BIGSSS Organizational Structure and Governing Bodies

Meeting of Members (MoM)

The annual Meeting of Members includes all doctoral students (as well as those of other potential programs embedded in BIGSSS), faculty and staff members. Here the Dean presents his annual report, which must be approved by a majority. Elections for the Dean and Vice Deans are held every two years; the elected Deans are subsequently appointed by the BIGSSS Board, comprised of the Presidents of the two universities.

 

Deanery

The Deans administer the doctoral stu­dents and staff, represent BIGSSS within and beyond the universities. They report directly to the BIGSSS Board, with support from the Managing Director.

 

Executive Team (ET)

The Executive Team is the governing body of BIGSSS which meets on a monthly basis. It draws on the experience of academic, management, and administrative personnel of BIGSSS at University of Bremen and Constructor University to organize structured PhD education and implement decisions of the Academic Council (AC). 

The Executive Team consists of:

 

Academic Council (AC)

The Academic Council is the fundamental policy-making institution. It determines the institution's thematic and curricular development, the scientific positioning and the development of the scientific program and the training concept of the BIGSSS, as well as monitors of the call for applications and the recruitment of fellows, the quality assurance and the general principles of the allocation of funds and equality. The Academic Council has also appointed an ombudsperson (Prof. Dagmar Borchers, University of Bremen) to resolve any internal con­flicts that cannot be resolved by the Executive Team and the council, but she has, to date, not been needed.

The Academic Council comprises BIGSSS leadership (Deanery, Managing Director, Director of Studies, a representative from the group of Coordinators), representatives of the academic institutions that significantly contribute to BIGSSS (Academic Chairs), the Methods Center Chair, as well as Fellow Representatives and Equal Opportunity Officers.

Academic Chairs

The function of Academic Chairs is to strengthen communication and ties between participating instituions and to further improve alignment of academic programs, reasreach and doctiral education at BIGSSS and the Bremen Social Sciences. Academic Chairs are appointed by the Dean for a period of two years on the proposal of the Meeting of Members. 

Academic Chairs for the period 2022-2024:

 

Executive Team

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kühnen
Constructor University
Academic Chair (BIGSSS), Speaker RTG Self
Tel.: +49 421 200 3426

Research Interests

  • Cultural Differences in the Meaning of Choice
  • Learning and Teaching in Multicultural Settings
  • Foundations of Morality and Religious Beliefs

Dr. Mandi M. Larsen
Constructor University
Methods Center Coordinator (BIGSSS)
Tel.: +49 421 200 3411

Research Interests

  • Social cohesion
  • Gender-based violence
  • Health inequalities
  • Family and health care policy


Methods Expertise

  • Questionnaire design
  • Phenomenological qualitative research

Dr. Christian Peters
Managing Director
Tel.: +49 421 218 66400

Research Interests

  • Organizational development
  • Funding strategies and financial responsibility
  • Conflict management
  • BIGSSS external, internal and public relations 

Sabine Sommer
Head of Administration
Tel.: +49 421 218 66456

Research Interests

  • Financial issues (spending BIGSSS money, reimbursement, travel requests)
  • HR issues (contracts, leave request, sick leave etc.)
  • Certification of Degrees
  • Application PhD candidate at Doctoral Commission of ZPA (BIGSSS PhD only)
  • Dissertation submission (BIGSSS PhD only)

Prof. Dr. Adalbert Wilhelm
Constructor University
Vice Dean (BIGSSS)
Tel.: +49 421 200 3402

Research Interests

Methods Expertise

  • Information and Knowledge Management
  • Statistical Visualization
  • Data Mining
  • Exploratory Data Analysis
  • Computational Statistics

Dr. Franziska Deutsch
Constructor University
Academic Coordinator (CU)
Tel.: +49 421 200 3958

Research Interests

  • Political Culture, esp. Values and Value Change
  • Political Participation, esp. Protest


Adacemic Coordination

  • Research Training Group SELF
  • Regular and Affiliated PhD Fellows at Constructor University

Dr. Regina Arant
BIGSSS
Director of Studies (BIGSSS)
Tel.: +49 421 200 3412

Research Interests

  • Social Cohesion
  • Construction and Change of Geopolitical Identities
  • Personality and Identity Development in Response to Intercultural Experiences
  • Acceptance of Diversity

 

Methods Expertise

  • Mixed Methods
  • Survey Design and Methodology
  • Secondary Data Analysis
  • Qualitative Research Methods, such as (Expert) Interviews, Focus Groups, and Creative Workshops

 

Service Areas

  • Questions around the Curriculum
  • Consulting and mentoring regarding the whole dissertation process
  • Conflict management
  • Strategic and organizational development

Prof. Dr. Patrick Sachweh
Universität Bremen, Socium
Dean (BIGSSS)
Tel.: +49 421 218-57081

Research Interests

  • Social Inequality
  • Political Sociology of the Welfare State
  • Economic Sociology
  • Methods of Empirical Social Science

Dr. Judith Vey
Universität Bremen
Academic Coordinator (UB)
Tel.: +49 421 218 66350

Research Interests

  • (Forced) migration
  • Social movements, self-organization, participation and agency
  • Inclusions/Exclusions
  • Poststructuralist, intersectional and hegemony-theoretical theories
  • Participatory and transdisciplinary research approaches


Academic Coordination

  • BIGSSS-DAAD Graduate School Scholarship Program
  • Regular and Affiliated PhD Fellows at University of Bremen

Academic Chairs

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kühnen
Constructor University
Academic Chair (BIGSSS), Speaker RTG Self
Tel.: +49 421 200 3426

Research Interests

  • Cultural Differences in the Meaning of Choice
  • Learning and Teaching in Multicultural Settings
  • Foundations of Morality and Religious Beliefs

Prof. Dr. Simone Scherger
Universität Bremen, Socium
Academic Chair (BIGSSS)
Tel.: +49 421 218 58569

Prof. Dr. Susanne K. Schmidt
Universität Bremen, Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS)
Academic Chair (BIGSSS)
Tel.: +49 421 218 67484

Research Interests

  • Policy Making in the EU
  • The Power of (National and International) Courts
  • Mutual Recognition as a Means of Integration
  • 'Welfare Migration' in the EU
  • Regional Integration Processes and Labor Migration