Research Centres and Institutes

The Institute for Applied Research Berlin e. V. (IFAF) has as its aim the compiling and disseminating of research results through transfer and mobilisation, thus making results more accessible and more visible. IFAF Berlin is a cooperation between HWR Berlin and three other Berlin universities: Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences, BHT University of Applied Sciences Berlin and HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences. The institute is funded by the Berlin Senate. 

Further information on IFAF Berlin, including its structure, funding instruments and current calls for proposals, can be found on the IFAF homepage.

IFAF Berlin provides support through:

• supplying advice and information on opportunities offered by its members in the fields of applied research
• organising the implementation of and participation in projects in the field of applied research in cooperation with SMEs and non-profit organisations
• putting knowledge transfer into practice
• leading in the conception and implementation of lectures, events, conferences as well as training and further education methods
• arranging cooperation with non-profit bodies, associations, organisations as well as public bodies in the field of applied research.

Contact

Research Coordinator

Dr. Katharina Maak-Castro
T: +49 30 30877-1179
E-Mail: katharina.maak(at)hwr-berlin.de
Campus Schöneberg, Haus A, Raum 2.06

Jens Westerfeld
T: +49 30 30877-1007
E-Mail: jens.westerfeld(at)hwr-berlin.de
Campus Schöneberg, Haus A, Raum 2.32 

Silvia Gigante
T: +49 30 30877-2684
E-Mail: silvia.gigante(at)hwr-berlin.de
Campus Lichtenberg, Haus 1, Raum 1.0067
Alt-Friedrichsfelde 60, 10315 Berlin

Deputy President

Prof. Dr. Sabine Baumann
T: +49 30 30877-1004
E-Mail: vp-baumann(at)hwr-berlin.de
Campus Schöneberg, Haus A, Raum A 2.51

The Berlin Centre for Empirical Economics (BCEE) brings together researchers from various fields of economics employing empirical methods to understand social and environmental phenomena and support political or operational decision-making processes. The empirical work in these fields is characterised by a common scientific approach: primary data are collected or secondary data are compiled which are analysed using econometric methods to test theory-based hypotheses and derive policy recommendations.

Research at the BCEE focuses on the application and further development of quantitative economic methods to answer social, economic and political questions. The BCEE brings together the expertise in empirical economic research at HWR Berlin in order to increase international visibility, generate larger research and transfer projects and offer a platform for networking. Fields of application of empirical economic research in on-going projects of the BCEE include the environment, health, taxation and public finance, international security and the labour markets.

Contact

Director

Prof. Dr. Tobias Börger
T: +49 30 30877-1482
E-Mail: tobias.boerger(at)hwr-berlin.de

Deputy Director

Prof. Dr. Tim Lohse
T +49 030 30877-1287
Email.: tim.lohse(at)hwr-berlin.de

The Berlin Institute for Safety and Security Research (FÖPS Berlin) examines a wide range of public and private security issues from both national and international perspectives. To this end, the institute conducts a large number of research projects.

FÖPS Berlin was founded in 2013 by lecturers from the Department of Police and Security Management at HWR Berlin. The complexity of security issues is reflected by the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches taken by the institute. An important feature of FÖPS Berlin is its interlinked professional competencies, especially the fields of police, law, criminology, social sciences and psychology. This is particularly important in the context of public and private security research. The institute plans to expand its competences in business management, economics and IT.

Its current research focus specialisations include:

Public Safety

• legal prerequisites and framework for police action
• crime prevention
• multiple and repeat offenders
• violence and violence prevention

Private Security 

• critical infrastructure protection (KRITIS)
• crisis and disaster management for critical infrastructures
• company and private individual security

Contact

Director

Prof. Dr. Birgitta Sticher
T: +49 30 30877-2857
E-Mail: foeps(at)hwr-berlin.de

Deputy Director

Prof. Vincenz Leuschner
T: +49 30 30877-2844
E-Mail: foeps(at)hwr-berlin.de

Prof. Dr. Daniela Hunold
T: +49 30 30877-2827
E-Mail: foeps(at)hwr-berlin.de

The Harriet Taylor Mill Institute for Economic and Gender Studies was founded in 2001 at the former FHW Berlin. The institute is named after the British economist and women's moment trailblazer Harriet Taylor Mill (1807-1858).

