Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies

Welcome to FRIAS!

The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) is the University of Freiburg’s research college. It provides time, space, and funding for high-level research. FRIAS is dedicated to interdisciplinary research across a wide variety of topics and welcomes scholars from all countries and disciplines.

Dark blue background with a silhouette of the demonstrator construction

Opening Ceremony

FRIAS Project Group “Agrivoltaics” Presents Demonstrator to the Public

Agri-phovoltaics combines electricity generation through photovoltaics with agricultural crop production on the same plot of land. A FRIAS project group is researching this approach and presenting an on-site demonstrator on 20 May 2026 at the Faculty of Engineering.

Call for Applications

Balzan-FRIAS Masterclass Welcomes Scholars in Global History

Early Career Researchers are invited to apply for a two-day masterclass with Patricia Clavin (University of Oxford) on Global Histories of Capitalism. It is held on 16–17 July 2026. The event is part of the Balzan–FRIAS Project in Global History. Application Deadline: 31 May 2026.

Become a Fellow

Are you Postdoc or an established researcher? Explore your opportunities at FRIAS.

How to become a Fellow

Get in touch

How can we help? Find the right contact person for your specific inquiry.

YAS Members working in the FRIAS seminar room

About FRIAS

Founded in 2007, FRIAS is a central academic institution of the University of Freiburg, deeply integrated into the university’s structure. FRIAS fosters connections between the University of Freiburg and the global academic community, encouraging partnerships and research collaborations that enhance the university’s international presence. With its funding programmes, FRIAS provides a space and forum for scholars from diverse fields to research and collaborate, promoting new perspectives on critical scientific and societal challenges.

Learn about FRIAS

Funding

FRIAS offers time-limited research residencies in Freiburg, welcoming both established researchers and promising early-career scholars (with a minimum of a completed PhD) from all disciplines, based in Freiburg, Europe, and beyond. To support collaborative initiatives, FRIAS also funds group research projects that bring together interdisciplinary teams, encouraging innovative approaches to research topics and questions across all fields.

Research

Research at FRIAS is driven by funding programmes and is conducted on a temporary basis. Unrestricted by fixed themes or specific research fields, FRIAS is open to ideas from all academic disciplines. At its core are the individual research projects of FRIAS fellows, complemented by collaborative research group projects. Most recently, FRIAS launched the Freiburg Postdoctoral Academy, which focuses on supporting early-career researchers and is closely integrated with the University of Freiburg’s primary research areas.

Current Projects

Freiburg Postdoctoral Academy

Events

FRIAS offers a diverse selection of events and lecture series for Fellows, university members, and the wider public. Find your highlight and be part of it.

All events

Blick in den FRIAS Seminarraum aus dem Gang

FRIAS Colloquium

FRIAS Project Group Green Pulse – Mobile Air Quality Index Monitoring for High–Resolution Urban Environmental Characterization

1 June 2026, 15:00-16:00

FRIAS Project Group Green Pulse

FRIAS seminar room

Opening Ceremony: ZEE Agrivoltaics Demonstrator
FRIAS Project Group: Agrivoltaics

20 May 2026, 13:00

Georges-Köhler-Allee 401a
79110 Freiburg
(behind the Institute for Solar Physics)

UBIAS Talk Series for Early Career Researchers
Talk 1: Recruitment & Onboarding (IASH Edinburgh, United Kingdom)

21 May 2026, 16:00-16:30

Online (via Zoom)
Speakers: Ben Fletcher-Watson (IASH Deputy Director),
Anthea Moys (British Council 90th Anniversary Fellow at IASH, 2025)

Buchdiskussion: Kapitalismus. Geschichte einer Weltrevolution

14 July 2026, 18:15

Veranstaltungssaal der Universitätsbibliothek

Veranstaltung im Rahmen der Reihe: Bücher, über die man spricht

News & Media

Learn more about the latest stories and developments at FRIAS and discover our media library.

All news

Faces of FRIAS

Is the Author Dead When the Machine Writes? On Literature in the Time of AI

Literary scholar Gero Guttzeit investigates how Artificial Intelligence is transforming authorship, reading, and textuality – and explains why a literary and cultural studies perspective is indispensable for the wider debate about AI.

Portrait of Max Trommsdorff and Tim Krieger

Faces of FRIAS

Harvesting the Sun Twice: How Researchers in Freiburg Are Advancing Agrivoltaics

At the interface of the University of Freiburg and Fraunhofer ISE, economist Tim Krieger and photovoltaic researcher Max Trommsdorff bring together researchers from different disciplines to explore how farmland can produce both agricultural yields and renewable power.

Open early printed book displayed on a dark background, showing two facing pages. The left page features a detailed black-and-white woodcut illustration depicting a medieval scene with several figures gathered around a seated person, possibly during a ritual or medical procedure. The right page contains dense Gothic-style text with decorative initials, characteristic of early modern printed works.

Press Release

Forschung in Zeiten des Krieges: Tetiana Hoshko als VUIAS-Fellow am FRIAS

Mit der Historikerin Tetiana Hoshko begrüßt das FRIAS die erste Empfängerin des neuen VUIAS Fellowships.
Der Forschungsaufenthalt ist Teil einer internationalen Initiative zur Unterstützung ukrainischer Wissenschaftler:innen.

Eva von Contzen (FRIAS Fellow 2017-23 und 2024/25) ist Sprecherin des neuen Sonderforschungsbereichs (SFB) „Historische und transkulturelle Erzähltheorie“ der Universität Freiburg. Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) fördert den SFB über einen Zeitraum von vier Jahren mit rund zehn Millionen Euro.

Brian B. Laird (FRIAS Fellow 2016/17) was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society from the APS Division of Computational Physics.

Monika Fludernik (FRIAS Fellow 2019/20) has published a book on “Developments in Narrative Structure” , tracing developments in English narrative structure from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period. FRIAS hosted the book launch in April 2026.

Interested in our Funding Programmes?

Learn more about what we have to offer.

Funding Finder