Es war BritInn eine große Ehre, Botschafter a.D. und Buchautor Leigh Turner als Gast in Innsbruck begrüßen zu dürfen!
Botschafter Turner hat in seinem Gastvortrag zum Thema „Diplomatie im Gepäck: 12 Lektionen aus 42 Jahren“ nicht nur aus seiner spannenden und langjährigen diplomatischen Karriere berichtet, sondern auch von seiner zweiten Karriere als Krimi- und Thriller-Autor. Der Abend wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Institut für Politikwissenschaft organisiert und von Prof. Martin Senn moderiert.

​Geboren und aufgewachsen ist Leigh Turner in Südafrika, dann folgte die Schulzeit in Manchester und an der University of Cambridge. Nach Stationen in Wien, Moskau, Kiew, Berlin, Hong Kong, Vladivostok, Miami, Buenos Aires, Bejing, und Istanbul, war Turner von 2016 bis zu seiner Pensionierung britischer Botschafter in Österreich. Er erlebte zahlreiche historische Wendepunkte wie den Fall des Eisernen Vorhangs, die Abtretung von Hongkong an China, die Revolution in der Ukraine, den Brexit etc. hautnah und im Zentrum des jeweiligen Geschehens mit und gab angehenden Diplomaten Tipps und Lektionen mit auf den Weg.
​Interessant waren natürlich seine Einschätzungen zur aktuellen Lage in der Ukraine, der Kriegspolitik Wladimir Putins und der Lage Großbritanniens seit dem Brexit.

Ein großes Danke an Leigh Turner für den spannenden Vortrag und natürlich auch an die Kollegen vom Institut für Politikwissenschaft für die tolle Zusammenarbeit!

Hier der Link zum Podcast für alle, die den Beitrag noch anhören wollen:
Podcast 14: Diplomatie im Gepäck - 12 Lektionen aus 42 Jahren

Livestream unter: https://webconference.uibk.ac.at/b/tho-ws0-m7m-m33

Moderation: assoz. Prof. Dr. Martin Senn
Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Universität Innsbruck

Vortragender: Leigh Turner, ehemaliger Britischer Botschafter in der Urkaine und Österreich, Schriftsteller

Leigh Turner, ehemaliger Botschafter in der Ukraine (2008-2012) und in Österreich (2016-2021), wuchs in Nigeria, Lesotho, Swaziland und Machester (UK) auf. Er studierte an der University of Cambridge. Turner ist Autor mehrerer Fiction-Bücher.

Zum Vortrag:
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​Leigh Turner wird über seine Karriere sprechen, den Beruf des Diplomaten, der ihn in 42 Jahren von Wien, Moskau, Kiew, Berlin, Hong Kong, Vladivostok, Miami, Buenos Aires, Bejing, Istanbul bis nach Las Vegas geführt hat und von seiner zweiten Karriere als Schriftsteller. Dabei erklärt er, wie seine Arbeit als Diplomat sein Schreiben beeinflusst hat und was einen guten Diplomaten ausmacht. Im Anschluss an den Vortrag steht Leigh Turner für Fragen und zur Signierung seiner Bücher zur Verfügung. ​

Zum Blog:

https://rleighturner.com/my-readings-in-march-and-may-2022/

Die Veranstaltung findet nach den gültigen Corona-Regelungen statt. Stand 16.3.2022:
​Einlass mit 3G Nachweis und FFP2 Maske.

Dr. Davide Gerna visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in January 2022, to work on his research project "Targeting the structural properties of bread wheat seeds to understand their fate during early germination".
​Dr. Gerna's research activities in collaboration with the host group "Seed and Stress Biology" were integrated in the frame of a broader Early-Stage-Funding Project. 
​Additionally, he held a guest lecture with the title "Does oxygen affect seed ageing mechanisms? A matter of cytoplasmic physical state", where he summarised a recently published paper. Due to the pandemic, the live lecture was held with restricted in-presence-audience. Nonetheless, Dr. Gerna stated that a lively discussion on current and future collaborations followed.
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Read the full report here:
BritInn Fellow Report

Dr. Jonathan Singerton from the Department of History and European Ethnology at the University of Innsbruck, visited his research colleagues at the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge from 25 October until 5 November 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the original schedule of his visit to be delayed, but fortunately Dr. Singerton was able to travel to Cambridge and work on his project "New Perspectives on Eighteenth-Century Habsburg History".

The goal of his research visit was to present a paper at the Cambridge New Habsburg History seminar run by Prof. Joachim Whaley, Dr. William O’Reilly, and Dr. Janine Maegraith. "The network exists as a forum to facilitate the cutting-edge research on the history of the Habsburg monarchy and is frequented by a strong cadre of central European and German historians at Cambridge" says Singerton. He explained that his paper focused on a novel approach to the history of the Habsburg Monarchy via the effects of the American Revolution.

Dr. Singerton also held a talk on "The Importance of the American Revolution for the Habsburg Monarchy" at the University of Cambridge. In this talk, he argued that the Revolution’s significant lay not only in its widespread influence within central Europe but also in its invitation to recast Habsburg history from a wider, transatlantic and even global dimension.
The paper as well as his talk were well received with fruitful discussions occurring during and after the seminar.

BritInn was pleased to support Dr. Singerton's research visit and is looking foward to the International conference hosted at the University of Innsbruck in May 2022, where Habsburg history will be reconceptualized from a global perspective and Dr. O'Reilly as well as other members of his team will be in attendance.

BritInn Fellow Report

It was our pleasure to welcome Dr. Martin C. Schleper from the Department of Management, Business School, University of Sussex to the University of Innsbruck as the first BritInn Incoming Fellow since March 2020!

