Since 1994, the Leibniz Professorship has been awarded each semester to renowned international researchers and is one of the highest honors our university bestows.
Leibniz-Professorin im Wintersemster 2022/23 Lori Beaman
Welcome Lori Beaman!
We are very pleased to welcome Lori Beaman as a new Leibniz Professor at the University of Leipzig in the winter semester 2022/23!
Lori G. Beaman is the Canada Research Chair in Religious Diversity and Social Change, and a professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. She is without doubt one of the most renowned scholars on issues of religious and cultural diversity and related conflicts and negotiation processes worldwide. Beaman has repeatedly related these issues to questions of law, the lives of migrants, secularization, and gender relations.
Recently, she has also been dealing with questions of religiousness and secularity, which she considers in the field of tension with religious and cultural diversity. Her primary research interest is examining how nonreligious and religious people can coexist in an increasingly diverse and complex world. This interest forms the focus of her current research project, entitled Nonreligion in a Complex Future. She also directed the Religion and Diversity Project (2010-2017). She is the recipient of the 2017 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Impact Award in the Insight Category and holds an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University. She also received the 2017-2018 University of Ottawa Award for Excellence in Research.
Our Future Leibniz Professors:
Information about Leibniz Professorship Appointments
The Leibniz Professorship is for a W3 visiting professor who conducts interdisciplinary research and teaches classes for students and doctoral researchers. The aim is to stimulate partnerships, creating a foundation for academic innovation. We also hope to gain new ideas and input for the training of early career researchers. We would like to attract internationally renowned academics and researchers, primarily from countries outside Germany.
Preference will be given to researchers who contribute to research areas, research approaches and/or academic discourses that are not represented in Leipzig. The candidate must be proficient in one of the most widely used academic languages (English, German or French). We especially welcome nominations for outstanding researchers who are female and/or from outside Europe and the US as these minorities have to date been underrepresented in the Leibniz Professorship Programme.
The teaching hours are limited to four semester hours per week. We expect the Leibniz Professor to participate in the training of doctoral researchers at the host institution or the Graduate Academy Leipzig by giving lectures, workshops, and/or colloquia, leading field trips, and/or teaching at the summer or winter school. At the beginning of the semester, the Leibniz Professor holds an inaugural lecture that is open to all university members. We also offer a Science Café, where the Leibniz Professor discusses a topic with selected guests in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. University members are invited to attend.
Proposals for the Leibniz Professorship should be made well in advance of the appointment (the current waiting period is roughly three years from time of application to appointment) and can be submitted by any professor at Leipzig University. Representatives of the research areas and the major research alliances at Leipzig University are particularly encouraged to submit proposals. The Rectorate awards the professorship based on the recommendation of the Research Commission.
Proposals should include the following information:
- justification of the proposal and expectations
- academic career
- current research areas and the connection to research in Leipzig
- planned contribution to the doctoral programmes at Leipzig University
- outstanding academic achievements
- references to existing partnerships
- list of publications
- indication of preferred semester
The selection criteria include the following:
- compelling teaching approach and research objectives
- connection to the research profile areas and research foci at Leipzig University or to current events
- added value for doctoral programmes at the Graduate Academy Leipzig
- long-term benefits
Please send proposals to:
