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21. October 2026

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21. October 2026
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KARLSPREIS

Since 1950, the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen has been awarded to individuals or institutions that have made significant contributions to European unity. Founded as a citizens' initiative in Aachen – the first German city liberated by the Allies after World War II – the aim was to honor efforts toward the unification and cohesion of the European continent.

Since then, the award and its laureates – from the founding fathers of Europe, through the hopeful visionaries and key players of integration, to those who played pivotal roles in East-West rapprochement, the builders of democratic institutions, and the crisis managers of our times – reflect the history and integration of post-war Europe. Past laureates include notable figures such as Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet, Jacques Delors, Simone Veil, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, António Guterres, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ursula von der Leyen and Mario Draghi in 2026. The award ceremony takes place on Ascension Day in the Coronation Hall of Aachen.

In the past decades, various events and activities have been developed and added to the prizes profile, conducted by the Charlemagne Prize Foundation. These include a broad public program preceding the award ceremony, the Charlemagne Youth Prize awarded together with the European Parliament to youth projects in all EU member states, as well as year-round commitments and publications. Since 2019, the Charlemagne Prize Academy supports and funds research projects on visionary topics on the future of Europe, with the aim to promote junior researchers all over Europe in the implementation of innovative ideas.

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KÄTE HAMBURGER KOLLEG: CULTURES OF RESEARCH (C:O/RE):

The Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (c:o/re) is an international Center for Advanced Study in philosophy, sociology and history of science and technology at RWTH Aachen University. Together with international scholars, it explores the changing research cultures of science and technology and develops a methodological approach to strengthen the integration of the various disciplines in science and technology studies. This takes place in a close exchange between the humanities and social sciences and the life, natural, technical and engineering sciences.

Embedded in one of the largest technical universities in Europe, the center fosters new forms of collaboration between disciplines, continually pushing the boundaries of the interdisciplinary, international learning community on advanced problems in science and technology studies.

By researching transformations in science, the center aims to develop innovative approaches to overcoming societal challenges and shaping the future. To this end, we intend to contribute to public discourse and encourage dialogue between different stakeholders.

The Käte Hamburger Kollegs are funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) within its framework program for the humanities and social sciences.

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RWTH AACHEN KNOWLEDGE HUB:

Knowledge Transfer to Society

How do we want to live? What kind of world do we want to leave to future generations? These are matters of crucial importance to humankind – matters that spur scientists worldwide to find sustainable solutions and turn acquired knowledge into innovations with help from strong partners from science, industry, politics, associations and, of course, society, so that we can all benefit from them in our everyday lives.

 

Building Trust with Transparent Research

In this increasingly complex modern world with countless information channels and multimedia omnipresence, it is crucial that we find reliable information. It is, however, becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the true from the untrue, the relevant from the irrelevant. How can trust in sound research and its findings be strengthened? Universities like RWTH have a special responsibility here. We need to share our expertise and transfer this knowledge to society in a way that transparently and accessibly reveals the work of our researchers. RWTH prides itself on being a modern university that gets actively involved in the social discourse by offering innovative and sustainable solutions – we assume responsibility.

 

Research Needs Societal Support

Since its foundation in 1870 as the “Königliche Rheinisch-Westphälische Polytechnische Schule,” RWTH Aachen University has generated an enormous amount of expertise and has continuously served our society with it. By establishing a Knowledge Hub, RWTH promotes knowledge transfer to society, draws attention to its research, and provides information about current research projects. In this way, anyone outside the University can also experience and benefit from RWTH’s knowledge and expertise.

 

The Knowledge Hub as a Measure of RWTH's Universities of Excellence Proposal

“RWTH's vision is to create a unique teaching and research environment where knowledge is created and transferred to the next generation of scientists, to industry, and to society. Solutions will be found that have a significant impact on today's and tomorrow's technological and scientific challenges.” Excerpt from RWTH's successful proposal to receive funding from the German federal and state governments for the third Universities of Excellence funding line, titled “The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Science and Technology. – Knowledge. Impact. Networks.”

 

The Knowledge Hub as a Part of Measure 8 “Stimulate Entrepreneurial Transfer”

“To promote knowledge transfer to society, the Knowledge Hub will serve as a new instrument for two-way communication between RWTH scientists, the public, and other target groups, such as the media, educational institutions, or political decision-makers. The Knowledge Hub will be an essential part of an open science and networking culture at RWTH Aachen University, enabling mutual exchange of ideas on projects with citizen participation.” The RWTH Knowledge Hub will be funded until 2026. In particular, it creates added value for so-called Living Labs as places for innovative research with the participation of civil society and various interest groups. However, for citizens to participate in RWTH research projects at all, and because they are interested in them at that, they must first become aware of the University’s research. This is precisely one of the tasks of the Knowledge Hub: to draw attention to ourselves.

 

The Knowledge hub's key topics

The RWTH Knowledge Hub focuses on a different topic each year, which we provide detailed information about.

Structural Change in the Rhenish Mining Area

https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/Die-RWTH/Exzellenzinitiative/Knowledge-Hub/~nlgwc/Der-Strukturwandel-im-Rheinischen-Revier/lidx/1/

 

Focusing on Green Technology

https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/Die-RWTH/Exzellenzinitiative/Knowledge-Hub/~vcgiu/Schwerpunktthema-Green-Technology/lidx/1/

 

Freedom

https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/Die-RWTH/Exzellenzinitiative/Knowledge-Hub/~bhlyzk/Schwerpunktthema-Freiheit/lidx/1/

 

Freedom

We present the content of our key topics to a broad public in several events and campaigns.

As part of this year's focus topic "Freedom", these were or are:
https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/die-rwth/exzellenzinitiative/knowledge-hub/schwerpunktthema-freiheit/~bhoxcl/veranstaltungen/?lidx=1

 

Audio short format "To the point – Know more from the RWTH”

As part of the Knowledge Hub, the Department 3.0 – Press and Communication has installed the short audio format "To the point – Know more in 240 Seconds”, which is dedicated to a new topic on average every six to eight weeks in short, concise and generally understandable audio contributions, to which experts from RWTH Aachen University contribute their research and make it accessible to a broad audience – by no means just people from the university.

With episode 10 "Freedom" we have changed the name a little: "To the point – Know more from the RWTH”.

The first ten episodes so far have covered topics such as the circular economy, clean energy for Germany, artificial intelligence, the shortage of engineers in Germany and internationalization at RWTH.