Welcome to the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology

The Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology (ISS) at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne is one of the largest and best-known institutes for sociology in Germany. Today, the Institute has more than 100 academic and non-academic staff members. As Germany's first sociological research institute, it started its activities in 1919 as the "Research Institute for Social Sciences" and has since then gained an excellent reputation, due to its tradition of theory-driven quantitative social research ("Cologne School"). Our courses of study are internationally oriented and offer a wide range of topics and possibilities for specialization. One of the core elements of the study programmes is the teaching of analytical and methodological skills. The research areas at the ISS cover a wide range of topics, including ageing and health, family and fertility, migration and integration, education and the labour market, life course, consumer behaviour and financial decisions, crime and deviant behaviour, social networks, trust and the non-profit sector. Special emphasis of research is placed on the research clusters "Demography and Social Inequality" and "Foundations of Social Behavior".