From June 29 to July 3, the University of Erfurt (Germany) hosted the first in-person phase of International Academia (ICA 5), an initiative of the international network of university-based Institutes for Advanced Study (UBIAS). This year’s edition is dedicated to the theme “Pluralities of Resonant Relationships.” The event brought together fellows and mentors from different countries for an intensive program focused on scientific exchange, strengthening international research networks, and developing collaborative projects.

Throughout the week, participants attended keynote lectures, panel discussions, research presentations, one-on-one meetings between fellows and mentors, and collaborative sessions devoted to the development of international micro-projects. The program opened with a keynote lecture by Hartmut Rosa, a leading scholar of resonance theory, and featured researchers from a wide range of disciplines discussing plurality, democracy, diversity, human relationships, and the contemporary challenges facing research.

UFMG played a prominent role in the scientific program. Patrícia Kauark, Director of IEAT, chaired the opening session of Hartmut Rosa’s keynote lecture, coordinated the session on relational perspectives, participated in the international panel on plurality in research, and led the concluding meeting dedicated to evaluating the first phase and planning the program’s next steps. Professor Leonardo Avritzer, a member of the ICA 5 mentoring team, delivered the lecture Modernity, the Crisis of Democracy and Resonance. UFMG professors Rita de Cássia Lucena Velloso, Eduardo Soares Neves Silva, and Marcelo Andrade Cattoni de Oliveira—the latter participating remotely—also served as mentors for the fellows selected for the program.

Among the UFMG researchers selected as fellows were Anna Luiza Coli, Daniel Pucciarelli, Daniel Medeiros de Freitas, Ernane Salles da Costa Junior, and Thiago Canettieri, who presented their research projects and took part in the mentoring activities and collaborative workshops held throughout the meeting.

ICA 5 is organized into two complementary in-person phases. Following the meeting in Erfurt, the fellows will continue developing their research projects in ongoing collaboration with their mentors and international research groups until the program’s second phase, which will take place at UFMG in March 2027, under the coordination of IEAT. The event is expected to bring all participants together once again to present the results of the collaborations initiated in Germany and to further expand the scientific partnerships established throughout the program.