Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (c:o/re)

Who is the KHK c:o/re? Get to know us in brief! 🔎 If you would like to find out more about our research, team, fellows, and fellowship program, check out our website. #core_rwth #rwthaachen #research #bmftr

❓What research projects are conducted by the fellows during their c:o/re fellowship? In the latest video of our series, Tsvetelina Hristova, a media studies scholar and anthropologist, discusses her archival research into information gathering and automated data processing in late socialist Bulgaria. She explores how mid-60s initiatives aimed to use digitalization and automation to govern social life and production. 📺 Watch the video on our YouTube channel (link in bio). #core_rwth #research #rwthaachen

💐We cordially congratulate KHK c:o/re director Gabriele Gramelsberger, who has been appointed RWTH Fellow 2026! The RWTH Fellow award recognizes outstanding professors at @rwthaachenuniversity who have made significant contributions to research and provided exceptional service to the University. ➡ The award was given, among other reasons, for the following: Professor Gramelsberger brings a remarkable level of diversity to her research, combining various disciplines within philosophy, including the philosophy of cognitive science and the philosophy of mathematics. Her work not only promotes understanding of digital technologies and their influence on scientific practices, but also helps to shed new light on current societal challenges. In addition to her scientific achievements, she has worked hard to build a vibrant intellectual community, both at RWTH Aachen University and internationally. Her commitment to scientific discourse is evident in numerous published co-authored works and in her ability to establish significant networks and stimulate dialogue between different disciplines. 🔗You can find the whole announcement on our website (link in bio). 📷: Andreas Schmitter

Welche Zukünfte sind möglich, welche wahrscheinlich und welche wünschenswert? Die zweite Ausgabe von ›Hidden Futures‹, entwickelt und organisiert in Kooperation mit @core_rwth , richtet den Blick auf die Logiken von Vorhersage und Versprechen. Zukunft erscheint heute nicht nur als Hoffnung oder Projektionsfläche, sondern auch als etwas, das berechnet, modelliert und verwaltet wird. In datenbasierten Systemen, politischen Programmen und gesellschaftlichen Erzählungen wird fortwährend entworfen, was kommen soll – und damit auch, was in der Gegenwart schon als wahrscheinlich, wünschenswert oder möglich gilt. An zwei Tagen widmen wir uns der Frage, wie Zukunftsbilder heute entstehen. Am 8. Mai führt uns eine gemeinsame Bustour durchs Rheinische Revier: Wo sich heute noch die gewaltige Grube des Tagebaus Hambach zeigt, soll in den kommenden Jahrzehnten eine neue Seenlandschaft entstehen. In Elsdorf, Manheim und Bürgewald begegnen wir Menschen, u. a. silke.schatz und Daniela Karow-Kluge, die den Strukturwandel planen, begleiten oder befragen. Am 9. Mai treten bei PACT Künstler*innen und Forscher*innen in den Dialog, um unterschiedliche Wissensformen und Praxen jenseits der Versprechen technologischer Entwicklungen zu verhandeln. Zukunft wird dabei als eine Gegenwart erfasst, die von Vorhersagesystemen geprägt ist und schon jetzt Wirklichkeit ordnet und mit hervorbringt. Mit dabei sind @choy_kafai , Ren Loren Britton @brittonstudio , @nonhuman_nonsense , Nelly Y. Pinkrah @aayyllen , Yi Gu, @trpercival , @sarahciston und Chelsea Haramia. 🔗 Tickets & Weitere Infos -> pact-zollverein.de Fotos (2) © Silke Schatz, (3) © Nonhuman Nonsense !B #HiddenFutures #PredictionAndPromise #PACTZollverein

☀️ We are very happy to welcome two new fellows, Radhika Gorur and Estrid Sørensen, to our center! Radhika Gorur is a professor of education at Deakin University, Australia. She is interested in the social and political lives of data and in how policies get mobilized, stabilized, circulated and challenged. Drawing on STS, critical data studies and the sociology of measurement, her c:o/re project “From ‘evidence-based’ to ‘data-driven’? Exploring the shifting cultures of knowledge production, policymaking, and governance in education“ seeks to generate critical insights into the emerging data-policy-technology cultures and how they are redefining the purposes, priorities and values of education, focusing on three key IGOs: the EU, UNESCO and the OECD. Estrid Sørensen is a professor for anthropology of knowledge at Ruhr University Bochum. Her ethnographic and historical research addresses scientific data centers and high-performance computing and inquires the co-enactment of knowledge production and planetarity. At c:o/re, she will work on her project „Cultures of Scientific High-Performance Computing and the Challenge of Energy Sustainability“, examining how cultures of scientific high-performance computing handle and are influenced by the paradox of the dual need for increased high-performance computing in science and reduced energy consumption. 🔎If you would like to learn more about the fellows and their work, check out our website (link in bio). #core_rwth #rwthaachen #research #education #computing

