The Forum Transregionale Studien was founded in 2009 in the form of a registered association seated in Berlin (statute of association). It was found on the grounds of recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) and the Berliner Wissenschaftskommission (Berlin Commission of Science and Humanities) to establish a forum for transregional studies (both 2006) as well as an internationalization strategy for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung/BMBF) (2008). The founding of the Forum was part of the Berlin Senate program “Wissen schafft Berlins Zukunft” (2008-2001).
The Forum began its work in 2010 by sponsoring research programs in the areas of philology, jurisprudence, and urban sociology. Since 2021 the Forum has received institutional funding by the Land of Berlin.
At present, the Forum hosts the following research programs:
Europe in the Middle East—The Middle East in Europe (EUME),
Prisma Ukraïna – Research Network Eastern Europe,
re:constitution – Exchange and Analysis on Democracy and the Rule of Law in Europe.
Zukunftsphilologie: Revisiting the Canons of Textual Scholarship and
4A Laboratory: Art Histories, Archaeology, Anthropologies, Aesthetics (4A_Lab)
are associated programs that were established at the Forum and are now being continued at universities, research institutions or museums.
The Forum is involved in initiatives together with partner institutions and consortia. Initiatives are institutional partnerships in which specific competencies and experiences are bundled or brought together for a project. It is a founding member of
Academy in Exile, the
Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), and the initiative
Europäische Zeiten / European Times – A Transregional Approach to the Societies of Central and Eastern Europe (EUTIM)
The Forum is led by a four-member Board consisting of Sérgio Costa (Professor of Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin), Andreas Eckert, (Professor of African Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Barbara Mittler (Professor of Sinology, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg), and Friederike Pannewick (Professor for Arabic Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg).
The office is headed by Georges Khalil, the Forum's Managing Director. In the field of communication, the Forum cooperates with the Max Weber Foundation – German Humanities Institutes Abroad.
The Forum receives institutional funding by the Land of Berlin. The research programs of the Forum have been funded by various institutions and foundations. EUME is sponsored by a foundation, and re:constitution by the Stiftung Mercator. Prisma Ukraïna is funded by the Land of Berlin in the shape of an interdisciplinary research network. Academy in Exile is a sponsored project of the Volkswagen Foundation, the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) and the reseacrh college Europäische Zeiten / European Times – A Transregional Approach to the Societies of Central and Eastern Europe (EUTIM) are funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Fellowships of the programs are furthermore funded by the Alexander von Humboldt, Fritz Thyssen, Gerda Henkel, Möllgaard, Volkswagen and Zeit Foundations, the Philipp-Schwartz-Initiative as well as the Doha Center, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.
