During the ROOTS retreat, Professor Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University, pledged the full support of the University for the next ROOTS proposal. Photo: Jan Steffen, Cluster ROOTS

Last week, more than 90 members of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS at Kiel University met for an intensive two-day retreat to share scientific findings and engage in discussions regarding the future development of the interdisciplinary research on past human-environmental connectivity. In a highly constructive atmosphere, a special focus was dedicated on the visions for the next application phase within the Excellence Strategy of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Federal States. In late summer 2024, the proposal for a second funding phase of ROOTS has to be submitted. During the retreat there was broad consensus, not only among ROOTS members, that this second phase would be scientifically highly desirable. Professor Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University, pledged the full support of the University for the next proposal: "I sense great enthusiasm and commitment here for the research of the Cluster. These are very important prerequisites for a successful application. The University will support this process in the best possible way," she emphasized.

Before the discussions about the future started, however, the ROOTS members had looked back. All units of the Cluster of Excellence presented their scientific results. These included surprising new insights into the relationship between social inequality and violence in prehistoric societies, as well as fundamental new findings about the genetic basis of today's chronic inflammatory diseases in the Neolithic, or discoveries about how certain medieval economies on the North Sea coast destroyed their own natural foundations, to name but a few. The presentations enabled members from the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and life sciences to develop a common understanding of the cluster's current progress.

This served as the basis for the following, intense discussions around the roadmap to a successful application for ROOTS 2. "The two days were definitely challenging, but I found them to be very constructive and purposeful, too," says cluster speaker Johannes Müller, "so we were able to identify milestones that we need to achieve over the next months. Some great ideas for new innovative research perspectives were formulated. By fulfilling the aims of our first proposal, we also look into future perspectives that will enable us to expand questions about the past that are relevant to our present challenges.”

ROOTS speaker Johannes Müller opens the retreat. Photo: Jan Steffen, Cluster ROOTS

All units of the cluster present their scientific results. Photo: Jan Steffen, Cluster ROOTS


Small working groups discuss the results so far... Photo: Jan Steffen, Cluster ROOTS

And develop ideas for the next proposal based on them. Photo: Jan Steffen, Cluster ROOTS