Planned research projects:

• „Modern Media and their significance for the development of muslim activist movements". Research project within the framework of the DFG-financed emphasis programme 1448: "Adaptation and creativity in Africa - technologies and meanings in the production of order and disorder".
• „Negotiating Culture in the Context of Globalization“, Volkswagenstiftung, proposal developed in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Abdulkader Tayob (Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town), envisioning a cooperation between the „Zentrum Moderner Orient“ (Berlin) and the „Department of Religious Studies“ at the University of Cape Town (Prof. Dr. Abdulkader Tayob).
• „From the cyclone to the revolution: catastrophic breaks in the culture of remembrance in Sansibar", Individual project in a research group at FU Berlin on the topic of "Natural desasters, violence and remembrance".

Approved research projects:

Since 2007 (and ongoing):

• Principal Investigator at graduate college “Muslim Cultures and Societies: Unity and Diversity” at Freie Universität Berlin within the framework of the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Government and the state governments.

2005-2009:

• „Plural conceptions of time in (trans-)local contexts“, DFG-financed research project at "Zentrum Moderner Orient" Berlin, in cooperation with Dr. Hassan Mwakimako (University of Nairobi).

2004-2007:

• „Dimensions of identity formation. Lived and imagined affiliations in the islamic world.“, research project at Fritz Thyssen-Stiftung for the promotion of science (in cooperation with Prof. Dr. André Gingrich, University of Vienna).

2002-2004:

• „Sokrates“-researcher and student exchange programme with Helsinki University (DAAD; with Prof. Dr. Holger Weiss, Department of African and Asian Studies, Helsinki University).

2000-2005:

• Leadership of Subproject C4 „The islamic education system in East Africa between locality and globality“ within the DFG-financed „Kulturwissenschaftliches Forschungskolleg“ (560) at the University of Bayreuth on the topic of „Local agency in Africa in the context of global Influences“ (in cooperation with Dr. Rüdiger Seesemann and Dr. Norbert Oberauer).

1990-1995:

• „Muslims in Senegal: Secular State and Islamic Society“. Research project within the DFG-financed Subproject B 5 of SFB 214 „Identity in Africa“, led by Professor Dr. Jamil M. Abun-Nasr.

1985-1990:

• „Muslims in Nigeria: Islamic Renewal and political change in north Nigeria“. Research project within the framework of DFG-financed subproject B 5 of SFB 214 „Identity in Africa“, led by Professor Dr. Jamil M. Abun-Nasr.