topic Research

The Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Sciences: Knowledge for Cultural and Social Orientation

The social sciences and the humanities provide a wealth of knowledge on cultural, economic and social development as well as on social structures. They thus make an important contribution to decisions on current problems and challenges. Their work is facilitated by the easier availability of existing data, and stronger cooperation across disciplines enhances their validity. And they are more effective if they have greater practical relevance and play a greater international role. The BMBF is therefore specifically supporting the humanities and social sciences in these areas.

The BMBF is funding the social sciences and humanities in four key areas:

• National and international structural development 
• Socio-economic Reporting   
• Research on the Relationship between Science, Politics and Society  
• Freedom for Research in the Humanities 

These priorities are based on objectives regarding methodology and content and are intended to provide new impetus for research in the social sciences and the humanities.
Funding is being provided for:

• Improving the basis for scientific work by facilitating access to data for the social and economic sciences and enhancing scientific cooperation and communication on the path towards e-social sciences and e-humanities
• Innovative methods of reporting on trends in social developments
• Interdisciplinary research collaborations on selected topics, particularly to promote international cooperation and visibility
• Approaches towards strengthening the structure of research in the humanities and internationalizing it.

For example, one thematic priority aims to help the humanities to make use of new findings in the fields of technology and the natural sciences. In this context, natural scientists are cooperating with humanities researchers in the fields of archaeology and in linguistics and literature. Further lines of funding in the humanities are aimed at supporting interdisciplinary working groups, for example involving brain researchers and philosophers, linguists, historians and others, and at strengthening the structure of research in the humanities and internationalizing them through new forms of work and discourse, for example the Käte Hamburger Collegia. In addition, the expertise of the humanities in the field of "translation" - in the sense of communication, visualization and transfer - is being expanded and funding is being granted for inter-university competence networks and for the establishment of intra-university structures and networks for regional studies. One of the aims of support for young researchers is to strengthen the international visibility of the humanities.

The humanities research centres in Berlin and Leipzig are being offered a long-term perspective.

Project funding focuses on specific priorities and thus complements longer-term work conducted in the area of social sciences and humanities by research institutions which receive institutional funding from the BMBF together with the Länder:

• Social Science Research Centre Berlin, (WZB)
• German Social Science Infrastructure Service, (GESIS)
• German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP),
• Institute of Contemporary History, (IFZ)
• Institute for the German Language, (IDS)
• Center for Research on Contemporary History, (ZZF)
• Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (HDFK)

as well as by the eight research museums

• Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (Bonn)
• German Mining Museum (Bochum)
• Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum (Frankfurt/Main)
• Museum of Natural History (Berlin)
• German Maritime Museum (Bremerhaven)
• Germanic National Museum (Nuremberg)
• Roman-Germanic Central Museum (Mainz)
• Deutsches Museum (Munich)

as parts of the Leibniz Association. 

Two umbrella institutions are also receiving institutional funding: the Foundation for German Humanities Institutes Abroad (DGIA) and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina - which also includes the Young Academy since 2011.

The Institute for Advanced Study Berlin, which is jointly funded by the BMBF and the Land of Berlin, gives outstanding scientists in a wide range of disciplines and of different nationalities space and time for research tasks which they have chosen themselves and for interdisciplinary discourse by offering them stays of one year (July to October) as Fellows of the Institute.

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  topic Research

  Freedom for Research in the Humanities

  The humanities contribute towards shaping the future and towards our cultural memory. They mediate between cultures; they reflect and offer guidance on values and developments in sections of our society. With the initiative "Freedom for Research in the Humanities" the BMBF is setting out to enhance the humanities from the structural point of view and to provide them with more latitude to develop their strengths.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/10567.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Society and Demographic Change

  Improved living conditions, peace and better social support systems have started a process of change in the age structure of the population in industrialized nations. The rise in the average age of the population is leading to changes in our everyday life and work. How is society dealing with these changes? How can we make use of the opportunities available and profit from the experience of the older generation? Health research and the production and services industries are called upon to provide solutions for the areas of initial and continuing vocational training and for redesigning our cities. The BMBF is funding measures to tackle demographic chance under various research programmes.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/4657.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Research on the relationship between science, politics and society

  Policy-makers are increasingly turning to scientific advisors to help them prepare political decisions and assess their impact, particularly when it comes to the possible consequences of new technological developments. Research in the social and political sciences investigates political and social actions and identifies connections between scientific knowledge and social action. One of the objectives is to use the results for action in the fields of research and science policy.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/4633.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Reporting on Socio-Economic Developments in Germany (soeb)

  Socio-economic reporting is a social science reporting system which focuses on the relationships and interplay between social and economic development in Germany and sets out to complement existing sectoral reporting systems such as the Poverty and Wealth Report or Federal Health Reporting. The reporting is done from the perspective of individual persons, households or companies with a view to the German social state and the economy as a whole. The reporting system is aimed first and foremost at policy-makers and organizations as well as at associations and science.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/4700.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  National and international structural development

  This priority includes funding to improve information infrastructure in the empirical social sciences as well as funding for "enhanced humanities". In this context, it is particularly important to link the development of infrastructures for the humanities, social sciences and economics with the relevant EU initiatives in the European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), to embed them in the national roadmap for the development of innovative research infrastructures and to establish viable financing rules for investment and operation costs.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/4817.php)
   
  
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  topic Education

  Centres of Islamic Theology in Germany

  Federal Education Minister Schavan opened the first Centre of Islamic Theology in Tübingen on 16 January 2012. In 2010 and 2011, four locations were selected for the centres: Münster/Osnabrück, Tübingen, Frankfurt/Giessen and Nuremberg-Erlangen. Over the next five years, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research will be investing a total of around 20 million euros in these centres. Around 4 million Muslims live in Germany, making them the third largest religious group in our country after Catholics and Protestants. The establishment of study programmes in Islamic theology at German universities is part of a modern integration policy.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/15619.php)