The Institute of Sociology offers a broad spectrum of research activities, with particular focus on an analysis of transnationalization and Europeanization processes and international comparison, especially of European societies. This research and teaching agenda is implemented together with the Central Institutes for East European Studies, Latin American Studies, and the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies as well as the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).
Members of the Institute are involved in the German Research Foundation (DFG) Research Unit studying European socialization processes, the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) “Affective Societies – Dynamics of Sociality in a World in Motion”, the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), and the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) as well as at several graduate schools funded by the German Excellence Initiative. This research profile is complemented by a research-oriented master’s program "Sociology – European Societies," which is offered in English and German.