Research

Based on its unique disciplinary breadth, the University of Vienna has defined strategic priorities in which important questions of our future are being worked on. Scientists from the Faculty of Social Sciences contribute their knowledge and expertise in four of six key areas:

The strategic focus of Culture, Education, Democracy is dedicated to the fundamentals of human coexistence and communication in the face of conflicts based on race, gender and politics.

As part of Digital and Data-Driven Transformations of Science and Society, new technologies, especially artificial intelligence and machine learning, and their impact on society, ethics and law are researched.

The focus on Climate, Environment, Sustainability analyzes how the Earth's ecosystem is brought into a stable, sustainable and fair state and whether and how climate change can be stopped.

The title Global Health: Physical, Mental and Social Dimensions of Health examines the question of how physical and mental health can be guaranteed for all people.

Within the Faculty of Social Sciences, the diverse research is divided into the respective departments. In order to show the diversity of the entire research activities, the different work focuses are presented by thematic areas.

On the other hand, the Faculty of Social Sciences focuses on interdisciplinary, faculty research priorities. As part of the development planning, five research priorities were set in order to strengthen the faculty's research profile. These address key current social challenges and change processes and are organized across disciplines and institutions. Proven strengths and established research traditions should be further promoted and, in particular, future-oriented, innovative research fields should be strengthened.

In addition, the faculty's researchers are currently involved in eight different cross-faculty research platforms, two research centres and four research networks. There are also various disciplinary and interdisciplinary research groups.