Mannheim Center for European Social Research
The Mannheim Center for European Social Research (MZES) is an interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Mannheim founded in 1989 . It is located in the Mannheim square A5 not far from the Mannheim Palace .
The institute is dedicated to researching the social and political development of Europe . The focus is on comparative European research and the investigation of the European integration process . The MZES mainly conducts basic research, which is financed by third-party funds from the German Research Foundation , foundations for scientific research and research funding from the EU. In addition, the MZES, which works closely with the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim, is also dedicated to training young academics. The MZES currently employs around 80 scientists and around 60 research assistants , making it the largest institute at the University of Mannheim and the largest social science research facility at a German university.
From 1989 to 1998 the institute was divided into four work areas:
- I Social structure and welfare state
- II Elections and Policy Research
- III Political and Social Integration
- IV GDR / Eastern Europe (1992 to 1998)
In 1999 the four work areas were reduced to two:
- Work area A, European societies and their integration : since February 2017 headed by the sociologist Henning Hillmann .
- Work area B, European political systems and their integration : Political scientist Harald Schoen has been the head since February 2017 .
The director and the heads of the two work areas together form the board of the institute. The Executive Board and the Institute are in their work by a college advised. The institute's research program is drawn up for three years and reviewed by an international scientific advisory board. An annual report provides information on the institute's activities .
Directors and Managing Directors
The director (until 1999: managing director) is elected for a term of three years by the college of the institute.
- Peter Flora 1989–1992 founding director, sociologist
- Franz Urban Pappi 1993–1995, political scientist
- Peter Flora 1996–1998, sociologist
- Jan W. van Deth 1999–2001, political scientist
- Walter Müller 2002–2004, sociologist
- Wolfgang C. Müller 2005–2007, political scientist
- Bernhard Ebbinghaus 2008–2011, sociologist
- Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck 2011–2014, political scientist
- Frank Kalter 2014–2017, sociologist
- Marc Debus 2017–2020, political scientist
- Irena Kogan 2020–, sociologist
The directors are supported in their work by the managing director (until 1999: executive assistant). Andreas Weber held this position from 1989 to 1997 and Reinhart Schneider from 1998 to 2009. Philipp Heldmann has been managing director since 2010.