No. 111/2020

4 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 111/2020 EDITORIAL Dear readers, By the time you receive this, the Corona crisis will probably still be dominating the head- lines. Due to our editorial deadline, however, you will not read anything about the global pandemic anywhere else in this edition of Kosmos – at least not specifically. Nevertheless, our cover story addresses the topics of the moment: global challenges like Corona and climate change can only be solved by joint efforts worldwide and by international collaboration – in research as well as in poli- tics. In our Focus you can read how internatio­ nal research networks function and how they mutate under the impact of new challenges. How can digital tools help? How is researcher mobility changing in the face of flight shame? How, for example, does practical cooperation work within an international network that col- lects and analyses soil samples in arid regions around the world in order to develop measures to combat climate change? Particularly in times of crisis like the pres- ent, collaboration, trust and solidarity are the qualities that sustain international research networks and send a signal against isolation- ism and national self-interest. Given the back- drop of the current Corona crisis, that, too, is one of the messages of this magazine. Happy reading! GEORG SCHOLL Editor in Chief CONTENT Photo: Humboldt Foundation/David Ausserhofer 06 COVER ILLUSTRATION   Martin Rümmele/Raufeld Medien 03 HUMBOLDTIANS IN PRIVATE Kween Kong: Comedy against racism 06 BRIEF ENQUIRIES What drives researchers and what they are currently doing