The Research Training Group “Wicked Problems, Contested Administrations: Knowledge, Coordination, Strategy” (WIPCAD) is a DFG-funded program to promote young researchers’ PhD projects in the thematic field of public administration. Its innovative and ambitious research theme, strong emphasis on interdisciplinarity as well as its integration in vibrant international networks of collaboration enhances Potsdam’s standing as an international leading center for teaching, study and research of public administration.

Complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity of current policy problems – such as climate hazards or welfare state reforms – fundamentally challenge how public administrations organize. Our aim is to study the interrelationships between „wicked‟ policy problems and the development of administrative organizations on various levels. The empirical puzzle of how public administrations have responded to current and pressing policy problems is at the heart of the Group’s research. The program is based on systematic interdisciplinary cooperation between political and administrative sciences, sociology and public management.

The Group has a unique position within the German academic community and is exceptionally well placed to foster a young generation of scholars working at the international forefront of research.