Navigation items and banners
- Who we are
- News
- Activities
- Research
- Associated Projects
- People
- Publications
- FAQs
- Contact
Who we are
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe "The Transformative Power of Europe" (2009)
The diffusion of ideas has become a central research theme in political science, sociology, law, history, and economics. In this context, we focus on how ideas are spread across time and space, as can be observed especially in the European Union (EU) in various socio-political fields. We concentrate on the EU as an almost ideal laboratory for investigating processes and outcomes of diffusion:
European integration itself can be described as an effort to promote the diffusion of ideas across Europe and beyond
- European societies and polities emulate each other
- Europe and the EU also serve as active promoters of diffusion processes toward the outside world
- European integration is embedded in and responds to larger global diffusion processes.
Encourage Academic Exchange and Intensive Research
The KFG examines the role of the EU as promoter and recipient of ideas, analyzing the mechanisms and effects of internal and external diffusion processes in three research areas:
- identity and the public sphere
- compliance, conditionality, and beyond
- comparative regionalism and Europe’s external relations.
We pursue our goals through a Fellow Program, a Sabbatical Program, the promotion of junior researchers, and outreach and exchange activities, which seek to engage practitioners in politics, media, and civil society.
Research directors
Participating scholars
- Prof. Dr. Helge Berger (FU Berlin)
- Prof. Dr. Christian Calliess (FU Berlin)
- Prof. Dr. Jürgen Gerhards (FU Berlin)
- Prof. Dr. Klaus H. Goetz (University of Potsdam)
- Prof. Dr. Markus Jachtenfuchs (Hertie School of Governance)
- Prof. Dr. Ingolf Pernice (HU Berlin)
- Prof. Dr. Barbara Pfetsch (FU Berlin)
Kolleg-Forschergruppen – A New Funding Programme of the German Research Foundation
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG) is a new funding programme launched by the German Research Foundation in 2008. As a research college, it is intended to provide a scientifically stimulating environment in which innovative research topics can be dealt with by discourse and debate within a small group of senior and junior researchers. Key characteristics are a comprehensive Fellow Programme for guest scholars from elsewhere in Germany and from abroad, the promotion of young researchers and the opportunity to be released from teaching duties for a set period of time. The KFG “The Transformative Power of Europe” is one of three research colleges, which the DFG approved in the first funding period.
For further information please see here.
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG) for an initial four-year period. It brings together research on European affairs in the Berlin-Brandenburg region and institutionalizes the cooperation with other universities and research institutions.
The research Environment Berlin Brandenburg
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe is part of a larger research and training environment in the social sciences at the Freie Universität Berlin and beyond. Its doctoral students participate in the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS) of the Freie Universität Berlin, the Hertie School of Governance (HSoG), and the Social Science Center Berlin (WZB). The EU’s external affairs including its efforts at democracy promotion are investigated at the DFG-Research Center “Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood” (SFB 700). Last not least, the Kolleg-Forschergruppe participates in the FU’s Center for Areas Studies (CAS) which brings together the considerable area studies expertise in the social science and the humanities.
