Focus Areas
Art & Material Culture
The focus area Art and Material Culture considers these two fields as essential components of social structures and cultural processes. Art and material culture function as expressions of social dynamics, political power relations, and…
Digitality
The focus area Digitality highlights the far-reaching impact of digitalization on society, culture, and science, as well as the application of digital methods in research. In an increasingly digitalized world, technological innovations, the…
Environment & the Anthropocene
The focus area Environment and the Anthropocene is devoted to the ongoing destruction of the environment and the effects of climate change, which have far-reaching consequences for the global ecosystem and human society. The Anthropocene, as the…
Global Society
The focus area Global Society deals with the dynamic processes of an increasingly globalized world in which migration, climate and environmental crises, social inequality, and geopolitical tensions represent urgent challenges. The term Global…
Higher Education
The focus area Higher Education addresses university teaching and learning in the context of profound societal, technological, and institutional transformations. It explores the conditions, objectives, and practices of academic education within…
Science Management
The focus area Science Management examines the structures, processes, and practices through which scientific research is planned, governed, and communicated. It addresses how science can be effectively organized and sustainably developed under…
Theories & Methods
The focus area Theories & Methods is devoted to the continuous development and reflection of theories and methods that are necessary to understand the complex social, political, and ecological challenges of our time. Critical engagement with…
Uncertainty
The focus area Uncertainty explores the complex nature of uncertainty in a dynamic present increasingly perceived as unpredictable. Uncertainty affects both individual decisions and collective actions and social structures, shaping the daily…