Interview with Academy President Andrea Rapp

In an interview with hoch³, the newspaper of TU Darmstadt, Professor Andrea Rapp talks about her plans, the issues close to her heart, and the importance of dialogue between science and society.

Dear Ms. Rapp, congratulations on your election! What does your new role as Academy President mean to you personally?

It is a great responsibility, but also a great joy, with lots of opportunities and scope for creativity.

What priorities do you want to set during your term as Academy President? How do you want to develop the Academy—both internally and externally?

I think it's important to develop the Academy as a scholarly society and to make it clear that we offer open academic meeting places. The potential of Academy research, whose projects are selected in a highly competitive process and evaluated and monitored over the long term, should also become more visible in the scientific landscape, not least because it generates a large amount of quality-assured research data that will help shape the future of digital research approaches, at least in the humanities. Ensuring its long-term preservation is a major challenge, especially in terms of research policy. In addition, I am committed to promoting dialogue between science and society, particularly on key issues for the future such as sustainability, artificial intelligence, and digitization.

The Academy and TU Darmstadt have been working closely together for years, including through joint professorships. Do you plan to expand this collaboration further?

There is still great potential here: on the one hand, by establishing further joint professorships and long-term projects in addition to the three existing ones, and on the other hand, by jointly developing attractive job models for scientists and further improving science communication.

The Academy not only functions as a scholarly society, but also supports interdisciplinary research projects from various disciplines. Which topics or fields of research are particularly close to your heart?

These are, of course, topics from the fields of philology and medieval studies, and, across disciplines, digital humanities in all its forms. But beyond that, we should advocate for a fresh look at cultural heritage, i.e., in addition to the "classical canon," we should also make things like private letters, film music, or dialects visible through our research.

In your opinion, how can science be made more understandable and accessible to the general public? How can the academy help to strengthen public trust in science?

The exchange that takes place within the Academy across disciplinary and cultural boundaries is an exemplary demonstration of how constructive discourse can succeed. The WissKomm Academy also plays an important role here, combining training, events, transfer formats, and research on science communication.

QUESTIONS ASKED BY MICHAELA HÜTIG

Interview as PDF