Historian Daniel Jütte has been awarded a 2027 Alexander von Humboldt Professorship; he will join  the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The decision was announced by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. By appointing Jütte, KIT is strengthening its approach to integrative and practice-oriented urban research. Starting at KIT in 2027, the top researcher, who currently teaches at New York University, will establish the Urban Humanities Lab with the aim to combine perspectives from the humanities and social sciences with issues relating to urbanism, architecture, and the built environment.

“We’re absolutely delighted that Daniel Jütte will be the fifth Alexander von Humboldt Professor to take on teaching and research duties at KIT, starting in 2027,” says  Professor Jan S. Hesthaven, President of KIT. “With Daniel Jütte, we aim to further establish urban humanities as a particularly innovative research area, considering that KIT is already well positioned in the landscape of interdisciplinary and practice-oriented urban research. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the people at KIT who have created an appealing scientific environment for our nomination.”

“I’m very excited to receive this award and my thanks go to KIT as the nominating university,” said  Professor Daniel Jütte. “Cities are central arenas of societal, technological, and ecological change. To understand their history, present, and future, new forms of cooperation are necessary. I see the planned Urban Humanities Lab as an experimental space where researchers from KIT, but also international partners, are free to build scientific networks and identify overlaps between their specific research interests.”

Urban Humanities: Urban Research across Disciplinary Borders

Daniel Jütte’s Humboldt Professorship in “Urban Humanities” will be based in KIT Division II – Informatics, Economics and Society. While being assigned to the KIT Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, it will be closely related to the KIT Department of Architecture, especially the saai | Archive for Architecture and Civil Engineering. In the Helmholtz “Changing Earth” program, Jütte will become head of the “Urban Humanities” working group.

Under Jütte’s leadership, the Urban Humanities Lab (UHL) is to be established, bringing together humanities and social sciences with natural sciences by sharing ideas, methods, and approaches in a productive environment. The UHL is to become an interface between the departments of Humanities and Social Sciences, Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. This endeavor will significantly rely on Jütte’s expertise in the history of material culture, with a focus on construction materials and hauling means.

About Daniel Jütte

Daniel Jütte (42) earned his doctorate in 2010 from the University of Heidelberg and then worked at Harvard University as a Junior Fellow. Since 2016, he has held a chair for history at New York University. He received the international Dan David Prize in 2024 for his work on the cultural history of material objects in Europe. Other awards include the Berlin Prize, the Dyos Prize, and the Bruno Heck Research Prize.

Jütte’s research focuses on the Early Modern Period in Europe, the history of culture and knowledge, and Jewish history. His publications have opened up new perspectives in the fields of urban history, the history of the Jewish/Christian relations, and the interrelations of conceptual history and materiality. At New York University, he contributed to shaping the “Urban Humanities Initiative”, which brings together teachers, students, policymakers, and the interested public.

About the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship

With this award, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation honors leading international scientists from all disciplines who have so far been working abroad. They are expected to conduct forward-looking research at German universities in the long term. For universities, the Humboldt Professorship is a great asset in attracting top international researchers and strengthening their own profile in global competition.

The prize money of up to EUR 10 million per award covers the first seven years of research in Germany. Germany’s most valuable research award is financed by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). Nominations may be submitted by German universities.  In the current round, a total of eight Humboldt Professors were selected. 

To the original press release by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation

More information on Humboldt Professorships at KIT

More information on urban research at KIT