Outcomes of internationally conducted research project offer global overview of institutes for advanced study

After visiting more than 30 institutes for advanced study in recent years, Professor Britta Padberg published the article The Global Diversity of Institutes for Advanced Study in the Italian journal Sociologica last May. Having traveled to Asia, Europe, Australia, Latin America, and the United States of America, she has analyzed institutes linked to UBIAS.

Managing director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) at Bielefeld University since 2008, Padberg has a background in history and biological anthropology. Her main research interests are related to interdisciplinarity and the development of universities and science.

By talking to directors and employees about the institutes' strategies, missions, and values, she has brought together aspects related to their functioning and autonomy in relation to the universities where they are based, in addition to their contribution to research. "Institutes for advanced study have played a notable role in the development of universities and sciences," she says in the article. Padberg also addresses the future challenges of these research centers.