Individual challenges and opportunities

© WWU What does the corona pandemic mean for research? We take a look at the work being done in a Cluster of Excellence and a Collaborative Research Centre For the "Religion and Politics" Cluster of Excellence , in which more than 140 researchers from the Humanities and the Social Sciences are involved, the corona pandemic presents individual challenges - but, at the same time, opportunities too. "We're taking a flexible approach to this unprecedented situation," comments the Cluster's spokesman, lawyer Prof. Nils Jansen, who had to break off a research stay in Scotland. "What we particularly regret," he adds, "are the cancellations of a whole series of Cluster events with prestigious guests such as Blumenberg Professor and Egyptologist Jan Assmann, and the ethnologists Jean and John Comaroff from Harvard University - not to mention the talks we ourselves we due to give both at home and abroad." Junior researchers, who have to continue working on their qualifications, are struggling especially with the many restrictions. Dr. Felicity Jensz, a lecturer and mentor, is the contact person for PhD students at the Cluster of Excellence's Graduate School, and she knows just how critical the current situation is for many of them. "Anyone who needs to collect data, for example through visits to archives, can only complete their work after a long delay," she says. Fortunately, PhD student Arne Laßen, who is writing his thesis on Muslim practices in educational establishments, is not affected by the situation.