News from the Academy

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.

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).

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 …

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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.

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.

In February 2023, the Academy of Sociology established the new working group ‘Methodology of the Social Sciences’. The working group focuses on fundamental methodological issues concerning social science theory construction and empirical research. The working group aims at facilitating research publications and position papers, including contributions on how to integrate topics in the methodology of the social sciences in teaching programs in analytical-empirical sociology. To that end, over a period of two to three years, several workshops will be held.

The first workshop on theory construction and testing theories is scheduled for September 6 and 7, 2023 at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The working group has been initiated by Gunnar Otte, Natascha Nisic, Nico Sonntag, Hartmut Esser, and Werner Raub. Colleagues who would like to join the working group or to receive updates on workshops and other activities, including Calls for Papers, should send an email to as-methodologie@uni-mainz.de.

For the third 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 1,500€ prize money.

Eligible to apply are researchers whose doctoral thesis (German or English) was successfully de-fended between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2022.

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@soz.ak by March 31, 2023.

For detailed submission information click here.

We are pleased to draw your attention to the Call for Papers of our 4^th AS Conference. The conference will take place from August 28th to 30th in Bern/Switzerland. Its topic is “Knowledge Societies”. In addition to relevant submissions on the main topic, we also very welcome talks on other topics of analytical-empirical research (open sessions). The conference language is English.

The deadline for submitting abstracts is April 15, 2023. Please submit your extended abstract (2-3 pages) via “conftool” at the conference website.

Early career researchers who do not have a travel budget from their home organization can apply for travel grants. Registration and information on participation fees and accommodation will follow soon. Check out our conference website https://www.as23.unibe.ch/ for any details.

We look forward to your submission and hope to see you in Bern in August 2023!

As in former years, we subsidize workshops or small conferences organized by Academy members, providing up to EUR 2500 per event. Proposals that correspond to the goals of the Academy are given priority: e.g. the promotion of good scientific practice, replication and reproduction, open science, interdisciplinarity, equality, internationality and the promotion of young researchers in analytical-empirical research. Non-members are also welcome in the organization team of the conference or workshop.

Since July 2022 we are accepting suggestions for workshops on an ongoing basis. The Board of Directors will review your proposal and inform you of the decision in a timely manner. You can find the call for applications here.