Dr. Schleper was hosted by Prof. Andreas Eckhardt and his team from the Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management​ at the University of Innsbruck.
During his stay, Dr. Schleper presented an overview of topics around responsibility transcendence in supply chain management, with a strong focus on the topic of conflict minerals. Following the talk, the audience, consisting of faculty members and PhD students, lively discussed different approaches to ethical supply chain management and operational and perspectives on conflict materials. Several faculty members were keen on discussing more detailed questions about potential collaborations.

Additionally, Dr. Schleper and Prof. Eckhardt had the opportunity to move forward with their joint research project "Between caring and denying - The role of conflict minerals and unfair working conditions for technology use". Inspired by Dr. Martin Schleper's talk on "Transcending Corporate Responsibility? The Context of Conflict Minerals" they decided to further study consumers’ awareness and denial with regard to the use of conflict minerals, which are important raw materials for the production of IT devices. "Although it has been shown that these conflict minerals are mined under inhumane conditions, consumers do not seem to care about this issue." says Prof. Eckhardt. Thus, they are planning on developing an empirical study to investigate the underlying reasons for consumers' attitude and behavior. 

BritInn was delighted to have Dr. Schleper here in Innsbruck and is excited for future projects in this research area!

BritInn Fellow Report

From October 25 until October 28, 2021, Prof. Susanne Augenhofer from the Department of Business Law at the University of Innsbruck travelled to Oxford. There, she met with colleagues from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford.

Prof. Augenhofer first met with Prof. Adams-Prassl to discuss their joint research interests. They were working on developing a conceptual framework for access to justice and compare the situation in the European Union – with Austria as an example for detailed review – and the United Kingdom, using the United States as a reference country. They also examined how access to justice can be improved through digital means. 
Prof. Augenhofer was invited to join a dinner with colleagues at Magdalens College which provided for "an interesting insight into college life at Oxford" as she said.

On October 27, she gave a guest lecture on "Access to Justice in the Digital Age" at the European Law Discussion Group which took place as a hybrid event. Three PdD students had been in charge of the organization of the lecture and hence, Prof. Augenhofer had the opportunity to engage with students in Oxford too. After the talk, she had the chance to catch up with Prof. Hugh Beale, one of the “fathers” of European Private Law.

As for future plans, Prof. Augenhofer and Prof. Adams-Prassl plan a research visit to the University of Innsbruck in spring 2022. Furthermore, Prof. Augenhofer wants to return to the University of Oxford for a longer period in fall 2022.

BritInn Fellow Report​

In the Winter Semester 2021/22, research visits to the UK are finally resuming.

BritInn Fellow Dr. Thomas Scheuerl from the Institute for Limnology, Mondsee, at the University of Innsbruck travelled to Oxford to work on a research project with colleagues at the University of Oxford, in September 2021.

Dr. Scheuerl is working on a very interesting ongoing project, which explores how complex bacterial communities evolve. A first part of this research project has already been published, but in order to  push ahead with his research, Dr. Scheuerl met with Prof. Barraclough from the Department of Zoology at the  University of Oxford. Prof. Barraclough is a leading expert in microbial community evolution and the two researchers used the time to discuss Dr. Scheuerl's recent findings. Together they analysed data, discussed new approaches and identified a list of 12 major tasks, which is supposed to result in a joint research paper in the upcoming months.
Moreover, Dr. Scheuerl met with other colleagues at the Department of Zoology as well as an interested PhD student who approached Dr. Scheuerl during his visit at the University of Oxford.

Unfortunately, the guest lecture was only held in front of a small audience, due to the Covid-19 regulations, but apart from that Dr. Scheuerl's research visit took place as planned. He said his stay at the University of Oxford was a great success and BritInn is happy that the first BritInn Fellowship to the UK took place after a long time of postponements.

​It was our great pleasure to meet up with Charge d'Affairs Nerys Jones!

​Since Ambassador Leigh Turner has retired from his position at the British Embassy Vienna, Ms Nerys Jones was appointed to his successor.
This week, the bilateral Charge d'Affairs Jones visited Innsbruck and held several meetings in the Tyrolean capital including a talk with BritInn and the head of the International Services at the University of Innsbruck, Dr. Barbara Tasser.
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Current developments and changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic in academic exchange and scientific cooperation between universities and research institutions and the University of Innsbruck were discussed. Ms Jones was happy to hear that after a pause due to Covid-19, exchange programmes are now up and running again with several projects starting over the next couple of months.

The European Journal of English Studies published a special issue on “Brexit and Academia” in May 2021. The editors Prof. Sibylle Baumbach and Prof. Andreas Mauer, are proud to present this special edition, which puts a focus on Brexit and its impact on the academic world, highlighting some key challenges and new developments.
After a brief overview of the current state of the withdrawal and the trade agreements, eight authors reflect upon the consequences of Brexit on transnational research, academic mobility, and research funding.
The authors agree that “collaboration and academic exchange will continue after Brexit, but these collaborative links will need support and appropriate funding from the institutions involved. Though Brexit is immanent, there are still many uncertainties regarding the future of academic cooperation between EU countries and keep-calm-and-carry-on Britain.”
If you are interested in reading more about the possible short- and long-term implications of Brexit on academia and the relationship between British and EU universities, read the articles here: 

Full article: Brexit and academia: a satyr play where exit prevails voice

BritInn wants to congratulate the contributors: Brian Foster, Stefan Zotti, Monika Meislova, Calvin Duggan, Veronika Riedl, Helmut Staubmann, Maximilian Höller and Gabriel Popham for their excellent work.
Special thanks go to the editors, Prof. Sibylle Baumbach and Prof. Andreas Mauer, for their hard work in finalizing this special issue.