Prof. Dr. Stephan LeibfriedThe 2014 Schader Foundation Award for Social Sciences goes to Stephan Leibfried from the University of Bremen. The prize, worth 15,000 euros, recognises Leibfried's outstanding national and international social science research on the welfare state and the state in general. It emphasises the contribution of his scientific and public work on finding solutions to societal problems. This involves, among other things, his efforts on the institutionalisation of international comparative welfare research and the effects of his research on social policy practice not least in Germany.
The long path from a reform university in 1971, disparaged as a 'commie training centre', to a University of Excellence (Exzellenzuniversität) in 2012 illustrates just but an example of the accomplishments throughout his professional life. Although there were isolated approaches toward the welfare state in 1974 when Leibfried became professor for Social Policy and Social Administration in Social Education at the University of Bremen, there were barely any approaches focusing on broader institutional foundations. Leibfried was not only as a result a founding father of the Centre for Social Policy (ZeS) in 1988, which interdisciplinarly - ranging from Sociology, Public Health, Health Policy, Political Science to Economics - anchored international comparative welfare state research at the University of Bremen through start-up funds from the Volkswagen Foundation. He also ranked among the leading figures who in the same year received approval from the German Research Association (DFG) for the Sociological Collaborative Research Centre "Status Passages and the Life Course". This funding was extended until 2001 for a maximum amount of three times. This research centre not only implemented a new dynamic perspective on social issues but also contributed to the University of Bremen as its first collaborative research centre. It was particularly considered a major contribution after its incorporation into the DFG in 1986 through its DFG-research breakthrough and its accompanying additional research funds amounting to 20 million DM.
Following from this - once again through funds from the Volkswagen Foundation - was the founding of the Graduate School of Social Sciences in 2001 as a basis for interdisciplinary doctoral training in the Social Sciences. In 2007, the newly named Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) was the first success in the University of Bremen's - and Jacobs University Bremen as its junior partner - efforts in the Excellence Initiative. This was then followed by its contributions to the University of Bremen's general success in the 2012 Excellence Initiative. Leibfried - since 2001 professor of Political Science with a focus on policy analysis and social policy at the department of Social Sciences - belonged to the founding team that successfully guided the Law and Political Science Collaborative Research Centre "Transformation of the State" at the University of Bremen. This collaborative research centre's funding was extended a maximum of two times until 2014. Additional funds amounting to around 24 million euros were no small contribution to the working capacity at the University. Furthermore, since 2012 Leibfried has been appointed to a joint professorship at Jacobs University Bremen.
With a focus on actual practice, Leibfried not only succeeded in building many bridges between research and practice, for example as shown in a twelve year-long research project on the dynamism of social assistance ("Once in, always in?") based on Bremen administrative data. In the first decade of the 21st century this continued, once again through the help of the Volkswagen Foundation, with a programme for visiting researchers on "Journalism Meets Research" - together with the Cologne-based Max-Planck-Institute and the WZB in Berlin - followed by an exchange programme on science and practice with the LSE (on the welfare state) and currently with the University of Oxford (on changes in the classical nation state).
He also recently became one of the organisers of a multidisciplinary catalogue on social science social policy research that aims to open new research horizons. The first volume is on "Welfare Policy in the 21st Century" and was published in 2013 by Campus. He won the recognition of the Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht) in Kassel thanks to a two volume overview on the "Foundation and Challenges of the German Welfare State". The Court will celebrate its 60th anniversary featuring a welfare state overview on all relevant disciplines. Finally, Leibfried can be recognised among the most distinguished commentators of current scientific policy; this particularly includes the Excellence Initiative of the German federation and the federal states. However, his commitment does not end with commentary. He has contributed at every possible level, thereby helping the University of Bremen succeed in becoming one of the eleven German Excellence Universities in 2012.
Professor Bernd Scholz-Reiter, Rector of the University of Bremen, has enthusiastically stated that "this award for my colleague Stephan Leibfried is but another testament of the outstanding personalities present in every scientific discipline at the University of Bremen". Leibfried has ensured that social sciences in Bremen now hold high standing both nationally and internationally; namely through its various books published by renowned Anglo-American university publishers and its articles found in important international journals. Furthermore, a quarter of a century of receiving solid and fundamental external funding all while developing research facilities is a testament to this success. Social sciences and marine sciences have accordingly become the fundamental pillars of the 'excellence university' in Bremen. Leibfried presented this step by step in 2001 in an anniversary publication entitled 'Lichtspuren'; a private annotated photo album tracing more than 40 years of social science research in Bremen.
The Schader Award will be presented on May 15, 2014 in Darmstadt. The previous award winners include, among others, Jutta Allmendinger, Ulrich Beck, Ralf Dahrendorf, Wolf Lepenies and Gesine Schwan. The independent and non-profit foundation was founded in 1988 by the civil engineer Alois M. Schader. It has promoted the practical relevance of the social sciences and has supported dialogue between science and practice for over 25 years.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Stephan Leibfried (verstorben)
