As an Institute for Advanced Study, the College for Social Sciences and Humanities provides excellent conditions for independent and innovative research. Its primary goal is to foster excellence and innovation in the social sciences and humanities within the University Alliance Ruhr. As part of its mission, the College initiates and facilitates scientific dialogue and collaboration beyond institutional, disciplinary, and national boundaries.
The College provides a cross-university forum for interdisciplinary research and acts as a catalyst connecting scholars from different disciplines and research fields within the UA Ruhr – particularly through its interdisciplinary professorships and research groups, a joint colloquium, and other academic events. Fundamentally open in regard to disciplines and topics, the College provides a space to explore innovative research ideas and new approaches.
Across all its activities, the College seeks to build sustainable international relations: close collaborations with outstanding researchers worldwide – enabled especially through the Senior Fellowship Programme – stimulate innovative discourses that make it possible to critically advance well-established research fields within the social sciences and humanities.
Beyond this, another part of the College’s mission is to facilitate dialogue between researchers in the social sciences and humanities and members of the general public, the arts, and the economic sector. A further objective is to support scientists in early career stages.