Left-wing populist Robert Fico, who was removed from power in Slovakia in 2018 after corruption scandals, has returned to power and formed a coalition with leftist and nationalist parties, which could have significant implications for Central Europe and the European Union.
Federal Minister Polaschek: Researchers honoured as part of the Danubius Awards 2023
Sub-heading: At the Danubius Awards 2023, researchers from the Danube region were acclaimed for their academic achievements.
On 19 October, researchers who have made outstanding contributions to the Danube Region were honoured at the Danubius Awards 2023.
The “Danubius Award 2023” went to Prof. Andreas H. Farnleitner. Dr Marco Beaumont was presented with the “Danubius Mid-Career Award 2023”. In addition, 14 young scientists from the Danube Region were granted with the “Danubius Young Scientist Awards”.
Martin Polaschek, Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research, congratulated the award winners and emphasized the great relevance of excellent scientific research for the academic hub of Austria and the Danube Region.
“The award winners impressively demonstrate the fundamental contribution of science to the preservation of the Danube region as a living and economic area, and to the development of solutions in terms of sustainability. I congratulate Prof. Farnleitner and Dr Beaumont very warmly on their well-deserved award and thank them for their academic commitment,” said the Federal Minister. “In addition, I am pleased that we have awarded the Danubius Young Scientist Awards for the tenth time this year, thus contributing to the increased visibility of the excellent talents in the region. I warmly congratulate all the awardees on their success. With their outstanding performance, they are taking our research and science hub a big step further.”
The “Danubius Award” was established in 2011 to commend individuals who have dealt with the Danube region in an outstanding way through their academic work or creations. This year’s award winner, Prof. Farnleitner, focuses on water quality and health, specifically on hazard and risk assessment and the management of microbiological contaminants in water. By developing and applying new genetic analytical tools for the source detection of faecal pollution and pathogens in water, he contributes to the fundamental understanding of water quality along the entire Danube and its catchment area. Farnleitner is an appointed professor of microbiology and molecular diagnostics at the Vienna University of Technology and also holds the chair of microbiological diagnostics at Karl Landsteiner Private University.
Dr Beaumont, who received the “Danubius Mid-Career Award 2023”, dedicates his research to the utilization of biomass waste streams and the development of sustainable chemical processes for the modification of biopolymers. His work contributes to the development of local biorefinery concepts, using aquatic plants from the Danube region as feedstocks to support the development of a future biobased economy in this region. Beaumont works at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, where he is part of the Institute of Chemistry of Renewable Resources and leads the research group “Chemistry of Renewable Nanomaterials”.
Award categories and selection
The “Danubius Award” is awarded annually, with achievements in the humanities, cultural and social sciences and achievements in the life sciences (2023) recognized on an alternate basis. The prize is endowed with € 5,000.
The “Danubius Mid-Career Award” is endowed with € 2,200 and has been awarded since 2017 to researchers who have provided important impulses for the Danube region in their academic career within 15 years of completing their last formal degree.
The two award winners were selected by an independent expert jury chaired by Prof. Martin Gerzabek (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna).
The “Danubius Young Scientist Awards” have been presented since 2014. These accolades, which are open to all disciplines, highlight the scientific work and talent of young researchers and help ensure that up-and-coming scientists engage with the Danube and the Danube region in a variety of ways. The prizes for young researchers are endowed with € 1,350 per award winner. The selection is made by an international peer review.
By granting these awards, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research contributes to the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) adopted by the European Council in 2011.
Laureates of the “Danubius Young Scientist Awards”:
| Austria | Magdalena Baran-Szołtys |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mirza Buljubašić |
| Bulgaria | Nevena Aleksieva |
| Croatia | Stjepan Srhoj |
| Czech Republic | Zdeněk Jakub |
| Germany | Benedikt Bagemihl |
| Hungary | Ádám Lovas-Kiss |
| Moldova | Anastasia Ivanova |
| Montenegro | Isidora Stanković |
| Romania | Alexandra Cehan |
| Serbia | Olja Šovljanski |
| Slovakia | Dominika Oravkinová |
| Slovenia | Tina Kegl |
| Ukraine | Ivan Laktionov |
International Institute for Peace (Vienna) organized a panel discussion about the outcomes of the parliamentary in Poland and their impact on the regional, especially its relations with Ukraine and Belarus.
