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Visiting Fellows 2016 (from left to right): Tomasz Hen-Konarski, Sergiu Delcea, Elena Mitrea und Vedran Bileta. Photo by Thomas Abel/BGHS

The BGHS was proud to host Vedran Bileta, Sergiu Delcea, Tomasz Hen-Konarski und Elena Mitrea as Visiting Fellows in Summer Term 2016. The doctoral researchers from Croatia, Poland and Romania used their time in Bielefeld to work intensively on their dissertations. In addition to the grant they were given, each had an office space and access to the BGHS infrastructure. During the Summer Term, the Fellows took part in the BGHS study programme and presented their research projects at Bielefeld University and the BGHS. These presentations gave them the opportunity to come in contact with professors and doctoral researchers at the BGHS and build up academic networks.

Meet the Fellows

A novelty in this year's Visiting Fellow programme was the colloquium Meet the Fellows, where the four guests presented their research projects to the BGHS community. In addition to doctoral researchers professors from the department of history and the faculty of sociology also took part in the event. They had been informed by the BGHS office in advance about the guests and their research and showed much interest in their research projects. "It was very important for us to support our international guests in their efforts to network at the Faculty of Sociology and the Department of History with experts who work at matching research topics" says BGHS coordinator Dr. Miriam Kanne, responsible for the management of members and the Visiting Fellows. She was happy that she could interest the professors in the guests and their research projects. "The exchange with the professors is a must for our international guests. The exchange with experts at Bielefeld University would be, next to the BGHS programme and the exchanges with other young researchers, an important reason why doctoral researchers from around the world would apply for a Visiting Fellowship at the BGHS", Miriam Kanne adds.

Sergiu Delcea, a trained sociologist and economist at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, who is working on a dissertation with the topic Pro-urban welfare in agricultural countries? Economic Nationalism and the Origins of Welfare States in Central and Eastern Europe – Romania and Hungary compared highlights this aspect: ”During my stay I was in contact with Professor Lutz Leisering (Faculty of Sociology) and his team. They were more welcoming than I initially hoped for – I met Prof. Leisering at the BGHS Colloquium Meet the Fellows and immediately we had a very long and insightful consultation. He was also kind enough to find me a spot to present in one of his PhD seminars which was immensely rewarding. In addition to E-Mail contact, we also had a further consultation in the final days of my stay at the BGHS and we discussed progress and avenues forward.”

Tomasz Hen-Konarski, who is working on a dissertation with the topic Cossacks and Gauchos: Symbolical Representations of Unrestrained Masculinity in the Politics of the Nineteenth-Century River Plate and Ukraine, has also very good impressions from his stay at the BGHS and has established new networks. In addition to a seminar on the theory of history he participated in various conferences at the university. There he came in contact with professors of sociology, history and literature. And of course he met his colleagues at the BGHS ”really interesting PhD students“, as he says.

Not did only the stay of the four visiting fellows at the BGHS advance the academic exchange but it also contributed to the social and cultural exchange with the BGHS members thus promoting international dialogue. After a fruitful period of hard work and exciting experiences, some of the Visiting Fellows sadly said goodbye to the BGHS and returned to their universities at the end of July, where they continued to work on their dissertations and academic careers.

New destinations

After his stay at the BGHS, Sergiu Delcea continues with a new fellowship at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. There he wants to deepen some economic aspects of his research. As a conclusion of his stay at the BGHS he sums up:"When I started this Fellowship I came in with some pretty old-fashioned notions about the research centric spirit of German academia (this is the international myth), which to me personally sounded like a very welcome change of pace from Central European University (CEU) and its hybrid style between continental and American ethos. I’m happy to say the BGHS took the best of the myth, but also turned out to be something even better. When I look back, the time as Visiting Fellow at the BGHS was a unique experience that really goes above and beyond what can be found in traditional university departments.“

Further information

For further information on the Visiting Fellows, the Visiting-Fellow-Programme 2009 and the Visiting Fellowship Programme in general please see: