The test topic "Archaeology of Jihad" investigated the potential of material culture as a historical source for the modern period in the context of a short-term excavation on the grounds of the "Halbmondlager" (Half Moon Camp)/mosque in Wünsdorf.

This test topic lays the groundwork for a large-scale, interdisciplinary project studying Aristotle’s role, and that of Aristotelianism, in the history of thought about health, disease and medicine from antiquity until the 21st century.

This test topic examines the role that rituals played for ancient societies when they had to cope with crises. This will be the theme of a workshop discussing a range of ritual acts and their social consequences.

This test topic investigates the phenomenon of copying/imitation across cultures of the ancient world. Both the stabilizing effects and the potential for crisis that can arise for societies as a result of replication were considered.

The test topic inquired into the reasons behind the formation and transformation of methods, conventions and key conceptualities in the fields of ancient studies. Initiatives and impulses for the study of the historical and cultural regions of the ancient Near East that originated in the Berlin/Brandenburg region were the primary focus of investigation.

In the test topic "History of science: The School of Egyptology in Cairo", preliminary research was conducted at the Egyptian National Archives into the history of the School of Egyptology, which was led by Heinrich Brugsch.

Awareness and conceptualization of time in Ancient Egypt were at the focus in this test topic, which investigated these through the lens of the healing process described in Ancient Egyptian medical compendia of the second millennium BCE.

This test topic was devoted to the development of ELLA, an e-learning environment for landscape archaeology in which students learn about the central terms, concepts and theories of landscape archaeology.

The test topic "Post-colonial object epistemologies?" examined recent conceptualizations of objects in ancient studies to determine how they have been influenced by postcolonial studies.

The aim in this test topic was to lay the groundwork, with respect to substantive scope and methodology as well as administrative aspects, for an interdisciplinary (Ancient Near Eastern studies; Near Eastern archaeology; archaeometry, mineralogy focus) research project to be carried out within the framework of cooperation between the Vorderasiatisches Museum and the Rathgen-Forschungslabor.

The aim of the test topic "The syllabaries in cuneiform sources from the 'peripheral areas' at the western edge of Mesopotamia in the Late Bronze Age – philologic and cultural-history implications" was to develop a methodological basis for the study of these syllabaries using a database to be created specifically for this purpose and then testing its suitability and productivity in a case study.

This test topic aimed at furthering the accessibility, integration and pooling of existing teacher professional development offerings and adding to the range of offerings available in this area.

This test topic uses the workshop format to explore conversion in Late Antiquity. The central research question is the extent to which the study of proper names can provide a basis for conclusions about religious conversion, and particularly conversion to Christianity and Islam.