The establishment of Gender Studies as an institutionalised discipline in Economics is bound up with the many years of study and research at HWR Berlin spent focused on “Economics and Gender Relations". Since FHW Berlin merged with FHVR Berlin to form HWR Berlin, the Harriet Taylor Mill Institute has intensified its work on gender issues in law and administration.

The Harriet Taylor Mill Institute is the only research institute at a German university where researchers and lectures from the fields of economics, business administration, sociology, computer science and law can devote themselves to interdisciplinary work focused on foundational questions in economics, law, and administration.

Contact

Director

Prof. Dr. Aysel Yollu-Tok
T: +49 30 30877-1485
E-Mail: htmi(at)hwr-berlin.de

Deputy Director

Prof. Dr. Heike Wiesner
T: +49 30 30877-1194
E-Mail: htmi(at)hwr-berlin.de

The interdisciplinary EMF Institute frees economics as a discipline from its traditional conceptualisation as "learning about the operation of large companies". Its research is focused on family businesses, small and medium sized businesses, entrepreneurship, company formation, and succession. Members of the EMF Institute develop new research questions and communicate the results of their research to experts, the public at large, and the teaching community.  

The institute aims to achieve the following goals through events and research projects:

• to identify concrete teaching needs and implement them in innovative teaching content and structures (more particularly as they relate to degree programmes at HWR Berlin);
• to develop the institute’s research focuses into core competences at HWR Berlin;
• to expand practical orientation and integration, upon which networks of theory and practice can be attached and concrete company projects can be implemented.

The institute’s main research focuses comprise:

Entrepreneurship and concept-creative companies:
innovative organisational and sales models based on new business models, changes in industry structures, and entrepreneurship education.

Small and medium sized businesses/SMEs:
Strategic management in SMEs, management tools, and the relationship between enterprise and gender.

Family businesses:
Success factors and management structures in family businesses, systemic models, and family business governance.

Business succession:
Company valuation, changes of management and ownership, innovative tools and instruments for succession.

Contact

Director

Prof. Dr. Birgit Felden
T: +49 30 30877-1192
E-Mail: birgit.felden(at)hwr-berlin.de

Competence centre for applied logistics and transfer management

The Institute for Logistics plans and directs research and teaching activities for logistics and related fields at HWR Berlin. As a result, HWR Berlin has its own competence centre for the examination of practice-oriented logistics. In this role, for example, the institute advises commissioning companies on questions of practical relevance. Projects connected to practical knowledge transfer, as well as degree theses are of particular importance.

The institute pays particular attention on the one hand to Berlin’s status as a capital city in the face of continuing globalisation, and on the other to the entire Berlin-Brandenburg region as an economic and logistical stepping stone to Eastern Europe.

The institute focuses on the analysis, planning and design

• Supply Chain Management
  Configuration of integrated logistics networks at national and international levels as part of site and transport planning, using quantitative and qualitative methods as well as data processing procedures
   
• Multimodal transport structures
  Traffic system decisions, combined freight traffic, terminal management, city logistics
   
• Logistics information management
  Design of information structures and control of information flows, IT enabling, agile systems, self-management, business rule management, fleet management, logistics information systems in trade, industry and transport, etc.
   
• Organisational structures and business processes in logistics service provision
  Outsourcing, cooperation, logistics service providers (3PL, 4PL), legal frameworks (transport and logistics law, national and international contract law, etc.)
   
• Investment in and financing of logistics and transport infrastructure
  Financing of transport infrastructure, financing of logistics facilities and equipment, PPP models
   
• Sector logistics concepts, especially in industry and trade
  Distribution networks and site structures, contract logistics
   
• Facility-Management
  Distribution networks and site structures, contract logistics
   
• Corporate social responsibility and sustainable management
  Identification of the primary CSR aspects in logistics value chains, implementation of sustainability goals through sustainable management, and development of control instruments
   
• Macrologistics
  Changes in transport policy fundamentals and ecological factors, regulation and deregulation in the transport sector, mobility structures in freight and passenger transportation, effects of European transport policy on the freight transport industry
   
• Training and continuing professional development in logistics
  Development of study programmes and further training programmes in business logistics, internationalisation of logistics training.
   

