University & Science

In this core area, the Institute, headed by Christian Hochmuth, is dedicated to the further development and establishment of interest-oriented conflict management in higher education and science.

The programme pursues two main objectives: Firstly, it focuses on raising awareness of conflict management among university and academic stakeholders and (further) developing tailored conflict management programmes for university and academic institutions on the basis of existing structures. Even if active, often informal conflict management structures already exist in the field of higher education and science, awareness of the need for adequate and systematic conflict management mechanisms is still comparatively low.

The controlled transfer of knowledge and experience from many years of scientific analysis of conflict management programmes in companies and public institutions in the Institute's core areas Justice and Dialogue & Transformation is particularly beneficial.

Furthermore, the Institute's activities in the field of conflict management in higher education and science are particularly located at the interface to organisational development. Committed to action-oriented scientific practice, the Institute develops approaches to optimise university management, takes up practical experience and provides impulses for practice. The results obtained are therefore directly useful for stakeholders in academic institutions and funding organisations (see e.g. contribution to the analysis of the university conflict environment) and are incorporated into the Institute's university teaching and various transfer activities.