Transcultural Student Research Group 2024

“Transcultural Perspectives on Sustainable Future(s)”

The Transcultural Student Research Group of the Transcultural Caravan Network at Zeppelin University is part of the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM for University Students –BWS plus, a program of the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung

  • Interested in thinking about and researching “Transcultural Perspectives on Sustainable Future(s)”?
  • Keen on cooperation with international peers? Interested in tackling the big challenges and opportunities of our times?
  • Motivated to become part of the “Transcultural Caravan Network” project and join an interdisciplinary group? 
  • Do you want to publish your first chapter in an international academic publication?

If you answered yes to at least two of these questions, we look forward to receiving your application! Please see the corresponding section in this document for further information on the application process.

Transcultural Student Research Group | TSRG 2023

What is the Transcultural Student Research Group about?

Since 2017, the Transcultural Caravan at the Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin | LEIZ (Zeppelin University – Germany) has been running Transcultural Student Research Groups | TSRGs. The research project is designed to provide opportunities to deepen knowledge on specific research topics and to have a genuine transcultural experience. Over the last seven years, more than a hundred participants from more than ten different countries have participated in the project.

Each year, the TSRG has a different regional and thematic focus (2017 Hybridity and Transculturality in Hong Kong; 2018 Transculturality and Community in Uganda; 2019 Relational Leadership in Brazil; 2020 Civil Society Cooperation in Europe; 2021 Impacts of the BRI on Europe; 2022 Partnerships for the SDGs in Southeast Asia, 2023 The Future(s) of Transcultural Leadership in Berlin, Germany).

In 2024, the focus is on Transcultural Perspectives on Sustainable Future(s).

How does the TSRG work?

The students involved in the project are divided into research groups based on common research interests. Each group works together on specific research questions that correlate with their disciplinary background and the TSRG’s overarching research topic in an academic co-authoring process over a year. Accordingly, the TSRG consists of several such transcultural groups that apply the common research theme to their respective case studies and disciplines. A team of experts will supervise the students throughout the process. In the end, the research results of each group will be published in a joint volume in the book series “Transcultural Management Series” (Metropolis Publisher):

For more information on the book publication, see https://www.metropolis-verlag.de/Reihen/Transcultural-Management-Series/catalog.do

For more information on the schedule, please refer to the time frame section of this document.

What does the TSRG offer to you?

  • A unique transcultural learning experience.
  • Research experience in an international team of students, professors, practice partners, and researchers.
  • Certificate of participation and record of work.
  • Up to 20 credits[1]
  • Publication of your first academic paper.
  • Possibility to write your BA or MA thesis within the project (depending on institution/supervisor).

Why a TSRG on “Transcultural Perspectives on Sustainable Future(s)”?

The future is unpredictable. The increasing complexity of global value creation, climate change, pandemics, wars, and many other factors radically challenge our way of living, cooperating, and leading. They undermine traditional visions of the future that we rely on to plan, feel secure, and gain the confidence to invest in tomorrow. Transcultural leadership and cooperation must take on the challenges of a VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), and actively shape the future by establishing new connections and developing commonalities across different cultures.

Topics for the sub-research projects 2024

The TSRG is an interdisciplinary project. The topic “Transcultural Perspectives on Sustainable Future(s)” can be explored from different angles, raising different research questions.

Participants interested in the following topics are welcome:

  • Economic and Corporate Perspectives: CSR, business ethics, business sustainability, green finance, global stakeholder management, sustainable reporting, UN global compact, compliance, circular economy.
  • International Regulations Perspectives: OECD guidelines, sustainability and human rights in the supply chain, SDGs, ILO (International Labour Organization), COP 2023 content analysis.
  • Political Perspectives: Climate change, environmental justice, net-zero policy, eco-friendly practices.
  • Social-Cultural Perspectives: Transcultural sustainability, eco-cultural restoration, decolonization of ecological knowledge, content analysis of the Transcultural Leadership Summit 2023, impacts on the health of unsustainable practices, social (in)justice.
  • Technological Perspective: Innovations for sustainable future(s), artificial intelligence and sustainable future(s).

Open topic: Do you have any different ideas on how to research “Transcultural Perspectives on Sustainable Future(s)”? Please feel free to submit your ideas. Different ideas will be evaluated.

Timeframe

  • Late February/Early March 2024: Kick-off and participant matching (online).
  • March – June 2024: Preparatory Phase (online).

Workshops related to different topics (e.g., Transcultural Cooperation, Research Methods, Sustainability, etc.).

  • Late July 2024: Research Trip to South Africa.
  • November 2024: A Weekly Online Transcultural Research School and Transcultural Leadership Summit at Zeppelin University.
  • February 2025: Submission of first drafts for the joint publication.

As for the TSRG 2024, the project will start in March. After a kick-off meeting, all selected participants of the TSRG 2024 from the different partner universities will be matched into transcultural groups. After the groups and the specific research questions have been determined, the participants will be prepared to conduct their research in a preparatory phase. The preparatory phase includes both thematic and methodological workshops. In addition, a workshop on transcultural competencies will provide participants with the necessary skills to work together across their cultural boundaries.

A research trip in late July 2024 to Pretoria (South Africa) will provide the opportunity to conduct field research and exchange views with local experts.

The initial results of the studies will be discussed during the online Transcultural Research School in November 2024. In addition to the preliminary results, the Transcultural Research School offers the opportunity to maintain dialogue and interaction both within one’s research group and between different groups. 

Metropolis Publisher will then publish the final research results in a joint book in the “Transcultural Management Series”.

Application

Interested students from all study programs are welcome and can apply for the TSRG 2023 (Deadline 18th Feb 2024). To apply for the Transcultural Student Research Group 2024, please send an emailto Jessica Schwengber (Jessica.Schwengber@zu.de) and Quratul Aan (Quratul.Aan@zu.de). Applicants should specify the topic of interest (political science, business/economic, socio-cultural or technological topic) for the research project they want to work on.

Team and Partners

The TSRG is a project by the Transcultural Caravan Network:

  • University of Łódź, Poland: www.uni.lodz.pl
  • Represented by Tomasz Kamiński
  • Vietnamese German University: www.vgu.edu.vn
  • Represented by Ngoc Lan Dang

Further impressions:

For further information

Contact

Quratul Aan

Project Manager of the Transcultural Caravan
Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin | LEIZ
quratul.aan@zu.de

Jessica Geraldo Schwengber

Research Fellow and Project Manager of the Transcultural Caravan
Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin | LEIZ
Phone +49 7541 6009 2265
jessica.schwengber@zu.de

[1] The number of credits is calculated according to how many credits Zeppelin University students who complete a curricular project within the TSRG can receive. Please note that the number of credits may vary from institution to institution and the official recognition of credits depends on the policies and procedures of the individual institutions.