Research & Teaching Cooperation
heiCOLLECTIONS Initiative
The initiative is a joint project of Heidelberg University Library, the Vice-Rectorate for Innovation and Transfer (within the framework of the heiCOLLECTIONS project), and the flagship initiative “Transforming Cultural Heritage” (FI TCH). Its aim is the systematic digitization of Heidelberg University’s collections, the expansion of the existing online portal, and the development of innovative formats for mediation and transfer.
At the centre is the creation of an open, sustainable research and teaching infrastructure that significantly expands access to the university collections. Alongside the digital recording of collection objects, historical accession and inventory books are also being digitized according to DFG standards and made accessible through the heiCOLLECTIONS-Documents module. In the future, the central heiCOLLECTIONS portal will bring together all digital resources, objects, documents, search functions, and the website “Collections and Museums” under a unified, user-friendly interface.
A central element of the project is the development and implementation of innovative transfer formats that expand access to the university collections and build a bridge between research, the public, and digital mediation. In addition to the planned interactive media installation “heiCOLLECTIONS im Audimax,” which links physical and digital spaces and enables intuitive exploration of the collections, further participatory and dialogue-oriented formats are being realized, for example in close cooperation with the Museum of Ethnology of the von Portheim Foundation. Interactive formats and mediation strategies are already being tested there that actively involve visitors in exchange about the collection holdings. This close cooperation strengthens transfer between university, museum, and urban society and enables a sustainable opening of the collections beyond the academic context.
Within the framework of Work Package 7, innovative teaching and research formats are also being piloted, in which the digitized collections are actively integrated into university teaching and research. Research labs and seminars are planned in which students, researchers, and external partners work on current questions and debates. A particular focus lies on the research laboratory for students, in which innovative and interdisciplinary formats for the use of the collections in teaching will be tested from the summer semester of 2026 onward. This laboratory is being developed in close collaboration with the Museum of Ethnology and provides a space for exploring new methodological and theoretical approaches that promote a responsible and reflective engagement with digital collections.
The collaborative project is financed largely from funds provided by Heidelberg University’s Excellence Strategy and implements its central objectives in concrete form. It strengthens the international visibility of the university collections, promotes their sustainable digital archiving, and enables their interdisciplinary use in research, teaching, and knowledge transfer. In this way, the project makes a substantial contribution to the university’s profile in the fields of digitization, cultural transformation, and science communication.
Contact
heiCOLLECTIONS Research Council Field of Focus
Marstallstraße 6
69117 Heidelberg