Kosmos Lecture at the Humboldt Foundation’s summer reception

Around 250 international guests from academia, politics and business as well as Humboldtians currently conducting research in Germany will meet at the summer reception being held in Berlin by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The reception offers a space for sharing personal experiences and is aimed at providing impetus for new research collaborations.  

Modelled after the Kosmos lectures Alexander von Humboldt gave in Berlin nearly 200 years ago to inform the public about the latest scientific findings, today’s Humboldt Foundation hosts a lecture on a topical subject every year on a date close to Humboldt’s birthday. On 11 September, the South African mathematician Daya Reddy will speak about paths to inclusive global research and scholarship. His lecture dovetails with the theme of “Power and Knowledge” which is the focus of this year’s Humboldt Residency-Programme where participants discuss issues revolving around global imbalances in our knowledge systems. 

Daya Reddy is chairman of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s International Advisory Board, an international board of experts who advise the Humboldt Foundation on strategy issues. He is Professor Emeritus of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and previously held the South African Research Chair for Computational Mechanics. He was also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town until the end of July. Daya Reddy was President of the International Science Council from 2018 to 2021 and is familiar with both the South African and the globalised viewpoint of research. Daya Reddy’s research interests lie in mathematical modelling, analysis and computation in solid mechanics, with applications in material science and biomedical mechanics. 
 
The discussion following Daya Reddy’s lecture will be moderated by the Australian journalist Amie Liebowitz, who participates in the 2024 Humboldt Residency Programme. This programme offers Humboldtians and other researchers together with actors from the arts, the media and civil society the opportunity to work together on a topic that changes every year. It is financed by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and involves a six-week residency in Berlin and Brandenburg that fosters an intensive interdisciplinary sharing of views and information and promotes dialogue with the public. 

Journalists are welcome to attend!
Please register for the event by 9 September 2024 by sending an e-mail to presse@avh.de, together with a copy of your valid press card. 
Time: Wednesday, 11 September 2024, 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.) 
Venue: Villa Elisabeth, Invalidenstraße 3, 10115 Berlin

Programme

• Welcome address by Robert Schlögl, President of the Humboldt Foundation 
• Kosmos Lecture by Daya Reddy (Professor Emeritus for Applied Mathematics, UCT, South Africa): “Towards strengthened and inclusive global scholarship” Simultaneous interpretation will be offered. 
• Discussion moderated by: Amie Liebowitz (BBC journalist, Australia/United Kingdom, participant in the 2024 Humboldt Residency Programme) 
• Reception starts 7:30 p.m. 

Press contact on location: Kristine Logemann, +49 151 11015699

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 61 Nobel Prize winners.