Networking and Cooperation

The director of ZMO is at the same time a professor of Islamic Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. Teaching activities by ZMO research fellows at university faculties in Berlin, throughout Germany, and abroad contribute to a close connection between teaching and research. Partnering with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, ZMO is the only non-university research institution involved in the Berlin Graduate School of Muslim Cultures and Societies (BGSMCS) at the Freie Universität Berlin.

ZMO is a member of the Forum Transregionale Studien at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, a research organisation focused on the internationalisation of humanities and social sciences. Each year, ZMO hosts up to three scientists in the context of “Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe” (EUME), a research programme at the Forum. Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi lead the EUME research field Cities Compared: Urban Change in the Mediterranean and Adjacent Regions.

The ZMO is also involved in a long-term, DFG-supported project, “Modern India in German Archives, 1706-1989 (MIDA)” (2014-2026). Within the scope of this project, the Centre cooperates with the Institute for Asian and African Studies (IAAW) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS) at the Georg-August Universität Göttingen. In addition, ZMO regularly hosts guests from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the DAAD, and leading German and European foundations. If you are interested in working with us, please consult our website.

The Centre has a long-standing network of scientific contacts at home and abroad, as well as a variety of formal and informal connections. The Leibniz Centre cooperates with a number of universities and non-university institutes in joint collaborative projects. A cooperation agreement exists with the Freie Universität Berlin. Apart from FU Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Centre’s most important partners for scientific cooperation are the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (SOAS); the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris (EHESS); the universities of Utrecht, Cairo, Rabat, Mekelle, Delhi, Lahore; Bosporus University of Istanbul; the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin; and the institutes of the Max Weber Foundation abroad (especially the German Orient Institutes in Beirut and Istanbul and the German Historical Institute London). ZMO is part of the Leibniz Research Alliance “Historical Authenticity”. Cooperation agreements also exist with the University of Dohuk in Iraq, the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies in Saudi Arabia, the Institut Francais de Recherche en Afrique in Ibadan, Nigeria, and the Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherche sur la Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local in Niamey, Niger.

A new cooperation was launched in July 2019 when ZMO signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) no. 19 with the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan in Tashkent. This cooperation was the result of a visit by a high-ranking Uzbek delegation visit to the centre in April.