Excellent research across borders

On January 25th, 2018, Chemnitz University researcher Anne-Coralie Bonnaire received a Jury’s Prize from the Franco-German University and the Robert Bosch Foundation for her binational doctoral thesis

International award for Chemnitz University scientist: Anne-Coralie Bonnaire, scientific researcher in the “Academic integration” project of the Junior Professorship for Intercultural Competence (Junior Professor Gala Rebane), received an honorary award from the Franco-German University (FGU) for her comparative doctoral thesis on January 25^th, 2018. The award was donated by the Robert Bosch Foundation and presented in the residence of the German ambassador in Paris. A total of ten excellence awards endowed with 1.500 euros, three doctoral thesis awards endowed with 4.500 euros, and an “Honorary Award of the Jury” for PhDs, endowed with 500 euros, were presented. Funding for these awards comes from a variety of industries.

In her research, the communication and media scientist deals with “L’image de l’Europe dans les télévisions régionales” or “The EU Image in Regional Television News Programmes”, focusing on the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (Central German Broadcasting, MDR) in Germany and the French broadcaster France 3 Nord-Pas-de-Calais and France 3 Picardie. “Throughout my entire academic career I have studied across European borders and I also see myself as being European more than anything else. Thus, it was obvious that I would work in a comparative way in the frame of a binational research and doctoral thesis”, explains Bonnaire of her motivation.

The Chemnitz University researcher wrote her doctoral thesis as a French-German binational cooperation, a so-called “Cotutelle de thèse”. Bonnaire was supervised in her research work by Leipzig Prof. Rüdiger Steinmetz and by Gilles Rouet from Université Paris Descartes/Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. “I see this award as an appreciation of my work and an affirmation of my scientific evolution. I hope my work and the award will encourage future young scientists in Chemnitz to follow this international path”, says the Chemnitz University communication and media scientist.

Background: ESF project “Academic integration”

Since May 2016, Anne-Coralie Bonnaire is an academic staff member of the project “Academic Integration of International Students” funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). The ESF project is conducted by the Junior Professorship for Intercultural Competence, aiming at a closer cooperation and a broad range of study-related offers for and in response to the increasing number of international students at Chemnitz University. Bonnaire and her colleagues work to ensure academic success of international students and enhance their awareness of the academic culture at the university, thus increasing the attractiveness of Chemnitz University as a research and knowledge center and enriching the academic life at the university. Language, organization, and scientific cultures are explored and better understood through intercultural workshops for students and teachers, with the goal of taking down possible barriers to learning. “I have always carried the challenges and questions of an international student with me, thus this project is a matter close to my heart”, said Bonnaire about the integration project at Chemnitz University.

(Translation: Alissa Hölzel)

Matthias Fejes
14.02.2018

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