CSMC News (2026)

Researchers from the Ajami Lab have continued their work on the Jos Museum manuscript collection deposited at the Kaduna Museum in Nigeria. This February, they established cataloguing and research procedures for identifying Ajami, and reviewed conservation principles relevant to the entire collection.

A new episode of the popular science programme on ZDF is devoted to ‘magical symbols’ and their deciphering. Several researchers from the CSMC are featured in it.

Congratulations to Stephan Seifert! The UWA researcher recently completed his tenure process and will take up a regular professorship in the Department of Chemistry on 1 March.

The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS) at the University of Pennsylvania and the CSMC are launching a new joint fellowship that gives researchers the chance to work intensively with manuscript collections in both Philadelphia and Hamburg.

The application period for our international Master’s programme ‘Manuscript Cultures’ has started and runs until 31 March. The programme begins in October and is now, for the first time, offered as a two-year course.

The latest volume of ‘Digital Kartvelology’, an open‑access journal devoted to digital approaches in Georgian studies, features several contributions by CSMC researchers. Using a range of methodological tools, they illuminate various aspects of early literacy and textual production in the Caucasus.

The estates of German-Jewish intellectuals held at the National Library of Israel bear wit-ness to the migration of people and archives in a turbulent era. In a new online exhibition, developed jointly by CSMC and IGdJ, visitors can follow some of these intricate paths.

The position is part-time (50% of standard work hours per week) and fixed-term, with a duration of four and a half years. Applications can be submitted until 13 February.

The Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts (UWA) is the backbone of the CSMC. Following its success in the DFG’s Excellence Competition in 2025, it will continue for at least another seven years. With numerous new colleagues, UWA has now entered its second phase.

Congratulations to Marlen Börngen on defending her doctoral dissertation and completing her PhD in Archaeometry! The viva voce examination took place on 19 January 2026.