Contact

IfL General Manager

Prof. Dr. Harald Gleißner
T: +49 (0)30 30877-2010
 

Institute Office

T: +49 30 30877-2280
F: +49 30 30877-2289

Haus 5
Alt-Friedrichsfelde 60
10315 Berlin

E-Mail: ifl(at)hwr-berlin.de

Weitere Informationen

• Information leaflet IfL (Ger)
• Information leaflet (Eng)

The Institute for Sustainability was founded in 2012 so that research and teaching relating to sustainable science and sustainable economics at HWR Berlin could be consolidated for increased impact.

The institute assists in the sustainable restructuring of global economies and companies. To this end, theoretical principles have been formulated by the institute’s members, which are, in turn, integrated into teaching, companies and organisations.

The Institute for Sustainability is devoted to work and research on sustainable economics, sustainable management, corporate social responsibility (CSR), business ethics, environmental law, and social-ecological transformation processes.

Its main areas of focus include:

1. Implementation of sustainable science content in teaching. This includes further development programmes:

• the Master’s degree programme, Sustainability and Quality Management;      
• the Master’s degree programme, Business Engineering – Energy and Natural Resources;
• the Bachelor’s degree programme, Business Engineering in Environmental Science;   
• elective classes in these subject areas.

2. Intensification of research through joint projects and programmes:       

• the programme "Jahrbuch Nachhaltige Ökonomie" which ran for 10 years from 2009 to 2018 and through which four projects were financed; 
• a series of individual research projects. 

3. Conferences and public events: 

• the sustainability forum “Nachhaltigkeitsforum” which has run since 2012 in cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Nachhaltigkeit (GfN) and the SUSTAINUM institute;  
• a series of other events devoted to sustainability in a number of specialist areas;

4. Members’ publications:

• textbooks and other monographs;
• edited volumes;
• contributions in edited volumes and journals;
• interviews.

5. Student involvement and doctoral study:

• Students are integrated into research projects and are involved in the further development of teaching through teaching assignments. The institute wishes to increases the numbers of its doctoral students.

6. Long-term cooperation: 

From its foundations, the institute has cooperated with organisations that focus on these aforementioned fields of research. These include:

• SUSTAINUM at HWR Berlin;
• the Gesellschaft für Nachhaltigkeit (GfN);
• the Network for Sustainable Economics (Netzwerk Nachhaltige Ökonomie)

The institute safeguards HWR Berlin’s high reputation as one of the most important universities devoted to the study of sustainable science in the German-speaking world.

Contact

Direction of the Institute

Prof. Dr. Silke Bustamante
Co-Leitung des Instituts für Nachhaltigkeit
Vernetzung, Kommunikation und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
T: +49 30 30877-2442
E-Mail: silke.bustamante(at)hwr-berlin.de

Prof. Caroline Rudzinska
 Co-Leitung des Instituts für Nachhaltigkeit
Veranstaltungen und Nachhaltigkeit in der Lehre
T: +49 30 30877-1186
E-Mail: caroline.rudzinska(at)hwr-berlin.de

Martina Martinovic
Co-Leitung des Instituts für Nachhaltigkeit
Forschung und Transfer
T: +49 30 30877-2457
E-Mail: martina.martinovic(at)hwr-berlin.de

Processing data flows in real time

Digitalisation poses challenges to our society, especially in terms of new technologies and established algorithms for big data analysis and data-driven decision-making. The rapidly increasing use of deep learning, big data technologies and machine learning in business applications and research as well as in all economic sectors and public administration reflects the importance of data-driven digitalisation.

In this context, the d-cube brings together the existing expertise and resources at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin). An essential aspect of this is to support the regional economy and public administration in the development of suitable infrastructures and approaches for the real-time processing of data streams.

Goals of the d-cube

The continuation and further development of these research activities, their application and the transfer into teaching are the main goals of the institute.

