News from the Academy

In this section you can find selected public statements by social scientists and reports on current questions of analytical-empirical sociology that have been published in different media formats.

Article published: 16.11.2025

First Academy of Sociology Replication Prize

The AS presents its first-ever Replication Prize — to the jury’s knowledge, the first replication award in the social sciences worldwide — to Dr. Sergio Lo Iacono (Essex and Utrecht) together with Wojtek Przepiorka (Utrecht), Vincent Buskens (Utrecht), Rense Corten (Utrecht), Marcel van Assen (Utrecht and Tilburg) und Arnout van de Rijt (European University Institute). The award honors “The Competitive Advantage of Sanctioning Institutions Revisited: A Multilab Replication” (PNAS Nexus, 2023). The jury — Nicole Kapelle (Dublin), Heinz Leitgöb (Leipzig), Ulrich Kohler (Potsdam), and Richard Traunmüller (Mannheim) — commends this study for its methodological rigor, theoretical significance, and exemplary transparency. It sets a benchmark for replication practice in sociology and reminds us that true scientific progress depends not only on novelty, but on reliability, openness, and verification.

The paper exactly replicates the 2006 influential Science experiment by Gürerk, Irlenbusch & Rockenbach (wurde (Gürerk Ö,Irlenbusch B, Rockenbach B. The competitive advantage of sanctioning institutions. 2006. Science. 312(5770):108–111) testing whether peer-sanctioning institutions have a competitive advantage over sanction-free environments.

When individual and collective interests are in conflict, individuals face a social dilemma whereby cooperation will lead to higher collective benefits but acting selfishly will produce higher individual benefits. Oftentimes, individuals facing such dilemmas may join and subject themselves to institutions that promote cooperation. The replication probes the sustainability of peer-sanctioning institutions in fostering cooperative behaviours across seven European labs with N = 1,008 participants; the replication was preregistered with open data/code/materials. Under peer sanctioning, if sufficient individuals are willing to incur the costs of punishing uncooperative behaviours, then, cooperators fare better than noncooperators. However, peer sanctioning can effectively promote cooperation only if groups that practice it can thrive in competition with groups that do not. The replication study shows that, across different populations, groups with peer sanctioning consistently outgrow and outperform groups without peer sanctioning.

The AS Replication Prize: Replication is a vital element of sound and credible science, yet it rarely receives the recognition it deserves. The AS Replication Prize seeks to change this by honouring studies that make outstanding contributions to the verification of sociological research results through reproduction, reanalysis, replication, or adversarial collaboration

Honorable mention. An honorable mention goes to Corinna Lewitzky (University of Leipzig) for her reproduction/replication of Pollmann-Schult (2008) on fatherhood and men’s preferred working hours.

Replications created in 2025 and 2026 can be submitted for the next AS award in 2027.

Article published:

Academy of Sociology 2025 Dissertation Prize

Dr. Kasimir Dederichs (University of Oxford, Nuffield College) receives the Academy of Sociology Dissertation Prize 2024/25. He is honored for his dissertation “Who (Else) Is Involved? How Voluntary Associations Connect and Separate Us.” The jury — Ben Jann (University of Bern), Gunnar Otte (University of Mainz), Peter Preisendörfer (University of Mainz), and Anina Schwarzenbach (University of Bern) — praised the theoretically original and methodologically rigorous approach that examines the full life cycle of association membership. Parts of this cumulative dissertation have been published in international peer-reviewed journals, including Gender & Society, Social Networks, and European Sociological Review.

In his dissertation, Dederichs investigates the extent to which associations and other civil society organizations — as is often assumed in macro-analyses of social cohesion — foster contact among people from different social groups. He shows how homophilous tendencies in decisions to join organizations (“front door”), in the social dynamics within organizations (“indoors”), and in exit decisions (“back door”) generate segregation patterns between and within organizations. Empirically, the work draws on panel surveys from Germany and the Netherlands.

Key findings:

Civil society is segregated by gender. Women and men engage in organizations that align with traditional gender roles, extending corresponding tasks beyond the private sphere. Gender-homogeneous friendship networks increase the likelihood of joining organizations in which one’s own gender predominates. https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432231195075
People active in organizations have larger social networks — partly because better-connected individuals are more likely to join, and partly because engagement expands networks further. At the aggregate level, however, association membership does not automatically reduce inequalities in access to status-relevant social capital. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2023.07.004
In addition to ethnic segregation observed between associations, contact patterns within diverse organizations are often segregated as well. Individuals without a migration background formed fewer new ties in ethnically diverse associations and were more likely to leave them. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcae047
Socioeconomic inequalities in organizational participation decrease somewhat from adolescence into adulthood — among other things because entering higher education (more common among higher-status families) interrupts engagement. Nevertheless, even among young adults, those from higher-status family backgrounds remain more likely to be involved. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcac013

Conclusion: Due to sorting processes, associations do not automatically function as bridges across salient social divides. Additional measures are needed to realize their integrative potential.

Short biography: Kasimir Dederichs is a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow in Sociology at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. He completed his doctorate there (2020–2024) and previously studied Sociology and Empirical Social Research (M.Sc.) as well as Social Sciences (B.Sc.) in Cologne. In his current research, he studies social integration in voluntary associations, neighborhoods, and romantic partnerships.

Quote from the awardee: “I am delighted to receive the Best Dissertation Award and would like to thank the Academy of Sociology and my doctoral supervisor, Nan Dirk de Graaf.”

Dissertations created in 2025 and 2026 can be submitted for the next AS award in 2027.

