Our aim is to describe social issues and problems, to understand their significance for the people affected, to explain their causes, and to provide both foundational knowledge and practice-oriented knowledge for social work and social policy. To achieve this, we rely on theoretical and conceptual work as well as empirical research. This includes both basic research projects and applied research. In this regard, we are interdisciplinary in our approach: expertise from social pedagogy, sociology, political science, as well as legal and administrative studies is brought together with a focus on the social and its capacity to be shaped through social work and social policy. Our research is rooted locally while also being oriented nationally and internationally. Through our projects—which are also conducted in cooperation with practice partners and in dialogue with the public—we contribute both to internationally visible basic research and to addressing concrete societal challenges.

Key research contributions emerge from doctoral projects. As a university-based research institution, the institute offers the opportunity to pursue a doctorate in social work (more information). Beyond individual doctoral projects, members of the institute have repeatedly succeeded in securing doctoral research groups in the past, in which doctoral researchers were supported through scholarships. In this way, the institute makes an important contribution to fostering the next generation of scholars in social work. Information on current doctoral projects can be found on the pages of the working groups.