over as head of the liaison office in Brazil in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Lazar, a 32-year-old with German and Costa Rican roots, says he is very happy to meet this challenge. “I’ve known about building bridges for a long time: I’ve moved around a lot, ever since I was a child. I’ve lived in Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Germany – and now in Brazil, in the exceptional year 2020.”

Berlin-Brandenburg Science Region and Hebrew University of Jerusalem Intensify Cooperation in the Field of Jewish Studies / New cooperation agreement signed between the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Selma Stern Center for Jewish Studies Berlin-Brandenburg

 The various actors of the scientific region Berlin-Brandenburg as united in the Selma Stern Center, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wish to intensify their cooperation in the field of Jewish studies. This was agreed upon in a virtual ceremony on Wednesday, December 10, 2020. The cooperation is intended to facilitate exchanges of senior scholars and students, joint research projects and conferences, as well as the sharing of archival materials.

In the first round of the Berlin-Brandenburg Business Plan Competition (Businessplan-Wettbewerb, BPW), the start-up company Carbon Instead, a Freie Universität Berlin spin-off, has won one of two first prizes in the “Plan” category. Start-up founders Julia Roth and Joanna Fatorelli were selected for their development of a cleaning technique that allows the industry to apply an environmentally friendly additive, “pyrochar,” that can partially replace cement in construction work. The use of the material can considerably reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Due to its high porosity and water-holding capacity, pyrochar also demonstrates impressive technical properties.