Research with focus on Costa Rica

At the end of November 2025, Alice Brenes Maykall from the Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Costa Rica visited the University of Osnabrück. Among other things, she gave a presentation at the Winter Forum of the Costa Rica Center—the annual closing event at which the research unit's most important achievements and future prospects are presented and discussed. In addition, there were meetings with several authorities and various academic colleagues who are interested to get involved in the Third Mission - University Extension with Social Transformation (Extensión Universitaria con Transformación Social). She noticed that people are willing to seek and find opportunities to continue working together toward common goals for mutual benefit. There are many theories, methods, tools, and practices that can be shared and learned from each other (UOS-CONARE). The aim is to define concrete measures for the exchange of knowledge in order to achieve benefits.

The trip was funded by the Sievert Foundation for Science and Culture.

The trip to Costa Rica offered Prof. Schlünder and Dr. Siebert from the Institute of Romance Studies various opportunities for academic and personal exchange, as well as an important foundation for future projects:
In Heredia, they were able to participate in and organize a symposium. During this symposium, there was an enriching exchange on different approaches to Enlightenment research, particularly on perspectives on the Central American Enlightenment. During a networking meeting, plans were made for the further development of the project on “Ambivalence and Modernity(ies).” They accepted an invitation to give lectures at the University of Costa Rica, with their own contributions, and enjoyed an interesting exchange with students. Before their departure, they participated in an interdisciplinary colloquium and a Costa Rican-German project initiative.

The trip was funded by the Sievert Foundation for Science and Culture.

As part of her research project, Juliana Robbert (Institute of Empirical Economic Research) visited the Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Económicas (IICE) at the University of Costa Rica. She wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the institutional context of the CRC-USD market in order to improve the interpretation of the results of a previous data set analysis containing information on the daily purchase and sale prices of one US dollar (USD) in Costa Rican currency (CRC).
She had the opportunity to present her preliminary findings to several researchers at the university and the central bank and to benefit from their expertise, in particular through additional insights into the data basis and the market.

The trip was funded by the Sievert Foundation for Science and Culture.

In early September 2025, Sonja Schulze (Strategic Controlling) and Prof. Dr. Kai Kühnberger, Vice President for Research, Social Dialogue and Transfer, participated as a delegation from the University of Osnabrück in an intensive visit and exchange program in San José, Costa Rica, which focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in research and higher education between Costa Rica and Germany. In addition to attending the conference, the trip also included visits to institutions and working meetings. The aim was to deepen existing cooperative relationships, identify new areas of collaboration, and develop strategic perspectives for joint projects in the fields of research, digital transformation, open science/research information systems, social transfer, and innovation-oriented university development.

The trip was funded by the Sievert Foundation for Science and Culture.

In mid-March, a delegation led by Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow, Vice President for International Affairs, traveled to Costa Rica. She was accompanied by Malte Paolo Benjamins, Head of the International Office, and Dr. Esteban Durán Delgado, Head of the Costa Rica Center. The aim of the trip was to learn about the experiences of Costa Rican partner universities with regard to social dialogue and to derive starting points for synergies and transferable models for the further development of corresponding structures.
After a meeting with representatives of the host university and the German Embassy in Costa Rica, the program included visits to projects on social expansion and social engagement at all partner universities in various regions. All projects reflected the specific local conditions.

The trip was sponsored by the Sievert Foundation for Science and Culture

Dennis Wilke (Department of Geography) started his stay with various meetings to exchange ideas and prepare for the upcoming field phase. From February to March, he conducted interviews with 28 ASADAs in coastal and mountainous regions of the cantons of Hojancha, Nicoya, Santa Cruz and Carrillo, with a wide range of experiences. Particularly revealing were reports on institutional hurdles that make it difficult to take rapid action to secure the water supply in emergency situations. He also took part in the final event of the CRLiveDiverse project to present the results of his project and was involved in the organization of the major excursion for geography didactics. Together with 20 students, they dealt intensively with the potential and challenges of ecotourism approaches during the excursion.

Thanks to funding from the Sievert Foundation for Science and Culture, it was possible to finance part of the trip.