Construction work on the Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion research building at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) began in spring 2023. Today – eleven months after the laying of the foundation stone in July 2023 – the topping-out ceremony was held in Hannover’s Nordstadt district. University president Prof. Dr. Volker Epping, the future users of the research building, the architectural office responsible, staff from LUH’s Buildings Management unit and numerous guests were in attendance as the foreman raised the wreath to the top of the building’s frame.
The new building will adjoin LUH's existing building at Im Moore 21. Interior construction will begin in the coming days. The research building is expected to be completed in fall 2025. The costs will amount to approximately 19.3 million euros, of which the state will contribute almost twelve million euros, including approximately 9.6 million euros from the "zukunft.niedersachsen" programme. The federal government will contribute approximately 7.3 million euros.
“The Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion will enhance Leibniz University Hannover’s international competitiveness and readiness for the future, and this will have a positive impact on Hannover as a location,” stated university president Prof. Dr. Volker Epping. The new building is an externally visible signal that LUH not only focuses on engineering and natural sciences, he said, but also has a highly visible research focus in the humanities and social sciences through interdisciplinary studies of science.
The spokesperson for the Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion, Prof. Dr. Eva Barlösius (Institute of Sociology and LCSS), explained: “We are grateful to the entire building team for the quick completion of the building structure. We, the future occupants, are looking forward to moving in next year. Because the Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion will fundamentally improve our possibilities for research and international cooperation.”
The new building was designed by Michel+Wolf Architects (Stuttgart) and will provide over 2,100 square metres of floor space for interdisciplinary research, a knowledge workshop with innovative research infrastructure, and meeting and event venues for scientific conferences. In terms of sustainability, it will be certified according to the criteria of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).
No other university in Germany has a comparable number of professorships in higher education research and science studies – LUH has approximately 20. The disciplines philosophy, sociology, economics, political science and law are involved. Researchers who have so far been spread out across different university locations will work together under one roof in the research building.
The following research groups will move into the Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion:
- the Institute of Philosophy, including the DFG research group SOCRATES (Social Credibility and Trustworthiness of Expert Knowledge and Science-Based Information),
- the research group Soziologische Wissenschafts- und Hochschulforschung from the Institute of Sociology,
- the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS),
- the interdisciplinary research centre Leibniz Center for Science and Society (LCSS),
- the DZHW research data centre (German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies), and
- the TIB junior research group Knowledge Infrastructures.
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For further information, please contact Mechtild Freiin v. Münchhausen, head of Communications and Marketing and spokesperson for Leibniz University Hannover (tel. 0177 3734026, email: kommunikation@uni-hannover.de).
