LERU-STREAM: Student Research Mobility Programme
What is STREAM?
STREAM is a programme aimed at fostering student mobility in the field of research. We facilitate international research experience via internships for students in research projects based at institutions within the League of European Research Universities (LERU)
Participating Institutions
- Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
The internship opportunities are advertised directly on the universities' websites.
Application
Application process for outgoing students (students of the University of Freiburg):
STREAM is a programme for students who have a strong interest in conducting research during their studies. You must be enrolled at the University of Freiburg and have completed at least the first two years of your study program (i.e. min. 5.Fachsemester for BA students, please note that there may be different project specific requirements). Students from all subjects at the University of Freiburg are eligible to apply.
If you are interested in an internship in one of the research projects listed on our LERU partners' homepages, please first contact the STREAM coordinator at the University of Freiburg:
Dr. Moritz Heck
Department for Instructional Development (LL-LE)
Phone: +49 (0)761 203 54307
moritz.heck@zv.uni-freiburg.de
www.lehrentwicklung.uni-freiburg.de
Please send a completed application form, a motivation letter (1-2 pages), a short CV and your transcript of records (Leistungsübersicht) to Moritz Heck. If the description of the project you are interested in lists any additional requirements, please send the relevant documents along with your application form. We will check whether you fulfill the formal requirements and forward your application to our partner university for the final decision. Applications can be submitted at any time. Please note project-specific application periods and deadlines mentioned in the project descriptions.
Application for incoming students (students from LERU Universities other than Freiburg):
Please contact the STREAM coordinator at your home institution for details on the application process. If you have general questions concerning the research projects offered at our university, feel free to contact Moritz Heck.
Research projects offered at the University of Freiburg
Collaborative Research Center 948 - Heroes - Heroizations – Heroisms
The collaborative research centre SFB 948 “Heroes – Heroizations – Heroisms” studies the heroic from antiquity to the present day from a transdisciplinary, cultural, historical and social perspective. The SFB pursues a transdisciplinary approach, uniting the studies of history, literature, visual arts, Islamic studies, sinology, cultural sociology, theology, and philosophy. We are particularly interested in the social orders that heroic figures at once stabilize and simultaneously call into question, and examine why and how heroines and heroes have so persistently served as figures upon which communities can focus their self-understanding. In contrast to the essentializing notion that heroes are ‘just there’, and that one can or must describe them in their singularity, we claim that heroic figures are the result of cultural processes of meaning-making. Instead of re-narrating the singular history of a person or fictional character-type, or studying the psychic dispositions of heroic individuals, as in social-psychological approaches, the SFB’s research is focused on the processual dynamics which constitute the ‘hero’ as an effect. Special consideration is given to the different forms of the mediated representation of heroic figures.
In addition to exploring the heroic itself, the SFB aims to employ the heroic as an analytical category for cultural and social history. In particular, the SFB currently focuses on four fields of research, which are particularly promising for this change in perspective. They constitute four project groups within the SFB: “Transformation, disruption, and reinterpretations of the past” (S1), “Personalization: Subjectification and Authority” (S2), “Masculinities” (S3), and “Aesthetics of Affect” (S4).
Further information
Institute of Biochemistry: "characterization of membrane proteins and metalloproteins"
We are working on membrane proteins complexes and proteins containing metal-cofactors. Using advanced molecular biology techniques we generate variants that are purified to homogeneity by chromatographic means. The preparations are characterized by various spectroscopic methods, enzyme activity and a broad range of topical biophysical methods. The ultimate goal is determine the protein structure by x-ray crystallography or cryo-electron microscopy. The work is placed in an interdisciplinary field including biology, chemistry, medicine and physics. Participation in soft-skill courses are offered in the framework of existing research training groups.
Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy, Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency – Medical Center – University of Freiburg: "Applying genome editing to treat primary immunodeficiencies."
The research activities at the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy focus on (i) improving genome editing tools based on TALEN and CRISPR-Cas for therapeutic applications in human cells, (ii) developing assay to evaluate designer nuclease induced off-target effects, (iii) applying preclinical disease models to validate the developed strategies, and (iv) translating immune cell and stem cell therapies to the clinic to treat certain types of cancers, HIV infection and primary immunodeficiencies.
ConFoBi (Conservation of Forest Biodiversity in Multiple-Use Landscapes of Central Europe)
The vast majority of Earth’s surface is utilized by humans. It is estimated that existing protected areas are not sufficient to protect their biodiversity. One solution is to integrate conservation measures into these used landscapes. ConFoBi (Conservation of Forest Biodiversity in Multiple-Use Landscapes of Central Europe) investigates how the integration of measures to protect biodiversity in forests used by humans can be achieved. ConFoBi consists of more than a dozen projects studying various aspects of this question, ranging from assessing the forest structure (from tree over plot to landscape level), estimating biodiversity (from epiphytes and understory plants to bats as well as modelling economic aspects and assessing the social science component, i.e. how can the gap between science and practitioners become smaller.) Overall, we investigate biodiversity along two gradients: landscape and forest structure. ConFoBi does this in an interdisciplinary approach and in the setting of a so called Research Training Group. The latter means that all research is conducted by PhD students.
Funding
The STREAM program does not include specific funding opportunities. Students have to cover their living expenses in the host country by themselves. However, STREAM participants do not have to pay tuition or any other fees at the host institution.
For exchange between institutions in EU-member states, funding might be available through ERASMUS+. To qualify for ERASMUS funding, your internship abroad has to last at least 60 days to max. 360 days. If you have already received an ERASMUS grant, e.g. for studies abroad, please keep in mind that the maximum duration of an ERASMUS funded stay abroad is 12 months within one cycle of study (Bachelor, Master, PhD). If you fulfill these conditions, the application for financial support is made through the coordinating partner for ERASMUS internships of the University of Freiburg, KOOR-BEST, where further information is available.
For stays in Switzerland, please apply for the Swiss European Mobility Programme. For more rules and restrictions, please contact the International Affairs Office of the University of Geneva or the University of Zürich, respectively.
Language requirements
If not noted otherwise in the project description, all internships are undertaken in English. There is no general requirement to speak the native language of the host institution to be eligible for a project (exceptions may apply for specific research projects).
