Academic Environment

WIPCAD’s research program builds on very strong foundations in Potsdam, including a very good track -record in interdisciplinary co-operation, teaching portfolios and research and consultancy expertise in public administration as well as the international reputation and visibility of participating researchers and their integration in local, regional, national and international networks.

The Focus Area Public Policy and Management is represented and coordinated by the Potsdam Centrum for Policy and Management (PCPM) at the University’s Department of Economics and Social Sciences.

Academic links and academic collaborative networks

WIPCAD is able to draw on rich academic links and academic collaborative networks. At Potsdam, the Department of Economics and Social Sciences collaborates closely with:

• Institute of Local Government Studies (KWI)
• Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center (IfG.CC).

Within the fields of geo-hazards and climate change, the department collaborates with a number of high-profile non-university research institutions located in Potsdam, including in particular:

• German Geo-Research Centre (GFZ)
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
• Potsdam Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS).

In the Berlin-Brandenburg region, close links extend, in particular, to:

• Freie Universität Berlin
• Humboldt University
• Hertie School of Governance in Berlin

through common research projects or highly successful master programs. Most recently, the Department has advertised a Joint Professorship in Governance of Urban Infrastructures and Global Change, with the Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning (IRS).

In the national context, academic links, maintained through joint research and related activities, are especially close to other universities with special expertise in the field of public administration, notably:

• Department of Politics and Administration at the University of Constance
• German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer.

To secure the best possible academic environment for doctoral researchers and post-doctoral staff, the quality of collaborative networks with international centers of excellence in the study of public administration is of paramount importance.

There are frequent research contacts and staff and PhD student exchanges with:

• Copenhagen University
• Copenhagen Business School
• Erasmus University
• University of Leuven

amongst others. There is also special funding for exchanges with Norway through the Eon-Ruhrgas Foundation and a number of established Erasmus exchanges.

WIPCAD  benefits especially from the collaboration in research and training with:

• Department for Administration and Organization Theory at the University of Bergen
• Stockholm Center for Organizational Research (SCORE).
  

Through its integration in vibrant international networks of collaboration, WIPCAD is in an excellent position to ensure both academic excellence and students’ socialization into the national and international scholarly community.