Research at the GKM

Funding commitments and news

The list of research projects of the scientists networked at the GKM is long and diverse: There is a large number of third-party funded research projects, some of which are carried out individually, some in working groups and some in close cooperation with domestic and foreign university and research institutions. Among them are DFG long-term projects, two Emmy Noether Research Groups and a Leibniz Prize research position. You can get an impression of the research activities of our staff here:

Overview of research projects at the GKM

Since 2007, numerous researchers have been engaged in the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures" based at the University of Münster, many of whom have been collaborating for years within the GKM. The GKM forms the foundation of research in ancient studies and provides the Excellence Cluster with a profound historical perspective.

Research Group "Xenocracy on the Ground ”

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new research group from the humanities. The aim of the group "Xenocracy on the Ground. Administration and Cultural Interdependence in Pre-Modern Times" is to provide a perspective on the much-discussed phenomenon of foreign rule that is tailored to pre-modern times.

"Phenomena of foreign rule, for example in the ancient Mediterranean, in pre-modern Europe or in colonial contexts, have been predominantly considered epochally and spatially separated in the historical sciences," explains Prof. Dr. Ulrike Ludwig, holder of the Chair of Early Modern History at the University of Münster.

The DFG is funding the project for the next four years with around 2.5 million euros.

From the GKM, Prof. Dr. Hans Beck, Prof. Dr. Wolfram Drews, Prof. Dr. Patrick Sänger and Prof. Dr. Gesa Schenke are involved.

Translation processes played a central role in the formation of the Ottoman Empire. Against the background of confessional-political polarization in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, a multitude of works were increasingly received, translated, and commented upon. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the junior research group is investigating this transregional transfer of knowledge between 1400 and 1750 in a holistic manner for the first time. The aim is to reveal the central role of Ottoman-Turkish translations from Arabic and Persian as part of cultural and literary ambiguity between Sunni and Shiite Islam, without which intellectual-historical developments in the region cannot be understood.

The NFDI4Culture Music Award 2022 goes to the musicologist Prof. Dr. Ralf Martin Jäger and his colleagues Michael Kaiser, Sven Gronemeyer (both Max Weber Foundation, Bonn) in connection with the DFG long-term project 'Corpus Musicae Ottomanicae'.
The prize was awarded in March 31, 2023 at the Academy of Sciences and Literature (Mainz).