Transregional Academies open up new networks and create temporary learning communities that enable research topics and questions to be tested in an international setting at an early stage of development. Up to 24 PhD students or postdocs and a steering group of up to six emerging and/or established researchers from different regional and disciplinary contexts are given the opportunity to discuss their ongoing research and specific questions in person over a period of about ten to twelve days. The academies follow a peer-to-peer principle; the respective academy program is developed in exchange with all participants via the Forum’s TrafoHub. Participating scholars can share their experiences here by discussing ongoing research projects and issues in a transregional context.

Ever since 1996 this model has been developed and tested in numerous Summer and Winter Academies by the Forum Transregionale Studien and its various research programs as well as their predecessors (AKMI Summer Academies and EUME Academies, Zukunftsphilologie Winter Schools and Prisma Ukraïna Academies). For many participants the Academies were pivotal steps in advancing and simultaneously promoting their research through international networking that resulted in numerous high profile publications and research projects. From 2013 to 2019, the Summer, Winter and Transregional Academies have been part of the cooperation between the Forum and the Max Weber Stiftung −  Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland (MWS).

In September 2022, an Academy incollaboration with the German Center for Art History, Paris, and the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome, was held in Bogotá, Colombia. Another Transregional Academy on Latin American Art was organized in May 2024 on the topic of "Contesting Objects: Sites, Narratives, Contexts". To date, the Forum Transregional Studies has organized academies in Beirut, Berlin, Berkeley, Bogotá, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Casablanca, Chennai, Delhi, Dnipro, Calcutta, Cape Town, Istanbul, Lima, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rabat, Rethymno, São Paulo, Singapore, Sofia and Tunis.

Travelling Academies are a modified version of a Transregional Academy the Forum organizes for the Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM).

Please visit our blog “Transregional Academies” for more information and the documentation of our Transregional Academies.