The Center for Interdisciplinary Research is the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Bielefeld University

Bielefeld University

Bielefeld University is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization and teaching than the established universities...

, Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1968, it was the first IAS in Germany and became a model for numerous similar institutes in Europe. The ZiF promotes and provides premises for interdisciplinary and international research groups. Scholars from all countries and all disciplines can carry out interdisciplinary research projects ranging from from one-year research groups to short workshops. In the last 40 years numerous renowned researchers lived and worked at ZiF, among them the social scientist Norbert Elias

Norbert Elias

Norbert Elias was a German sociologist of Jewish descent, who later became a British citizen.-Biography:...

 and Nobel Laureates Reinhard Selten

Reinhard Selten

-Life and career:Selten was born in Breslau in Lower Silesia, now in Poland, to a Jewish father, Adolf Selten, and Protestant mother, Käthe Luther. For his work in game theory, Selten won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences...

, John Charles Harsanyi, Roger B. Myerson and Elinor Ostrom

Elinor Ostrom

Elinor Ostrom is an American political economist. She was awarded the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which she shared with Oliver E. Williamson, for "her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons." She was the first, and to date, the only woman to win the prize in...

.

Mission

The mission of the ZiF is to encourage, mediate and host interdisciplinary exchange. The concept was developed by German sociologist Helmut Schelsky

Helmut Schelsky

Helmut Schelsky, , was a German sociologist, the most influential in post-World War II Germany, well into the 1970s.-Biography:...

, who was its first director, serving from 1968 to 1971. Schelsky believed that interdisciplinary exchange is a key driver of scientific progress. Therefore the ZiF does not focus on a single topic and does not invite individual researchers, but offers scholars the opportunity to carry out interdisciplinary research projects with international colleagues, free from everyday duties. The ZiF offers residential fellowships, grants and conference services. Schelsky wrote:

... systematic and regular discussion, colloquia, critique, and agreement in a group of scientists interested in the same topics, although perhaps from different perspectives, are of the greatest benefit for a scholar and his work.

Working Formats

The ZiF funds research groups for one year, "cooperation groups" for 1–6 months and workshops of 2–14 days. Public lectures, authors' colloquia and art exhibitions address wider audiences.

Structure

The ZiF is Bielefeld University’s Institute for Advanced Study. Its Board of Directors consists of five professors of Bielefeld University, assisted by a Scientific Advisory Council consisting of 16 eminent scholars. A staff of about 20 organizes life and work at the ZiF. About 1000 scholars visit the ZiF every year, one third from abroad. They take part in about 40 activities, including one research group, one or two cooperation groups, and about 20 workshops per year. So far about 600 publications have been issued by ZiF projects.

Living and Working

The ZiF is situated in the hilly surroundings of the Teutoburg Forest

Teutoburg Forest

The Teutoburg Forest is a range of low, forested mountains in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia which used to be believed to be the scene of a decisive battle in AD 9...

, close to the university. It has its own campus, surrounded by conference facilities and apartments for the fellows and their families. So the ZiF’s fellows can enjoy the tranquil setting as well as the facilities of the nearby University. A professional infrastructure including library and indoor pool offers pleasant working and living conditions.

Further reading

• Sabine Maasen. "Introducing Interdisciplinarity: Irresistible Infliction? The Example of a Research Group at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), Bielefeld, Germany". In: Peter Weingart, Nico Stehr (eds): Practising Interdisciplinarity, University of Toronto Press 2000, pp. 173-194. ISBN 978-0802081391.
• Helmut Schelsky. "Das Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung. Eine Denkschrift von Helmut Schelsky". In: Paul Mikat, Helmut Schelsky: Grundzüge einer neuen Universität. Zur Planung einer Hochschulgründung in Ostwestfalen. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Gütersloh, 1966.
• Ipke Wachsmuth
  Ipke Wachsmuth
  Ipke Wachsmuth was born 1950. He is a German computer scientist within the fields of artificial intelligence and cognitive science.Wachsmuth is a professor for artificial intelligence at Bielefeld University and teaches computer science and artificial intelligence since 1989...
  
  . "ZiF". In: Robert Frodeman, Julie Thompson Klein, Carl Mitcham (eds): The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010, pp. 292-293. ISBN 978-0199236916.

External links

• ZiF official website (German and English)