In order to strengthen forced migration studies in Germany, the BMBF supports the collaborative project Forced Migration and Refugee Studies: Networking and Knowledge Transfer (FFVT). FFVT aims to fortify interdisciplinary forced migration and refugee studies in Germany. The project draws together research activities on migration, development, conflict and violence, climate change, health, governance and human rights and other fields. FFVT also works to further advance internationalization within German research activities on forced migration and refugee studies.

Since it was founded in June 2020, the Research Institute for Social Cohesion (FGZ) has been involved in more than 80 research and transfer projects covering all aspects of the topic of social cohesion, from social and cultural friction to lived experiences of cohesion in neighbourhoods and at work to the role of social media. Eleven renowned universities and social science research institutions from all over Germany are partners of the institute

Since mid-2021, the BMBF has provided €12 million to support ten research collaborations at universities and non-university institutions throughout Germany. Within 31 sub-projects, research is carried out to investigate various dynamics and facets of antisemitism from different disciplines. The selected projects cover topics ranging from antisemitism in online media, antisemitism in legal contexts and antisemitic aspects in Christianity to preventing antisemitism in education. Jewish perspectives are systematically included in the work.

Since September 2020, 13 research projects have been conducting research in two fields, looking at the social causes behind the increase in radical Islam and the impact of different Islamist movements on society in Germany and Europe, under the funding programme Societal Causes and Effects of Radical Islam in Germany and Europe. The knowledge transfer project RADIS (Societal Causes and Effects of Radical Islam in Germany and Europe) is responsible for enabling internal and external networks between the projects. Using measures for the society-led and practice-based transfer of results and knowledge, central academic project findings are brought together and shared with policy-makers and the general public in a dialogue process.

Right-wing extremism and racism are further facets of radicalization and extremism that threaten our free democracy and social cohesion. Fighting right-wing extremism and racism is a task for society as a whole – this is highlighted by the Federal Government’s decision to form a corresponding cabinet committee and the adoption of a comprehensive package of measures. Since 2023, the BMBF has funded research projects that not only look into the causes and consequences of right-wing extremism and racism, but which also publish recommendations for action and measures for policy-makers, public authorities, security agencies and civil society.

By providing funding for peace and conflict research, the BMBF helps ensure that both political stakeholders and society have access to scientific findings that will allow them to handle domestic and international conflicts appropriately. The funded projects also include research on the war in Ukraine.

There are more than five million Muslims living in Germany. They are the third-largest religious group, after Catholics and Protestants. Over the last ten years, university projects and degree programmes in Islamic Theology have worked to close a gap in academic research.

It is important to the BMBF to fully utilize the potential of cultural heritage when shaping the society of the future. It is essential to reflect on the past in order to understand and deal with contemporary developments in society. To this end, it is vital that we strengthen humanities and social science research on cultural traditions and the historic background behind how we co-exist today. An important part of this is research into the history and legacy of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR).

The BMBF has been responsible for all eight research museums of the Leibniz Association since 2009. The Federal Government contributes to the institutional funding of these research museums by co-financing 50% of each institution’s research budget. The research museums’ collections comprise more than 100 million objects of scientific or cultural importance. With their extensive collections and their digital and analogue infrastructure, the Leibniz museums carry out cutting-edge research within a single discipline or across multiple fields. They address questions of biodiversity and the history of the Earth as well as cultural history and the history of art and technology.

The BMBF is driving forward the internationalization of the humanities, cultural and social sciences by funding the international Maria Sibylla Merian Centres for Advanced Studies in regions and partner countries that are important both from an academic and science policy standpoint. At these centres, researchers from Germany, the host country and other countries in the region study a priority topic of their choosing from different disciplinary angles.

Our present is dominated by increasing interconnectedness between global regions: from political and economic ties to cultural, religious or social networks, from relations between countries and societies to cooperation between civil society or non-state actors, groups or individuals. Answers to many major, cross-border issues can only be found by working together internationally. The BMBF provides long-term support for area studies in Germany and works to firmly embed them and increase their visibility within the German research community.

Excellent research in the humanities and social sciences not only calls for optimal research conditions, but also depends on having a certain freedom. The Käte Hamburger International Centres provide a space where researchers can study and discuss topics of their choosing, free from the many obligations that are part of everyday academic life. The Centres invite academics from all over the world to become fellows and spend up to twelve months working in Germany.

162 “small disciplines” are key in shaping the profile of the German higher education system; 80% of these disciplines are part of the humanities, cultural, social and economic sciences. With their unique specialist expertise, they influence the image and profile of German universities and help increase internationalization. Small disciplines build bridges between the past and the present. They act as repositories of ancient languages and forgotten cultures.

The humanities and social sciences also work with digital datasets and methods and use computers to process their results. The BMBF therefore provides funding for setting up digital infrastructures for research data, generating machine-readable data for research purposes and the ongoing development of computer-aided research methods. Anyone who conducts research needs access to state-of-the-art, research data infrastructures. These provide data and services as well as storage and processing capacity.