Important individual goals are:

• the consolidation of expertise scattered across departments and specialised units
• the concentration and efficient joint determination of demand and use of computing capacities
• the consolidation and deepening of professional cooperation with regard to the acquisition of third-party funding, access to research, methodological issues, publications, editorial activities, etc.
• increased cooperation with thematically relevant research institutes in Berlin, in Germany and abroad as well as institutionalisation of personal research cooperations
• the promotion of a topic-related exchange on modern learning content and methods
• the development of a joint promotion of young researchers that meets the changing demands of the digital society
• increasing the visibility of research in the areas of applied statistics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT) and real-time processing of large data streams both internally and externally

Promoting young academics

One of the Institute's main tasks is to promote young academics. In addition to bundling final theses (BA, MA) on defined research topics, the institute will specifically focus on PhD supervision issues. Furthermore, the Institute will strive to develop and build a dedicated high-performance computing cluster (HPC cluster).

Your contacts:

Director:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Schaal
T: +49 30 30877-1093
E-mail: markus.schaal(at)hwr-berlin.de

Deputy Director:
Prof. Dr. Salmai Qari
T: +49 30 30877-1367
E-Mail: salmai.qari@hwr-berlin.de

The Institute for International Political Economy Berlin (IPE) is concerned with the relation between the economy and political power in a globalised world, and the social implications that this raises.

The recurrence of serious financial crises, rising social inequality and a disregard for human rights indicate that conflicts involving economic and political interests have become more acute. This raises many urgent questions about the types of political and social regulation of the economy that would be desirable. In addition, since globalisation has depended on energy generated from non-renewable fossil fuels which poses a serious threat to the global climate, international political economy must be complemented by an international political ecology.

The IPE aims to promote interdisciplinary research drawing on economics, political science and sociology to deepen our understanding of these issues, and to make the results of this research available to individuals and groups who are active in political, social and economic initiatives.

Research Areas

Political Economy and the Welfare State

• Labor Market Policy
• Distributional Policy
• Social Policy
• Comparative National Institutional Systems
• Gender Regimes and Social Rights
• Policy Impact on Organizations and Quality of Work
   
• All projects

Financialisation, Macroeconomics and Economic Policies

• Finance-dominated Capitalism, Instability and Crises
• Distribution and Growth
• Comparative Demand and Growth Regimes
• Macroeconomic Policies
• European Economic Policies
   
• All projects

Globalization and the Global South

• Regional and Global Integration of Production and Trade
• Transnational Value Chains
• International Institutions and Macroeconomic Regimes
• Monetary Development Issues
• Migration
• Remittances
   
• All projects

Socio-ecological and -economic transformation

• Ecological Crisis and Social Inequality
• Imperial Mode of Living
• Ecological Constraints to Growth: Degrowth, Zero Growth, and/or Green Growth?
• Energy Policy
• Alternative Green Restructuring Policies
   
• All projects

Along these research areas IPE Berlin organises conferences, workshops and public discussion forums. IPE Berlin publishes research in its Working Paper Series, to be downloaded from the website.

Moreover, members of the institute provide academic advice to institutions like trade unions, social movements, governmental bodies, organisations of the public and non-profit sector, and also firms.

Students, especially from Master programs, are involved in research projects of IPE and as student assistants, and write their Theses related to IPE research areas. Very good Theses can also be published in the IPE Working Paper Series.

Directors of IPE Berlin

Prof. Dr. Sigrid Betzelt
T: +49 30 30877-1234
E-Mail: sigrid.betzelt(at)hwr-berlin.de

Prof. Dr. Jennifer Pedussel Wu
T: +49 30 30877-1167
E-Mail: jennifer.pedusselwu(at)hwr-berlin.de

As a non-profit affiliated institute of HWR Berlin, the Berlin Institute of Finance, Innovation and Digitalization (BIFID) specializes in promoting sustainable research. The institute analyses the structural development of the finance community at national and international levels.

BIFID focuses its research in particular on the continued digitalisation of common business processes. This includes changes and trends that arise for all actors in today’s globalised world.

The institute finances scientific research projects as part of doctoral study, as well as supporting younger students at earlier stages of their careers.

Contact

Executive Director

Prof. Dr. Martin Užík
T: +49 30 30877-1377
E-Mail: martin.uzik(at)hwr-berlin.de

The German Banking Institute’s focus is the promotion and cultivation of research into and teaching of banking. An especial focal point is the teaching of scientific and practical training to young academics, as well as the promotion of education and research. The aim is to establish a systematic overview of the current training situation for the banking profession in Germany. On this basis, the institute has generated a prognosis for the future.