Our colleague Malwina Talik was among the speakers together with Maciej Kisilowski, Associate Professor of Law and Strategy, Central European University, Artyom Shraibman, Belarusian Political Analyst; Contributor to Carnegie Politika and Olena Khylko, Researcher at the Comenius University in Bratislava. The event was moderated by Marylia Hushcha, Researcher at the IIP.
More information here.
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Polen hat ein neues Parlament gewählt, die Opposition um Donald Tusk könnte künftig regieren. Politologin Malwina Talik analysiert im Video, was das für die Zukunft des Landes heißt.
Lesen Sie den gesamten Artikel hier.
Photo credit: Südosteuropa Gesellschaft e.V.
For her master thesis with the title “Gender and Visual Securitization of Migrants along the Balkan Route”, Melanie Jaindl received the award for the best master thesis in Southeast European Studies from the Südosteuropa Gesellschaft e.V. The award ceremony took place in the framework of the International Academic Week at the Akademie für Politische Bildung in Tutzing, Germany.
Melanie finished her Joint Master’s Degree in Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz and University of Belgrade in March 2023. Her thesis investigates the visual portrayal of refugees and other migrants in Hungarian and Serbian online news media and conceptualizes how collective memory and the representation of intersectional identity markers (gender, race, age, etc.) led to securitization of people travelling the so-called Balkan Route in 2015.
Poland’s general elections are coming up this Sunday. The ruling Law and Justice party has added a referendum to the ballot, with questions intended to stoke fears about immigration. This may be a tactic Law and Justice is using to edge out its right-wing challenger, Konfederacja. But will it work?
Read the whole article here.
Date:
October 12, 2023
13:00 – 15:00 CEST‘Ion Creangă’ Pedagogical State University of Chișinău, str. Ion Creangă No. 1, main building, 2nd floor, Mediatica
With the unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, not only has the European security architecture been destroyed, but also the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy has ultimately become obsolete. Moldova, together with Georgia and Ukraine, had already been pushing within the so-called Associated Trio for a closer cooperation as well as approximation to the EU. Contrary to the other three target countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) – with the suspension of Belarus’ participation in the EaP, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with Armenia and a similar agreement being negotiated with Azerbaijan – Chisinau wants to become an EU member. Following the application for membership in March 2022 as well as the candidate status received in June 2022, expectations are high that by the end of 2023, negotiations with Brussels could be opened. Regardless of when this happens, integration will take significant time and effort. Civil society organizations and think tanks play an important role in supporting these efforts. We discussed how the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) had been fostering European integration through regional cooperation over the past 70 years and proposed the concept of a Greater European Council, a policy that could contribute to a better transition in becoming an EU member both in general and in the specific case of Moldova.
The 21st “European Week of Regions and Cities” took place in Brussels from 9 to 12 October 2023. A dense programme was offered to researchers, officials, policy makers and the interested public. In total 7000 participants and 500 speakers participated in 220 workshops. In cooperation with the Working Community of the Danube Regions and the Federal Government of Lower Austria, the IDM was also present at the event. Research Associate Sophia Beiter took part in the workshop “Working Together for a Healthy Europe by Enhancing Cross-Border Collaboration and Digitalization”. The workshop highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in the field of medical care. Especially in times of staff shortages and with a growing part of the population in need of medical care, our future health system will have to rely on effective cross-border collaboration and digitalisation. Representatives of the European Committee of the Regions, the Health Agency of Lower Austria and the EGTC Euregio Meuse-Rhine presented successful case studies across different parts of Europe.
Péter Techet spoke about the “International Law Aspects and Constitutional Questions in relation to NATO’s »humanitarian intervention«” at the conference “Kosovo Conflict” organized by the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing (Germany). He presented the international legal situation and the problem of “humanitarian intervention” with reference to the question of whether violations of human rights can be prevented militarily.
Extraordinary things happen when ordinary people take action in challenging circumstances and times. This sentence from the keynote by Nobel Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk expressed well the purpose of the International Round Table Conference (IRTC) 2023 in Leipzig, Germany: gathering activists, NGOs, journalists and think tankers from around the world to learn from one another and exchange their observations and insights.
Our colleague Malwina Talik participated in this event together with approximately 80 other guests. As part of the “70yearsIDM” event series, she also organized a workshop for NGOs on how they can create and implement a digital strategy. .
The IRTC is a democracy and human rights conference that offers participants a non-public, safe space to exchange views on socio-political issues, current challenges and shared values. It is part of the project REVOLUTIONALE, run by the Foundation of the Peaceful Revolution with the aim to strengthen civil society engagement for human rights, democracy and social change.
