Various cooperation relations with research and teaching institutions both in Germany and abroad give research impulses and support international scientific exchange, for example membership of the European Consortium for Political Research.
Bielefeld University and the Faculty of Sociology are the founding partners of the Centre for German and European Studies (ZDES) : The ZDES emerged as a consequence of the findings resulting from the German-Russian initiative “Petersburg Dialogue – 2001”. The ZDES gains its support from three sources: the German Academic Exchange Service, which ensures the basic funding, Bielefeld University and the State University St. Petersburg.
Working contacts exists with European (Italy, Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, and Russia) and American universities as well as with – especially in the field of development sociology – universities in Southeast Asia and Africa. International contacts are fostered in the framework of exchange programmes for scholars and students.
Especially close cooperation exists with the following central scientific facilities of Bielefeld University:
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