Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC)

The Research Institute for Social Cohesion is an interdisciplinary, transfer-oriented and geographically dispersed institute. It has been in existence since 2020 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The RISC combines basic research on social cohesion with application-oriented research on current challenges from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.


Knowledge transfer at the RISC ranges from classic policy advice to public formats in which results are prepared for different target groups. Knowledge transfer at the RISC also includes the co-production of knowledge with a broad network of practice partners.


The eleven locations – eight universities and three non-university research institutions – each contribute their own profiles to the RISC. They multiply the nationwide reach of our research and transfer activities. At the same time, they reflect the regional anchoring and diversity of social cohesion.


The RISC includes the Technical University of Berlin and the universities of Bielefeld, Bremen, Frankfurt, Halle-Wittenberg, Hanover, Constance and Leipzig as well as the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen, the Leibniz Institute for Media Research Hamburg and the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society Jena. The Institute’s office is located at the three coordinating locations Bremen, Frankfurt and Leipzig.

FGZ location Frankfurt am Main

Democracy and social cohesion need productive conflict! The researchers at RISC Frankfurt research social struggles for recognition and participation and the productive power that can arise from such social and political conflicts.


The RISC Frankfurt at Goethe University looks back on a long and lively tradition of cooperation between philosophy, law and the social sciences in researching the foundations of social coexistence. This ranges from the beginnings of the Frankfurt School and the Institute for Social Research to the Cluster of Excellence and Research Centre Normative Orders. At the same time, the location also brings specific expertise to the Institute as a whole, which deals with conflicts about cohesion and, above all, with the genesis and stabilization of cohesion in and through conflict.


Together with Bremen and Leipzig, the RISC Frankfurt site coordinates and manages the Research Institute for Social Cohesion. The general office with administrative management and the central services of research coordination and knowledge transfer are located here.

Here you will find information on research and transfer as well as an overview of the team at the RISC Frankfurt site.

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News from the research institute

Event
16.06.2025 | Frankfurt am Main

Trump and the Assault on the State

Lecture

Vortrag von Jeffrey Kopstein Professor der Politikwissenschaft an der University of California, Irvine) über die Gefahr einer Erosion des Staates und Wege gegen den Trend zur Zerstörung.

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News
19.05.2025

What can a baroque tapestry tell us about colonial iconography?

Lecture by Cécile Fromone on May 21. The professor at the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University, director of the Cooper Gallery at the Hutchins Center and author will talk about the long-forgotten African origins of iconography and its colonial dimension.

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News
05.05.2025

Normative Orders Newsletter 01/25 published

The newsletter from Research Centre Normative Orders collects information on current events, reports, news and publications several times a year. Read the first issue 2025 here.

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News
05.05.2025

"Hitler. History of a Dictator" by Sybille Steinbacher will be published on May 15, 2025

The historian's new book deals with Hitler's origins, the roots of his anti-Semitism and his rise to power.

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News
29.04.2025

Public lecture series “Racism in the police” begins on May 13, 2025

Racism in the police has various dimensions. In the lecture series “Racism in the police - empirical findings, methodological approaches and controversies”, three empirical studies on police work will be presented.

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Publication
22.04.2025 | Encyclopedia

Edessa (Fourth Century bc to the Eighth Century ad)

Leppin, Hartmut (2025): "Edessa (Fourth Century bc to the Eighth Century ad)". In: Raja, Rubina (ed.): The Oxford Handbook of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East, Oxford Academic, pp. 491-506.

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News
10.04.2025

Shaping the future - between climate change, technology and social responsibility

A new series of lectures by the research center as part of the “Fixing Futures” exhibition on the implications of climate change and technological progress.

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