Professor Anna Fleig Elected New President of the Heinrich von Kleist Society

Dr. Anne Fleig, professor of modern German literature at Freie Universität Berlin, has been elected the new president of the Heinrich von Kleist Society. In a statement, she announced that she would work even harder to “promote young scholars, foster research on the history of Heinrich von Kleist’s reception as an author, and ensure the greater visibility of the Kleist Prize.” As a scholarly and literary association, the Heinrich von Kleist Society is dedicated to the life and work of the author, who last resided in Berlin, addresses the continuing impact of his work and awards the prestigious Kleist Prize. In 2010, Dr. Fleig accepted an appointment to Freie Universität as a full professor. She is also a member of the board of the Collaborative Research Center “Affective Societies” and deputy spokesperson for the Research Training Group “Normativity, Critique, Change.” Her areas of expertise include literature from around 1800, cultural modernity and contemporary literature, and gender studies in literary studies.

Originally planned for 2020, Dr. Antje Boetius was finally able to take to the stage at the Henry Ford Building in 2021 to hold the twentieth “Einstein Lecture Dahlem” at Freie Universität. In her lecture, Dr. Boetius, a professor of geomicrobiology at the University of Bremen and director of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, warned against the consequences of climate change and the disappearance of the polar ice sheet: “We can’t do research as fast as polar life will disappear.” She added that meeting climate goals is crucial: “Only if we meet the 1.5 degree target can we prevent the Arctic from soon becoming ice-free.” Since 2005, Freie Universität has been honoring Albert Einstein’s work as director of the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics with the Einstein Lecture Series Dahlem.

Professor of Innovation Management Carsten Dreher at Freie Universität’s School of Business and Economics has been appointed to the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board. He is one of twenty board members who advise the EIC on strategic planning and innovation policy pertaining to future-oriented areas of development in Europe, such as digital innovation, health, environmental transformation, according to the European Commission in Brussels. The EIC has harnessed the various innovation policy activities into the European funding program “Horizon Europe.” The European Union has granted the program 10.5 billion euros from structural funds as well as an additional 3.5 billion euros from Covid-19 recovery funds. The budget is scheduled to end in 2027. The members of the board traveled to the EIC summit in Brussels on November 24 and 25 to kick off their activities. The members were appointed for a term of two years, which can be extended twice. The new EIC Board replaces the pilot advisory board that ushered in the EIC’s strategy and its implementation