In times of geopolitical tensions: Humboldt Colloquium in Stockholm

As part of its efforts to strengthen collaboration in Northern Europe, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is inviting researchers to the Humboldt Colloquium to be held in Stockholm from 29 to 31 October. Northern Europe is currently increasingly a focus of security policy and economic debates: Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, geopolitical tensions and last but not least discussions on scientific freedom are also changing the conditions for international research cooperation.

Most of the some 120 participants will be from Sweden. Guests from Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Baltic States and Poland are also expected to attend. The researchers from a range of fields will discuss opportunities for and challenges involved in international research cooperation. How can science diplomacy foster international exchange? What contributions can Humboldtians from Northern Europe make to international collaboration? What does the Humboldt Network’s future in the region look like?

Humboldt Professor Joacim Rocklöv, Director of the Heidelberg Planetary Health Hub, will kick off talks on opening day by speaking on the effects that global environmental changes have on infectious diseases. Rubina Raja, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award recipient and Professor of Archaeology at Aarhus University, will draw a connection between past and modern urban societies. 
The programme’s brief oral presentations by Humboldtians on a wide range of topics will be complemented by specialist workshops and panel discussions that are aimed at intensifying collaboration between researchers in the Humboldt Network.

Journalists are welcome to attend the colloquium! Photos from the opening event can be provided.
Press contact on location: Kristine Logemann, +49 151 11015699

Opening event: Thursday, 29 October 2026, 4 p.m.
Venue: Stockholm University, Aula magna, Frescativägen 6, 114 18 Stockholm, Schweden

Greetings:

• Hans Adolfsson, President of Stockholm University 
• Robert Schlögl, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• Ludger Siemes, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sweden 

Keynote lectures:

• Joacim Rocklöv, Humboldt Professor, Heidelberg University: “Planetary Pressures on Infectious Diseases”
• Rubina Raja, Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at Aarhus University, Denmark, and head of the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Urban Network Evolutions: “New Perspectives on Past Urban Societies: a Humboldtian worldview reinvigorated in times of concerns”

Friday, 30 October 2026, starting 9 a.m.
Venue: Clarion Hotel

Panel discussion on “Current Challenges in Scientific Cooperation”

• Anja-Verena Mudring (Aarhus University, Denmark)
• Hans Lennernäs (Uppsala University, Sweden)
• Juras Banys (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
• Tatiana Shchyttsova (European Humanities University, Vilnius, Lithuania)

Followed by: Workshops and panel discussions in specialist groups

Saturday, 31 October 2026, starting 9 a.m.

Supporting programme with presentations on location

Every year, the Humboldt Foundation organises up to two major colloquia abroad to which all Humboldt Alumni from the respective country or region are invited. The colloquium in Stockholm is being financed by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office.

Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains an interdisciplinary network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians in more than 140 countries around the world – including 64 Nobel Prize winners.