Prof. Dr. Jana Hönke, Chair for Sociology in Africa at the University of Bayreuth, has been appointed to the board of the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF). PD Dr. Julia Eichenberg (Institute for Franconian Regional History, Thurnau) will represent the University of Bayreuth on the steering committee of the Bavarian Science Alliance for Peace, Conflict, and Security Research (FoKS). These appointments increase the visibility and influence of the University of Bayreuth, following its recent launch of the Conflict, Crisis, and Change (C3) Research Center, in German peace and conflict studies.
Prof. Dr. Jana Hönke researches the many forms of governance and the conflicts that arise in the interplay of states, corporations, and civil society. Her projects focus especially on how security is produced in the Sahel, how arms manufacturers can be held accountable, and what influence African climate activists exert. Prof. Hönke is also an expert on the role of China and other rising powers in Africa.
Jana Hönke now brings this expertise to the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF) as a new board member. The DSF, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, supports peace and conflict research in Germany. It has already provided more than €25 million for around 500 projects and conferences, promoting innovative research as well as practice‑oriented insights. “I am looking forward to helping shape the foundation’s important work and its funding strategy in these challenging times”, said Jana Hönke about her new position.
PD Dr. Julia Eichenberg, a historian of modern European history, studies how war and violence transformed everyday life and what strategies – law, diplomacy, and international cooperation – are used to contain conflicts. She is one of the principal investigators within the regional network “Conflicts.Meanings.Transitions” and an active member of the Working Group on Historical Peace and Conflict Research (AKHF).
Julia Eichenberg will represent the University of Bayreuth on the steering committee of the Bavarian Science Alliance for Peace, Conflict, and Security Research (FoKS). Succeeding Jana Hönke, she will contribute to further develop the alliance, which brings together the interdisciplinary expertise of Bavarian research institutions on peace, conflict, and security issues. In a time of geopolitical shifts, the aim is to develop scholarly perspectives and policy solutions through dialogue with decisionmakers.
“With FoKS, an important platform has been created to make peace, conflict, and security research at Bavarian universities more visible and to strengthen the voice of science in current debates. I am very pleased to be able to contribute to this interdisciplinary exchange as a representative of the University of Bayreuth and as a historian,” says Julia Eichenberg.
Furthermore, Jana Hönke was recently elected director and Julia Eichenberg a board member of the new Conflict, Crisis, and Change (C3) Research Center at the University of Bayreuth. The interdisciplinary C3 research center promotes academic collaboration and teaching in peace and conflict studies on site and provides guidance for policymakers and the public through formats like the Bayreuth Peace Talks. It also aims to develop a specific regionally-informed approach to peace and conflict research by closely collaborating with Bayreuth’s African studies expertise at the Forschungszentrum Afrika (FZA).
(Source: University of Bayreuth, Press Release No. 043/2026, 11 June 2026)
Photos: Jana Hönke (©UBT/J. Rennecke), Julia Eichenberg (©Niklas Reinhart)
