The HCSP
The Humboldt Center for Social and Political Research (HCSP) is designed to foster an important interdisciplinary link within the social sciences by connecting social research and political research. It builds on the Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) bid to combine the disciplines of sociology and political science. It also reflects the core idea of the Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences (BGSS) that teaching and research should focus on the interplay of social and cultural diversity with processes of democratization. In short, it fosters interdisciplinary openness by integrating social-science research done within the context of other disciplines at Humboldt University.
The Humboldt Center for Social and Political Research thus provides a research environment for the ISS and the BGSS and is a forum linking a wide variety of social-science related activities at Humboldt University.
Research activities are organized around four themes (click on the links to see a description):
Research is embedded in a series of activities debating the theoretical and methodological foundations of ongoing research at the HCSP. This involves not only discussing the analytical foundations of social-science research, but relating social-science observations back to the social and political context from which they emerge and upon which they impinge. Linking the claim of doing basic research to the claim of doing research with political and social relevance engages with the longstanding belief that the social sciences are – given the object of their research – part of the world they study, a relationship that has become increasingly central for social science research in recent decades.
Organizational Design
The organizational design of the HCSP is based on the creation of links between ongoing research activities in the thematic areas mentioned above and related research in Berlin. This is done in four ways.
Firstly, based on existing and planned research activities, a series of “centers” at the HCSP allow concentrated research efforts in specific substantive fields. Proposals for such centers with a longer-term perspective are under discussion, including a “Center for the Study of Civil and Uncivil Society” and a “Center for Mediterranean Studies” (see “Research Units” at this website).
Secondly, research groups or “labs” emerging from shared research activities provide specialized research environments for doctoral researchers and post-doctoral researchers. Such research groups are planned on topics such as “The Vulnerability of Democracy” or “Well-being and the vulnerability of social groups”. A “Research Group on Migration” meets monthly in order to discuss cutting-edge research projects about migration, diversity and globalization-related themes. While such research groups are temporary, they have the potential to be transformed into fully fledged specialized centers at the HCSP. In addition, the HCSP provides research opportunities, such as externally funded post-doctoral groups and individuals; these help place young researchers in the research community and provide a perspective for doctoral students who are trained and formed at the ISW and the BGSS.
Thirdly, a number of existing Centers and Institutes are associated with the HCSP. These include the “Center for Empirical Social Research,” the “Center for Civic Participation,” and the “Maecenata Institute for Philanthropy and Civil Society” at Humboldt University. The association brings together leading researchers and faculty members in the various Centers/Institutes.
Fourthly and finally, the internationalization of the HCSP is an important aspect of the networking of research at the HCSP. It relies on three elements: the international networks of the BGSS and its related doctoral programs; the cooperation agreements of the ISW with Universities in Europe and elsewhere in the world; and the guest researchers and Fellows spending sabbaticals or longer periods in Berlin. The establishment of an “Einstein Fellow” at the BGSS, funded by the Einstein foundation, is an important step towards achieving the goal of internationalization.
Synergy
In this way, a network research community in the social sciences at Humboldt University is created and maintained. Those doing research come and go, bringing, sharing, and taking away knowledge, while a critical and politically consequential social science based on strong conceptual and methodological grounds remains constant. This defines the particular identity of the Humboldt Center of Social and Political Research.
In sum, the Center hosts:
- research activities at the Institute of Social Sciences;
- intra-faculty social-science-related research taking place within the Philosophische Fakultät III, especially with Asian and African Studies and the Kulturwissenschaften;
- inter-faculty social-science-related research carried out at other faculties of Humboldt University and at the Charité;
- research activities of visiting professors, visiting fellows, and research fellows;
- research opportunities for postdoctoral researchers, such as graduates of the BGSS and young researcher groups; and
- an environment for more specialized Centers targeting collective research efforts on particular themes or services.
The emerging organizational structure is unique in Berlin and elsewhere, since it fosters not only the visibility of social science research carried out at Humboldt University, but also integrates the different phases of learning by research in an organizational design, linking in an innovative way undergraduate teaching, graduate studies, postgraduate activities, and research by established colleagues. It intends to sustain learning processes across the differentiated phases of scientific careers, thus developing the traditional Humboldt ideal of linking teaching and research.
Conclusion
Above all, the Humboldt Center provides a forum for different types of research units, bringing together social scientists from across Humboldt University with the aim of combining the social-science competencies available at Humboldt in a collective research effort. The research units are as varied as the topics they address: specialized HCSP Centers consider issues of interdisciplinary and political relevance; HCSP research groups and laboratories focus on theoretical methodological issues which are temporary and fluid; finally, a number of existing Centers at Humboldt University and Berlin-wide are affiliated with the HCSP, bringing their expertise to bear on the HCSP’s research activities.