Article published: 23.07.2025

Statement by the AS on the expulsion of the ISS from the ISA

In an official statement on 29 June 2025, the International Sociological Association (ISA) announced that, as part of its public stance on the Israel–Gaza conflict, it no longer maintains institutional relations with public institutions in Israel. Because, in the ISA’s view, the Israeli Sociological Society (ISS) has not taken a clear position condemning the current situation in Gaza, the ISA Executive Board has decided to unilaterally terminate the ISS’s collective membership.

The German Sociological Association (DGS), itself a member of the ISA, has published a statement of objection. The Academy of Sociology (AS) is not a member of the ISA. However, it fully supports this objection. The AS expresses its solidarity with the ISS, whose academic freedom and work are restricted by the ISA’s decision. In the spirit of academic freedom, the AS would very much welcome the immediate revocation of the ISS’s exclusion by the ISA.

The Board of the Academy of Sociology
Munich, 11.07.2025

Article published: 21.02.2025

Call for AS Replication Award

The AS introduces a novelty in sociology: Every two years, 1 to 2 papers will be honoured that have made a special contribution to the verification of research results by repeating central elements of another study in the form of a reproduction, reanalysis, replication or adversial collaboration.

Studies can be nominated by all AS members. (The authors of the replication study, however, do not have to be members of the AS). Further information on the current call for proposals (application deadline: 30 April 2025) can be found here. We look forward to receiving your submissions. Help us to ensure that authors can win the first replication prize in sociology!

Reliable science depends on replications that test the robustness and generalisability of research results. Replications are becoming increasingly important in research. Nevertheless, they are still relatively little used in research practice. With the AS Replication Prize, we want to change this and help replications gain more recognition and visibility.

Article published: 10.02.2025

AS Dissertation Award 2025

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(c) Ekrulila / Pexels

For the fourth time, the Academy for Sociology is awarding its biennial prize for the best dissertation in the field of analytical-empirical sociology. The award comes with 1500€ prize money.

Eligible to apply are researchers whose doctoral thesis (German or English) was successfully de-fended between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024.

Dissertation advisers of outstanding analytical-empirical candidates are invited to encourage their doctoral candidates for submission.

AS membership is not required for application.

Submissions should be made to dissertationspreis@akademie-soziologie.de by 30 April 2025.

For detailed submission information click here.

Article published: 06.10.2024

AS Code of Ethics

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(c) Sora Shimazaki/Pexels

On January 13, 2022, the general meeting of the Academy of Sociology adopted the “Code of Ethics of the Academy of Sociology” at its regular meeting (online). The code formulates central principles that sociologists must observe when searching for scientific knowledge and when disseminating and assessing research results. This code is now available in English and can be found here.

Article published: 05.02.2024

New AS-Board 2024-25 elected

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(c) Pexels

At the regular general meeting of the Academy of Sociology, a new board was elected for the years 2024-2025. The board includes: Rolf Becker (Bern, chair), Katrin Auspurg (LMU Munich, deputy chair), Felix Wolter (Konstanz, treasurer), Malte Reichelt (Nuremberg-Erlangen, secretary) and, as assessor, Martin Abraham (Nuremberg-Erlangen), Gunnar Otte (Mainz), Anina Schwarzenbach (Bern) and Richard Traunmüller (Mannheim).

Article published: 24.10.2023

Hans Albert passed

The German sociologist, philosopher and scientific theorist Hans Albert passed away on October 24, 2023, at the age of 102. Born on February 8, 1921 in Cologne as the son of a Latin and history teacher, he studied business administration at the University of Cologne, where he also received his doctorate and completed his habilitation in social policy. From 1963 to 1989, he held a chair for sociology and scientific studies at the University of Mannheim as the successor to Eduard Baumgarten, a nephew of Max Weber.

Along with Karl Popper, Hans Albert is considered one of the most important representatives of “Critical Rationalism”. One of his central contributions to this is what he calls the “Münchhausen Trilemma,” which contains a criticism of classical reasoning. He became internationally known above all with the so-called “Positivismusstreit” (Positivism Controversy), in which Karl Popper and Hans Albert discussed with the two representatives of Critical Theory, Theodor W. Adorno and Jürgen Habermas. In addition to …

… Hans Albert’s most important work, “Traktat über kritische Vernunft” (Treatise on Critical Reason, 1968), his “Traktat über rationale Praxis” (Treatise on Rational Practice, 1978), the “Kritik der reinen Erkenntnislehre” (Critique of Pure Epistemology, 1987) and his ” Kritik der reinen Hermeneutik” (Critique of Pure Hermeneutics, 1994) are among his most important publications.

Article published: 22.09.2023

AS 2023 Dissertation Award

Dr. Bujar Aruqaj (FU Berlin) received the Academy of Sociology Award for the best sociological dissertation 2022/23. Dr. Aruqaj was honored for his monograph on “Social Cohesion in European Societies. Conceptualizing and Assessing Togetherness.” The jury, consisting of Josef Brüderl, Marita Jacob, Malte Reichelt, and Pia Schober, highlighted his innovative approach to conceptualize and measure social cohesion in Europe. The book was published by Routledge in 2023. The dissertation prize, which was handed over at the Academy congress 2023 in Bern, is endowed with 1,500 euros.

Dissertations created in 2023 and 2024 can be submitted for the next AS award in 2025.

Article published:

Call: Visiting Fellowships 2024

The Academy of Sociology supports young researchers in their academic careers and offers funding for research stays. The visiting scholarships are designed to foster research exchanges with other scholars both abroad and in Germany or the respective country of scholarly affiliation. With this fellowship program, we address young researchers who are committed members of the AS – with already existing research contacts and affiliations to German analytical-empirical sociology. Individuals who join the AS just when applying for the fellowship must demonstrate credibly that they intend to become a committed member who contributes to the AS well beyond the duration of the planned visiting fellowship.
We are now accepting applications for research visits taking place in 2024. The deadline is October 31, 2023. For details click here.