Social Sciences

Outlook

A clear indication of the success of the Faculty of Social Sciences in establishing its research profile is the Käte Hamburger Kolleg (KHK)/Centre for Global Cooperation Research, which receives more than 13 million euros in BMBF funding and was secured by Prof. Tobias Debiel in cooperation with INEF, the DIE and the KWI for an initial six years. The Faculty has made another important structural decision to consolidate its profile in this area by establishing the Junior Professorship for Global and Transnational Cooperation Research proposed by the IfP and INEF and with the support of the Rector’s Office. The many, mainly international, researchers and scholars who have been guests of the KHK over the past two years have already made a serious contribution to strengthening the international connections of the Faculty of Social Sciences and will continue to do so in the future.

Supported by the University’s “Transformation of Contemporary Societies” Main Research Area, a research focus has been established over the past two years on “Crossborder Labour Markets”, for which four DFG projects are now being conducted at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Further proposals have been submitted to the DFG or are in preparation. The Main Research Area also plays an important cross-functional role for many research efforts in the social sciences. By bringing together different institutions and with a comparatively modest amount of funding, it has been possible to launch numerous initiatives which will contribute their findings to the debates surrounding this ­research priority to an increasing extent in the future.

The “Rhine-Ruhr Doctoral Symposium” ­initiated by Prof. Erlinghagen was held very ­successfully for the first and second time in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The event was organised by the Institute of Sociology and the Institute for Work, Skills and Training in collaboration with the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation in Düsseldorf. Doctoral fellows from throughout Germany presented their work on the theme of “Work and Social Security” for comment and critical appraisal by experienced scholars and scientists. The 3rd Rhine-Ruhr Doctoral Symposium is scheduled for March 2015.