The Hertie School produces outstanding, interdisciplinary research in a wide range of policy-relevant fields. The school’s faculty members, adjunct and visiting faculty, researchers and doctoral students work on diverse real-world problems, like combatting corruption, regulating the sharing economy, public sector reform, security issues, and the future of the euro. Many projects are designed to engage directly with the public and private sectors and civil society. Faculty publish in leading international journals, contribute to academic and policy conferences, and are regularly asked for their expertise by government and media.
The Hertie School’s core focus, governance, requires interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international perspectives. Hertie School faculty - a third from outside Germany - bring together their expertise in economics, law, political science, public management and sociology to collaborate frequently on numerous research projects and initiatives. The aim is to create novel approaches to governance challenges that straddle academic disciplines.
Centres of competence
The Hertie School’s Centres of competence focus on five governance challenges that are pivotal for the coming decades:
Hertie School Data Science Lab
Tackling public policy challenges with the power of data science
The Hertie School Data Science Lab provides state-of-the-art methodological expertise for researchers, policy-makers and others, and make data more accessible through visualisations. [more]
Major research and outreach initiatives
Research initiatives at the Hertie School include:
- The Dynamics of Demography, Democratic Processes and Public Policy" (DYNAMICS)
- Raising the Nuclear IQ for a new Nuclear Age
- ML-Strom: Maschinelles Lernen für die Strommarktforschung
- Climate Action to Advance Healthy Societies in Europe (CATALYSE)
- ARIADNE2: Evidenzbasiertes Assessment für die Gestaltung der deutschen Energiewende”
- SCRIPTS Allocation "Leader Types and (Liberal?) Narratives of the COVID-19 Pandemic"
- Rationality and Competition
- Reconfiguring Europe
- Renewing Administration through Democratic Anchorage Reforms (RADAR)
Research events
The Hertie School's Centres of Competence, research initiatives and projects cover public policy issues that cut across disciplines as well as regional, national, and sectoral boundaries. These are addressed in public colloquia, workshops, and conferences. [more]
Research event series
Henrik Enderlein Prize
Honouring the memory of Professor Henrik Enderlein, late President of the school, the Henrik Enderlein Prize is awarded annually to a European researcher under the age of forty, whose work is considered to have made an outstanding contribution in her or his field.
Henrik Enderlein Fellowship
The Distinguished Fellowship for Policy Professionals commemorates Henrik Enderlein, the Hertie School's late President, his role in building bridges between research and public policy and his resulting influence on European policymakers on matters of innovation and reform.
Applications | Visiting Faculty
The Hertie School offers scholars from other institutions the possibility to conduct research and to cooperate with Hertie School faculty members during a research stay at the school. There is no financial allowance for a research stay. Interested scholars are asked to send their applications including CV, specific dates of stay and plans for research (and teaching) to the Dean of Research and Faculty's team (researchandfaculty[at]hertie-school[dot]org).
There are three application deadlines for visiting scholars per academic year for spots one year in advance: 31 August, 31 January and 31 May.