As an institute affiliated to HWR Berlin, the German Banking Institute operates in a scientifically rigorous manner, independently and on a non-profit basis. The institute is open to initiatives and proposals from third parties. From these joint enterprises may be initiated, new competencies may be developed or existing competencies may be combined and strengthened.

Contact

Executive Director

Prof. Dr. Henrik Schütt
T: +49 30 30877-2210
E-Mail: info(at)deutsches-institut-bankwirtschaft.de

The Institute for Tourism Berlin (IfTB) envisages itself as an expert contact point for all specialist tourism topics. The institute supports and promotes excellence in research and teaching, and is committed to goal-oriented cooperation between science and the tourism industry.

The institute’s principles are the generation and transfer of knowledge, the promotion of research, advanced training at university level, as well as close cooperation with the tourism industry.

This non-profit association was founded in 2010 and recognised as an affiliated institute of HWR Berlin. The institute is an effective work platform for the tourism industry. Its duties and responsibilities are reflected in its cooperation with HWR Berlin, especially in the field of tourism. Its primary focus is successful knowledge transfer between theory and industry practice.

The IfTB sees itself as a competence centre for tourism studies in Berlin and the surrounding region. The institute’s main interests are:

• the networking of companies and institutions with HWR Berlin
• knowledge transfer between the university and practice
• advanced training and professional development at university level for employees in the tourism industry
• the promotion of research in the tourism industry
• research-based management consulting
• academic events and conferences
• monitoring for travel agents and tour operators

Contact

Prof. Dr. Jörg Soller
E-Mail: joerg.soller(at)hwr-berlin.de

The Institute for Insurance supports, cultivates and combines academic teaching, training, advanced vocational training as well as research in the insurance sector. Its main focus of interest is the gleaning of knowledge for the players in the insurance sector, above all insurance companies and their employees. Students also benefit from the transfer of knowledge into teaching.
The institute’s field of research encompasses almost all business management issues pertaining to insurance management as well as insurance sales. The institute works together with experts from the field as well as with German and international research scientists and academics. Research activities result in the production of, for example market studies, investigations into current issues and expert reports.
The Institute for Insurance’s executive director is Prof. Dr. Thomas Köhne, who is also the head of Insurance at the Department of Cooperative Studies at HWR Berlin.

Contact

Executive Board

Prof. Dr. Thomas Köhne
T: +49 30 30877-2318
E-Mail: info(at)ivw-berlin.de 

The Institute for Knowledge Transfer in Public Administration and Legal Studies (IWVR) promotes the networking of scientific findings and research between HWR Berlin, public administration, administration of justice, and business. The IWVR primarily conducts concrete research projects or organises conferences devoted to administration, the non-profit sector and the administration of justice. This it done in close cooperation with Kommunales Bildungswerk e.V. Consequently, the institute has extremely close contact with Kommunales Bildungswerk. The IWVR has been involved, for example, in research projects examining modernisation in public administration in Eastern Europe and has organised conferences on current developments in legal issues.

Contact

Chairperson

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Keller
T: +49 30 30877-2758
E-Mail: ulrich.keller(at)hwr-berlin.de 

The Steinbeis Research Centre (SFZ) at the Department of Cooperative Studies is devoted to questions of sustainability in the construction industry, i.e. it researches the impact of building processes, procedures and materials on the environment. The purpose of this research is to ensure that the correct decisions are made with respect for future generations and the environment in every phase of the building process – right from the construction phase through to a building’s demolition.

Alongside partners from the industry, the SFZ develops ecological building materials from renewable raw materials and optimises them for structural integrity, stability and construction. The research centre’s work is based on a cooperation agreement between the Steinbeis Foundation's transfer network and Berufsakademie Berlin.

Contact

Head

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Hans-Volker Huth
Fachbereich Duales Studium
Alt-Friedrichsfelde 60
10315 Berlin

T: +49 30 30877-2411
E-Mail: Hans-Volker.Huth(at)hwr-berlin.de