Long Night of Science
On October 25, 2025, the 12th Long Night of Science took place in Erlangen, Fürth, and Nuremberg. In front of the Audimax, Katrin Kinzelbach and Lars Lott from the Institute of Political Science informed visitors through an interactive exhibit on the topic of academic freedom. On the interactive multimedia table, visitors could explore the Academic Freedom Index for various countries and engage in conversation with the two researchers.
Additionally, Katrin Kinzelbach participated in the opening event for the Long Night of Science (in German) at the BR Studio Franken, where she took part in a panel discussion on the topic of academic freedom. The recording is available on BR.
In October, Lars Lott and Katrin Kinzelbach (both from FAU) published a peer-reviewed research article together with Staffan Lindberg (V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg) in the International Political Science Review. The article, titled “Can free academia withstand democratic backsliding? Why some universities wither while others survive” (Open Access), addresses the question of how resilient academia is to attacks.