🌟Our lecture series on digital complexity is starting its second round! On April 15, 2026, we will continue to explore fundamental questions and ethical aspects of digital transformations with various speakers. 👀Find out more about the topics and speakers on our website (link in bio). 💫We look forward to seeing you! #core_rwth #rwthaachen #research #kätehamburgerkolleg #science #technology #digitalization #ai #lecture

💫Meet our fellows! Yi Gu is a scholar of modern and contemporary art and visual culture, with a particular focus on Asia, especially China. Her current work investigates the intersections of aesthetics, technology, and political economy, as well as the possibilities of digital methods for visual culture studies. At c:o/re, she works on her project "Data Visualization of China’s Digital Countryside and Its Historical Trajectory," which aims to provide a localized genealogy for the rise of interactive and networked visualizations for Big Data. 🔎If you would like to learn more about Yi's work, check out our website (link in bio). #core_rwth #rwthaachen #research #digitalization #visualization

📣 Call for Papers! Are you a doctoral student working on the the interrelations of digitalization of science and socio-cultural transformations? Then this open call is just right for you! Apply for the summer school “The impacts of digitalization on science and society in the quest for more sustainable futures” and discuss ways to achieve a more resilient future with international researchers. 🌍 The summer school is organized by the PRAXIS research group at the University of the Basque Country, @itas_kit , and the KHK c:o/re at @rwthaachenuniversity . 📍 Location: Miramar Palace, Donostia-San Sebastián 📅 Date: July 6-10, 2026 ⏰ Deadline Call for Papers: February 15, 2026 🔗More information on the summer school and application process can be found on our website (link in bio). #core_rwth #rwthaachen #research #digitalization #summerschool #technologyassessment #opencall

💫Meet our fellows! Ricky Wichum is a sociologist and historian of technology who works at the intersection of the history of technology and political sociology. His research focuses on the histories of (super-)computing, the rise of electronic government, and the securitization of social infrastructures. In his c:o/re project "How Philosophers and Sociologists Became Users of Social Networks. Towards a materialist communication history of the digital humanities (1980-2000)", he investigates how German philosophers and sociologists, in collaboration with the university computing center, developed a distinct knowledge space for communication and information exchange via scientific computer networks. 🔎If you would like to learn more about Ricky's work, check out our website (link in bio). #core_rwth #rwthaachen #research #digitalization #computerscience

💫In December, the art event “The Ambiguity of Sorting – How do technologies of separation bring us together?” took place at RWTH Aachen University. Featuring @sashabk , @brittonstudio , and @verena.friedrich , the event brought together installations, performances, and conversations to explore the categorization of intelligence, humans, and life, as well as how we live together in an age of constantly operating sorting algorithms. 🔎We asked the artists about their understanding of intelligence, algorithms, and technology as a tool for community building. You can now find a report about the event and the artists' statements in full on our blog. Take a look! (Link in bio.)

💫In December, the art event “The Ambiguity of Sorting – How do technologies of separation bring us together?” took place at RWTH Aachen University. Featuring @sashabk , @brittonstudio , and @verena.friedrich , the event brought together installations, performances, and conversations to explore the categorization of intelligence, humans, and life, as well as how we live together in an age of constantly operating sorting algorithms. 🔎We asked the artists about their understanding of intelligence, algorithms, and technology as a tool for community building. You can now find a report about the event and the artists' statements in full on our blog. Take a look! (Link in bio.)

💫In December, the art event “The Ambiguity of Sorting – How do technologies of separation bring us together?” took place at RWTH Aachen University. Featuring @sashabk , @brittonstudio , and @verena.friedrich , the event brought together installations, performances, and conversations to explore the categorization of intelligence, humans, and life, as well as how we live together in an age of constantly operating sorting algorithms. 🔎We asked the artists about their understanding of intelligence, algorithms, and technology as a tool for community building. You can now find a report about the event and the artists' statements in full on our blog. Take a look! (Link in bio.)